Sky Mall
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Sky Mall is a specialty publishing and marketing services firm headquartered in Phoenix, Arizona. SkyMall produces a quarterly in-flight publication, SkyMall, with an annual circulation of approximately 20 million copies distributed in airplane seat pockets. SkyMall is a multi-channel, direct marketer offering products through direct marketers and manufacturers through its SkyMall catalog and web site, skymall.com. The SkyMall catalog is seen by approximately 88% of all domestic air passengers reaching more than 650 million air travelers annually. SkyMall also offers turn-key merchandise and fulfillment solutions for loyalty marketing programs. .
Sky Mall is a joint venture of The Greenspun Corporation and Spire Capital.
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[edit] History
SkyMall, Inc. was founded in 1990[1] by Bob Worsley, Alan Lobock, Matthew Del Bianco, and Graham Alcock. It originally offered goods from other companies' catalogs for same-day delivery to customers arriving at select U.S. airports or, if the customer preferred, to their home or office via express shipment. To accomplish the same-day delivery promise, SkyMall operated its own warehouses located on the grounds of or near the selected airports.
Shortly after launching, the company purchased contracts from another company that allowed it to offer catalog merchandise to travelers flying many of the nation's air carriers. This move, which did not receive the support of all of the founders, required a significant shift in SkyMall's focus and operations, ultimately forcing the company to abandon its same-day delivery service and nearly bankrupting the company.[citation needed] The company now offers goods from other companies' catalogs for drop-ship to the customer via third-party transport firms.
[edit] Departments
- Apparel & Accessories
- Automotive & Hardware
- Computers
- Electronics
- Health & Wellness
- Home Living
- Office
- Outdoor Living
- Pets
- Seasonal
- Sporting Goods
- Toys, Hobbies & Collectibles
- Travel
[edit] Participating stores
- VEGAS.com
- LasVegas.com
- Alsto's
- Diversions Catalog
- Driving Comfort by AutoSport
- Footsmart
- Frontgate
- Gadget Universe
- Hammacher Schlemmer
- Improvements
- Plow and Hearth
- Sharper Image
- Steiner Sports
- Successories
- TigerDirect
- The Greatest Gift
- Brookstone
[edit] Popular culture
Sky Mall is often parodied in shows for selling sometimes unusual products. In 2006, comedy troupe Kasper Hauser released the book "SkyMaul: Happy Crap You Can Buy from a Plane" as an unauthorized parody of the Sky Mall catalogue. It features absurd products such as the Banana-ganizer, Self-Pepper Spray, Llamacycle, and Living-Room Beluga Aquarium.
There is a song called "SkyMall" by Jonathan Coulton in which he brought nothing to read on a plane and started shopping.
Heywood Banks made a song entitled "Turbo Nose Hair Clipper" in which he purchases the titular product from a SkyMall catalog.
Webcomic creators Penny Arcade have mocked Skymall in a strip.
Stephen Colbert in his Christmas special on Comedy Central held a catalog called LandMall.
In The Goat, a season three episode of How I Met Your Mother, Barney Stinson compulsively buys SkyMall products when feeling guilty for sleeping with his friend's ex-girlfriend.
[edit] External links
- Sky Mall website
- Article about Sky Mall from Online Marketing Today
- "'Where the Wings Have No Shame': What's Skymall culture really about?", Slate.com, April 18, 2007
- "SkyMall and GuestLogix to develop onboard shopping service", DFNIonline, February 21, 2008
- "Coffee, Tea, Lawn Ghoul?" by Sarah Kershaw, April 29, 2009, New York Times
