Lee Valley Catalog

[Don Shirey]

I received the latest LV catalog in the mail today, Rob Lee is to be congratulated and thanked for continuing to publish such a beautiful catalog each year. Many if not most "catalog" stores are stopping this kind of publishing and going to online catalogs only. Usually they are a shadow of the published ones, and no where near as entertaining. So kudos to Rob and his staff for maintaining this annual work of art.

[Matt Meiser]

And then they followed it up with a free shipping email...evil :D

[Jim Koepke]

Great bedside reading material... Always sweet dreams.

jtk

[paul cottingham]

I keep one in the "reading room" but they keep mysteriously disappearing. My good wife keeps denying any involvement.

[glenn bradley]

Great bedside reading material... Always sweet dreams.

jtk

Wait, I'm not the only one here who does that!?! :D

[Hilton Ralphs]

I keep one in the "reading room".

That's the sole reason I have magazines.

[Rob Lee]

I received the latest LV catalog in the mail today, Rob Lee is to be congratulated and thanked for continuing to publish such a beautiful catalog each year. Many if not most "catalog" stores are stopping this kind of publishing and going to online catalogs only. Usually they are a shadow of the published ones, and no where near as entertaining. So kudos to Rob and his staff for maintaining this annual work of art.

Hi Don -

Thanks for the comments - I'll pass them through to our publications group - who deserve the kudos.

I think the entire "catalog" industry is flux with respect to printed material - and we're no different. No one disputes the utility and desirability of print - but the costs are staggering. The challenge for firms like us is to ensure that catalogues get to people who want and use them - sending them out can no longer be the semi-speculative activity it has been in the past. We're still working out future mailing policies... but I believe we will have to move to an "annual opt-in" process for the large books - it won't be automatic. Next year - we hope to have the catalogues available significantly ahead of the scheduled mail date, so we can insert them into orders for awhile first.

In any event - we're listening carefully to what people want...!

Cheers -

Rob

[Mel Fulks]

The LV catalogs are so visually appealing and the descriptions so well done. I'm not a big spender anymore but when I have not received the big woodworking catalog I have called ,asked for one ,and made it clear that I did not mind paying for it.

[lowell holmes]

Maybe we should pay for the catlogs with the understanding that orders of a certain magnitude would be credited with the purchase price of the catalog.

It's just a thought.

[Gary Herrmann]

Rob, we need a video of your tool collection. I enjoyed the screwdrivers and drills on the last cover.

[george wilson]

I agree with lowell, Pay for the catalog,with refund on first order(over the price of the catalog). We have a home business,and know catalogs are a problem.

[Hilton Ralphs]

I'm not so sure people will pay for it if Lee Valley were to charge for the catalog. The problem is then what print run do you order? The online and downloadable catalogs are a step forward as well as that fancy crapple app. Perhaps more dollars should be spent in providing more detail in the catalog rather than in printing (more photographs, more specs, reviews, longer video without the lengthy intro etc). If people still want the hard copy, make it available to order only once a year, then at least Lee Valley knows how many to print.

[Maurice Ungaro]

Last weekend, I placed an order and checked the box for a new catalogue. Unbeknown to me, my new catalogue was already in the mail to me, and when my parcel arrived Thursday, I got another catalogue in the box. Boy, did I feel guilty about hogging another catalogue. Then I thought of taking it to work and passing it on to a client, or coworker....you know...maybe someone unfamiliar with LV. It's like evangelizing and converting the unwashed.

[Hilton Ralphs]

It's like evangelizing and converting the unwashed.

Or the heathens who buy the other brand :)

[William Adams]

As a typographer, I really appreciate the catalog, esp. that they use real prime and double prime symbols for foot and inch marks, nice fractions, &c.

[Ellen Benkin]

Rob, Please keep the catalogs coming. I understand that people used to get the old Sears catalog just before Christmas and then everyone in the family would go through it and make their wish list. That's what I do with the LV catalog. I go through it and mark my wished for items and then casually leave it lying around with the pages turned. The gift giver doesn't have to guess and I get something I really want. I also like your company's "trick" of sending emails focusing on new items. I'm a sucker for those.

