Gander Mountain Company said it mailed its first catalog in 12 years, a 324-page book containing products from its recently acquired Overton's subsidiary, Gander Mountain and other vendors.


The annual master catalog from Overton's, a direct marketer of boating and marine products which Gander Mountain acquired in December, began arriving at the homes of more than 2 million customers on April 26. Among the thousands of items included in the catalog are 220 Gander Mountain products, comprised mainly of apparel, fishing and camping equipment.


The return to direct marketing completes a key objective for Gander Mountain by allowing it to become a true multi-channel marketer with the ability to sell products to customers in all 50 states, not just the 23 states in which it currently has retail stores. The size of the potential market in the outdoor lifestyle industry is estimated to represent more than $32 billion in annual sales. Gander Mountain's fiscal 2007 sales were approximately $969 million and the company views direct marketing as a significant opportunity to increase sales and profitability.

According to Gander Mountain's CEO, Mark Baker, the acquisition of Overton's was made to allow Gander Mountain to quickly reenter the direct marketing channel that it left in 1996 when it sold its catalog operation.


“Overton's has executed the transition better than we could have expected. To go from nothing to about 40 catalog pages of Gander Mountain products in under six months demonstrates the synergy of the acquisition and the flexibility of their available capacity,” said Baker.


Later this year, catalogs exclusively carrying Gander Mountain products will be mailed to customers and the company also expects to go live in 2008 with its e-commerce Web site, further adding to its ability to serve customers in all 50 states.