BY CAROLINE MILLER In August, catalog printers were crossing their fingers. The long-awaited holiday season was just around the corner. It's a time when most catalog printers see an increase of both page counts and quantity orders. And an increase is just what printers needed after a lackluster year. Top 10 -- Catalog Printers Company SegmentSales(millions) TotalSales (millions) 1 Quebecor WorldMontreal $1,105 $6,500 2 Quad/GraphicsPewaukee, WI $900 $1,800 3 R.R. Donnelley & SonsChicago $840 $5,254 4 Banta Corp.Menasha, WI $246 $1,538 5 Arandell Corp.Menomonee Falls, WI $196 $213 6 Perry Judd's Inc.Waterloo, WI $102 $343 7 Spencer PressWells, ME $94 $104 8 Continental Web PressItasca, IL $73 $121 9 Consolidated GraphicsHouston $68 $683 10 Von Hoffmann Corp.Saint Louis $64 $425 Sales figures are based on above printers'self-reported total and market segment breakdowns.At the time, early signs were beginning to indicate that catalog production would indeed increase during the
Perry Judd's Inc.
BY MARK SMITH Deadline rule the realm in the publication market segment. Even the legendary power wielded by advertisers at some point must give way to the march of the calendar, if the next edition is to get out. At the same time, gaining an extra day to sell or a little more time to get late ads in can make a world of difference in profitability. The pressure to make every moment count has provided strong motivation for publication printers to implement computer-to-plate workflows. However, having that weekly or monthly publication date on the cover decreases the margin for error. It's also been
If you know the name of a printing company that you think appears on the Printing Impressions 400 list, but you're not sure of its ranking, here's an easy way to locate that firm. Simply find the company in the alphabetical listings on this page. In addition to each company's name and headquarters location, a corresponding number appears indicating that firm's ranking on the Printing Impressions 400. ABS Graphics (Addison, IL) 400 Action Printing (Fond du Lac, WI) 353 Adams Business Forms (Topeka, KS) 96 AdPlex Inc. (Houston, TX) 102 Advance Business Graphics (Mira Loma, CA) 153 AFL Web Printing (Voorhees, NJ)
BY MARK SMITH This year's election proved to be an all too painful reminder that making predictions can be a very risky business. Dating back to the introduction of radio and then TV, a dire future has been predicted for magazine publishing time and time again. All the while, the number of titles and total page counts has continued to rise. So far, the same trend is shaping up for the warnings sounded about the impact of the Internet on printed publications. The Internet actually has had the opposite effect on the market, with Internet-related titles being one of the fastest-growing categories and Websites/companies
Editor's note: Company rankings for the current and previous years are based on figures reported in 2000. Therefore, companies that revised their 1999 revenues may have changed their '99 ranking as compared with the ranking that appeared in last year's Printing Impressions 500. Similarly, the percentage change in sales is calculated on the most recent information provided.2000 Ranking:Previous Year's Ranking:Company:Total Sales (millions):Previous Year's (millions):Change (%):Principal Officer:Employees:Primary Specialties:Web Offset Units:Sheetfed Offset Units:Other:Ownership:Plants:1 1Quebecor World*, Montreal, Canada$6,540.00$6,160.00+6Charles G. Cavell44,000PUB 29%; ADV 20%; CAT 17%; DM 13%3,156985808Public 160*Parent: Quebecor Inc., Montreal, Canada 2000 Ranking:Previous Year's Ranking:Company:Total Sales (millions):Previous Year's (millions):Change (%):Principal Officer:Employees:Primary Specialties:Web Offset Units:Sheetfed Offset Units:Other:Ownership:Plants:2
BY CAROLINE MILLER It's been a very good year. The prophecies that the Internet would eventually kill off print appears not to be coming to fruition, just yet. In fact, if 2000 is any indication, the Internet appears to have emerged as a most positive development for the catalog industry. Top 10 Catalog Printers CompanySegmentSales(millions)Total Sales(millions) 1R.R. Donnelley & SonsChicago$1,350$5,000 2Quebecor WorldMontreal$1,111$6,540 3 Quad/GraphicsPewaukee, WI$705$1,500 4 Banta Corp.Menasha, WI$215$1,270 5 Arandell Corp.Menomonee Falls, WI$181$197 6 Perry Judd's Inc.Waterloo, WI$96$320 7 Spencer PressWells, ME$88$98 8 Avanti/Case-HoytMiami$77$155 9 Consolidated GraphicsHouston$62$625 10 Brown PrintingWaseca, MN$60$376 According to PIA's Vision 21 study, "As recently as the late 1990s, conventional
BY ERIK CAGLE In an age when the Internet may seem to be slowly eroding the print-on-paper medium, evidence suggests that a complementary relationship is being forged between the pair. This definitely appears to be the case with the catalog industry. According to a study conducted by the Direct Marketing Association (DMA), catalog retailers were expected to generate 5 percent of their sales from the Internet this year, more than double the figure for 1998. This was among the findings made by "The DMA State of the Catalog Industry Report: 1999." "This report contains significant information about how catalogers are turning their direct marketing
BY ERIK CAGLE "Sir, please put the abundant supply of paper down and slowly back away from the edge! Don't stockpile for Y2K; you simply won't need that much paper before the new millennium. C'mon, buddy, don't make the plunge. You have so many other things to invest in without tying money up in a large supply of paper. Don't do it, no!" OK, so it's highly doubtful that the "paper police" would ever have to talk a print customer off the ledge of paper stockpiling. Admittedly, there's no such thing as the paper police or a ledge of stockpiled paper. But there are interested parties
Though caution is key in what will most likely be a light ad market for certain portions of the publications segment, the powerful micro-publishing push and a moderate softening of paper prices should make 1999 one very vibrant year. BY MARIE RANOIA ALONSO Get out the sunglasses—the publications segment is glowing. Sure, the consolidation of titles and, in many cases, the shutdown of titles have impacted players in the publications printing market. But overall the continued strength of special-interest and trade titles, coupled with moderate paper pricing, is allowing the publications segment to virtually beam. Top 10 Publication Printers CompanySegmentSales(millions)Total Sales(millions)1R.R. Donnelley & SonsChicago$1,261.00$4,850.002Quebecor PrintingMontrea$1,009.20$3,480.003World
BY ERIK CAGLE Even as they seem to be up to their M-3000s with jobs, catalog printers can't seem to get enough work. They're as busy as ever, yet a hunger for new applications can't be satiated. Take R.R. Donnelley & Sons, of Chicago, North America's largest commercial printer. Donnelley amassed more than $1.3 billion in catalog printing sales, yet it is developing new market niches with Select Source, which integrates catalog merchandise into specialized Internet sites. Catalogers are matched with subject-specific editorial on high-traffic Web sites. Top 10 Catalog Printers CompanySegmentSales(millions)Total Sales(millions) 1R.R. Donnelley & SonsChicago$1,309.50$4,850.00 2Quad/GraphicsPewaukee, WI$561.20$1,220.00 3Quebecor PrintingMontreal $487.20$3,480.00 4World Color PressGreenwich,
