Regional coverage
At Saks, Johnson has opened the stops: The company has just hired a separate corporate gift sales force, with three regional offices, in the East, Midwest and West.
This week, Mark L. Aaron, Tiffany's vice-president for investor relations, played down the role of the corporate gifts in his company's overall earnings profile. "It's only 5 or 6 percent of the total," he said.
Tiffany's reported earnings of US$708 million in the first half of this year, so even 5 percent -- US$35 million -- isn't exactly chicken feed.
Linda Buckley, also speaking for Tiffany, said the silver and bone china Christmas tree ornaments always sell well, along with their silver stylus for handheld computers (US$65). Pens with the "T" logo are also best sellers, she said.
The difference between the corporate gift catalogs, according to Saks, is that Saks doesn't have to keep its offerings to its own branded products; the company can, and does, offer Burberry raincoats, for example. But on its side, Tiffany argues that because it only sells the Tiffany brand, there is an exclusivity to the products they offer.
But even in the Saks catalog, there are exclusives, sold only by Saks. And there are other items, like the Christofle pebble, that the company says are only offered by the manufacturer -- Christofle itself -- and by Saks.
Johnson pointed to the Dunhill sterling "decision-maker," an inch-and-a-half wide spinner engraved with "Today," "Tomorrow," "Yes" and "No" (US$200).
But perhaps the most original gift is shown on the last page of the catalog: an old-fashioned snow globe -- the kind you shake and the white stuff begins to fall -- with your very own skyscraper inside.
Even with your own building sculpted inside, the cost is still only US$35 apiece. The only caveat: You have to order at least 1,500 of them.
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