Earlier this year, we all took a moment of silence to grieve when we found out that the SkyMall catalog had filed for bankruptcy. The in-flight shopping catalog was notorious for providing airline passengers entertainment through its weird and bizarre selection of items. For those of us who had an affinity for glow-in-the-dark toilet seat covers and hot dog scented t-shirts, the loss of SkyMall was immeasurable.
But for all of you SkyMall catalog diehards out there, there is some good news on the horizon. Scott Jordan, the CEO of ScotteVest, is in talks to bring back the SkyMall brand by filling the magazine with items people actually want to buy. Boring.
Joining Jordan will be Jim Louderback, the former editor in chief of PC magazine. "We'd not only include listings for, say, noise-canceling headphones, but also an article explaining how the technology actually works," Louderback told Yahoo! Travel. "We're going to make it an entertaining experience, a curated shopping journey targeted at real travelers and their interests."
Despite the new highbrow offerings, the new team still wants to pay homage to the esteemed heritage of SkyMall via some wacky items. Louderback explains that the magazine will feature fake items like pet rocks and Google Glass knockoffs as a sort of comic relief.
But the question still remains: Why would anyone buy something from an in-flight catalog anyway? If a passenger wanted to buy noise-canceling headphones they probably would just order them on Amazon. But the new SkyMall model is hoping that convenience will drive in-flight purchases. The plan is that customers can order a new camera for their trip on the plane and have it delivered to their hotel room the day after they reach. The catalog will also allow customers to purchase tours, hotel rooms and normal travel gear at prices that rival discount websites.
Though this business plan doesn't seem as fun as one filled with Bigfoot garden Yeti statues, it does seem smarter.
Photo: lilywarrior | Flickr
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