[Mel Fulks]

Since Rob Lee is following this thread I add this comment .Twice ( I think) ,when I did not get the thick woodworking catalog and then called and asked for one ,I did not get one ,even though I specifically mentioned I had not bought much of late and would be glad to pay for it. I had even taken the trouble to tell them not to send the thick hardware catalog. Only when I called back to complain did I get catalogs. FWIW I would much rather buy it than call twice and perceive,perhaps in error ,that manager reviewed the request and told hapless employee " all right ,let the old bastard have one" .

[Dave Cav]

I got my catalog this week. It's great and I hope I keep getting it.

The only thing wrong with it is that I keep looking for Stanley 720 paring chisels, or better yet, the modern equivalent, and they aren't there.

[Rob Lee]

Since Rob Lee is following this thread I add this comment .Twice ( I think) ,when I did not get the thick woodworking catalog and then called and asked for one ,I did not get one ,even though I specifically mentioned I had not bought much of late and would be glad to pay for it. I had even taken the trouble to tell them not to send the thick hardware catalog. Only when I called back to complain did I get catalogs. FWIW I would much rather buy it than call twice and perceive,perhaps in error ,that manager reviewed the request and told hapless employee " all right ,let the old bastard have one" .

Hi Mel,

We should always send a catalog on request - nothing to do with purchases. The trick for us is to ensure we're only sending catalogs to those that want them.

When we started, most firms charged for a catalog...we did too. I'd prefer not to charge now. My current preference is to have people opt-in to receive it annually....or to include it automatically with an order ( tracking who's already received one, of course....).

We're also considering combining some catalogs - which would make 'me a heck of a lot larger...

Lots of options to consider....!

Cheers,

Rob

[Ray Bohn]

As a typographer, I really appreciate the catalog, esp. that they use real prime and double prime symbols for foot and inch marks, nice fractions, &c.

I am very pleased to see that good typography is still appreciated by somebody. Based on much of what I have seen in print recently, I wonder if there is a "desktop publishing" graduate that has been taught anything of the art of typography.

[Dave Anderson NH]

Mine arrived in the Mail Tuesday. It cost me a bundle today. Lead me not into temptation.... I can find it by myself.

I appreciate the paper catalog as rerference for the full year.

[William Adams]

Thanks!


Based on much of what I have seen in print recently, I wonder if there is a "desktop publishing" graduate that has been taught anything of the art of typography.

On the bright side ``desktop publisher'' as a profession is going away --- but so is ``print worker'' which subsumes compositor / typesetter.

Unfortunately, the type compositor unions tossed much of that when they demanded perpetual employment rather than involvement for their members.

I've tried to share what I've learned, but it's hard getting people to listen:

http://mysite.verizon.net/william_franklin_adams/portfolio.html

http://mysite.verizon.net/william_franklin_adams/portfolio/typography/onetype.pdf
http://mysite.verizon.net/william_franklin_adams/portfolio/typography/typefaceterminology.pdf

If you do typography you may find this utility useful to replace your proportion whel:

http://mysite.verizon.net/william_franklin_adams/portfolio/interfaceconcepts/proportionbar.zip
http://mysite.verizon.net/william_franklin_adams/portfolio/interfaceconcepts/proportionbar.app.sit

[Dave Cav]

We're also considering combining some catalogs - which would make 'me a heck of a lot larger...

Lots of options to consider....!

Cheers,

Rob

Send them out on a thumb drive....

[Michael Ray Smith]

Rob, I'm sure I'm not telling you anything that you don't already know, but the catalogs generate sales that you probably wouldn't get any other way. I go to the website when I know there's something I want to buy and I know you sell it, but I buy things from the catalog that I didn't know you sold or that I didn't even know that I "needed." (However, about that tick remover. . . I didn't know you sold it, and I didn't think I needed it even after I saw it.) Just this morning I received a shipment from LV with winding sticks and a saw guide that I probably would never have purchased without the catalog. I had never seen the saw guides on your website and probably wouldn't have noticed them or gone looking for them, but when I saw them in the catalog I decided to try one out to see if it helps on those cuts that need to be absolutely square and straight -- I'm just not good enough to do that consistently free hand. Then I saw the winding sticks and decided to splurge on them, too. I've never been happy with my shop made sticks and, well, I was placing an order anyway, so . . . . Yes, we enjoy the catalogs, and they are indeed very, very well done. I hope you also get a decent ROI from them so you can continue to mail them out.