RETAILING
From Times Staff and Wire Reports
Catalogue Companies Report Big Gains: Major catalogue companies reported double-digit sales increases during the Christmas season compared to a year ago, according to a survey by Chicago-based catalogue consultants Maxwell Sroge Co. The firms viewed the outcome of the November presidential election as a turning point, it said, and last-minute shoppers jammed phone lines the week before Christmas. Spiegel Inc. and Fingerhut Cos. saw Christmas sales jump 15%; J.C. Penney Co. reported a percentage sales increase in the mid-teens through Dec. 19, and Lillian Vernon Corp., whose merchandise on the average costs less than $20, saw sales jump an estimated 10%.
