November 19th, 2009 · No Comments

Green Right Now Reports

If anything makes as big a thud on your doorstep as the Yellow Pages books, it has been the JC Penney semi-annual “Big Book.”

The 2009 Big Book - Collector's item?

But the retailer has decided that that thud has outlived its impressiveness and is taking a heavy toll on marketing costs and forests, announcing today that it will no long print the giant catalog. Instead, JC Penney will dedicate its resources to specialty catalogs and online services.

Explained the press release: “The discontinuation of “big book” catalogs aligns with JCPenney’s ongoing commitment to promote the sustainability of forests and other natural resources, and builds upon its legacy of operating in an ethical and socially responsible manner.”

The company expects to use 25 to 30 percent less paper for catalogs in 2010 – which will continue  “a four-year trend of declining paper consumption.”

JC Penney also will be using lighter weight paper in its remaining catalogs to keep down the wood fiber content.

Plano, Texas-based JC Penney is ”keeping pace with consumers’ changing media habits and continued migration to online versus catalog shopping…,” said Myron E. (Mike) Ullman, III, chairman and chief executive officer, in a press release.

“Big book catalogs have become less relevant, as customers have embraced shopping online,” noted Mike Boylson, executive vice president and chief marketing officer, “where they have ready access to our entire assortment at any time on jcp.com, one of the nation’s largest general merchandise sites on the Internet.”

Yellow Pages, the pressure’s on.