Wet Seal Sends First Mail-Order Catalog

Look for the first-ever catalog from Wet Seal Inc. in your mailbox in the coming days.

The Foothill Ranch retailer of young women’s apparel shipped its catalog to 1.2 million households beginning last week.

If many of the clothes offered in the 52-page book don’t look familiar, that’s by design. Only about 20% of the catalog merchandise can be found in Wet Seal’s stores, Chief Executive Kathy Bronstein said.

“We want to supplement our stores’ sales, not cannibalize them,” Bronstein said. The way she sees it, the catalog is a no-lose proposition. “If a particular item doesn’t sell well, we’ll just send it to our stores and sell it there,” she said.

For now, only a few Wet Seal employees are involved in the catalog’s operations, said Ed Thomas, president and chief operating officer.

The company has contracted with Fingerhut Cos. Inc., the Minnesota database marketer, to handle customer service. If the catalog proves a success, Thomas said, Wet Seal eventually will bring its operations in-house, to the company’s new 180,000-square-foot headquarters and warehouse.

Wet Seal hasn’t disclosed financial projections for the new venture, but analyst Kelly Armstrong at Wheat First Butcher Singer estimates a first-year profit of about $175,000 on sales of $5.8 million.

Thomas said Wet Seal will mail six catalogs this year.