Dear Catalog CEOs: The Mountain

Dear Catalog CEOs:

In Seattle, a long-time radio icon disappeared over the weekend ... 103.7 FM ("The Mountain"), which had already (and subtly) changed format more than a year ago, is gone.

Have you ever noticed how radio stations are not afraid to kill whatever they are doing, in search of ratings?

In Seattle alone, 98.9 changed from Smooth Jazz to "Click 98.9". 102.9 changed from Sports Radio to "Now Hits".

How often have you fundamentally changed your merchandise assortment? In radio, there's a big difference between The Eagles and Eagle Eye Cherry. But in cataloging, how often do we stray from our core merchandise assortment? How often are we willing to literally kill what we're doing, and start over, from scratch?

Radio stations are willing to blow things up, start over from scratch, and acquire new listeners, one at a time.

It's something worth thinking about, as you begin your post-Labor-Day path to Cyber Monday.