Smartphones, Tablets and EBay Send SkyMall To Chapter 11

alphadogg writes SkyMall, the quirky airline catalog, looks as though it may be grounded before long. Parent company Xhibit has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection and seeks to sell its assets. In an SEC filing, Xhibit explains that it has fallen victim to an "intensely competitive" direct marketing retail industry that now includes the likes of eBay and Amazon.com. Smartphones and tablets are largely to blame for SkyMall's downfall, according to the SEC filing. "Historically, the SkyMall catalog was the sole in-flight option for potential purchasers of products to review while traveling. With the increased use of electronic devices on planes, fewer people browsed the SkyMall in-flight catalog."

Comments

Or:

[rmdingler]

The boom of internet shopping allowed even the uninformed to discover just what a ripoff most of those items were.

Re:Or:

[fermion]

This seems to be the narrative that the parent company, Xhibit Corp,is pushing. Perhaps blaming 'the market' will help it in bankruptcy with creditors, and protect the owners from personal liability.

What is not being widely reported is that Xhibit Corp sold the customer loyalty fulfillment part of the business last year for around $20 million. This was the unit that apparently generated the vast majority of the revenue and probably all the profit. Why would a firm who expected to stay solvent sell of the unit that generated most of the revenue, a unit with guaranteed sales?

It really seems like a scam to create liquidity of the profitable assets and then screw the creditors. The fact that the business was a failing was probably known at the time of the sale. For instance, it was probably known that Southwest Air was going to stop carrying the catalog.

Make Yourself Known

[Mr D from 63]

OK, I've always wondered who actually has ever bought anything from Skymall. I mean, we've all looked, but who has actually done the deed?

Anyone? Don't be afraid to admit it... come out of the shadows and confess.

Re:Why would anyone buy something from those catal

[rudy_wayne]

Smartphones, Tablets and EBay had very little to do with the demise of SkyMall. Long before those things ever existed people weren't buying SkyMall's useless, overpriced crap. It's amazing they held on for this long. They must have a parent company with lots of money to waste.

Kind of

[drinkypoo]

It has nothing whatsoever to do with people shopping on their tablets. It has to do with having something to do, so you don't open the SkyMall catalog. I never ever bought anything out of there anyway because everything was so overpriced, but a lot of people are dumb enough. If they don't even see the catalog, though, their stupidity never generates a sale.

Re:Why would anyone buy something from those catal

[bill_mcgonigle]

Long before those things ever existed people weren't buying SkyMall's useless, overpriced crap.

Obviously false, since people don't stay in a business for decades just to piss away money.

However, the economy is the worst it's been in 60 years (vis-a-vis age-discounted labor participation rates) and so there's just less of a pool of money to waste.

Skymall took some cream off the top but we're down to whole milk now.

Smartphones might have helped it along, but there are people posting here about reading the catalog for entertainment because they couldn't figure out how to bring a book with them on the airplane. Those people aren't planning ahead on their phones either.

Re:Why would anyone buy something from those catal

[mwvdlee]

You've got it the wrong way around; he doesn't understand it because he's NOT a moron.

Re:Why would anyone buy something from those catal

[BarbaraHudson]

Delta used to give out newspapers I remember one evening I got one that they hadn't noticed the front page had a story (with photo) of an airplane crash that morning. I turned to the woman next to me and said "This flight is going to be super-safe. After all, the odds of TWO airplanes crashing the same day."

My humor wasn't appreciated by her, or the stewardesses ...