ROANOKE TIMES 
                      Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times

DATE: Thursday, March 14, 1996               TAG: 9603140081
SECTION: BUSINESS                 PAGE: B-8  EDITION: METRO 
DATELINE: RICHMOND

BEST TO DISCONTINUE ITS PIONEER CATALOG

Best Products Co. Inc. said it will discontinue its catalog this fall, marking the demise of the catalog-showroom format the company pioneered 39 years ago. Best said the catalog doesn't give the competitive advantage it did when the first one was mailed in 1957.

Company officials said the catalog locks Best into merchandise at specific prices months before most of it reaches consumers.

Kenneth M. Gassman Jr., a retail analyst with Davenport & Company of Virginia Inc., estimates the catalog costs about $15 million to $20 million to produce.

Company officials said Best will redirect the money into marketing and advertising programs.

- Associated Press

LENGTH: Short :   26 lines