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TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 9, 2010
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4

JC Penney Ditching 'Big Book' Catalog

Oversize book was a relic in Internet age

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(Newser) – Retailer JC Penney is discontinuing its Big Book—the 1,000-page catalog as big as a telephone book—as customers increasingly buy from jcp.com. The Penney Big Book has long been a cultural fixture for many, but younger customers aren't following suit. "It was an outdated way of shopping and the last big book in America," a company official tells the Dallas Morning News. This year's fall/winter catolog will be the last.

In this photo made Tuesday, Sept. 1, 2009, a customer leaves a J.C. Penney store in Tallahassee, Fla.
In this photo made Tuesday, Sept. 1, 2009, a customer leaves a J.C. Penney store in Tallahassee, Fla.   (AP Photo/Phil Coale)
In this Feb. 9, 2009, file photo, shoppers look over jewelry at the J.C. Penney store in North Riverside, Ill.
In this Feb. 9, 2009, file photo, shoppers look over jewelry at the J.C. Penney store in North Riverside, Ill.   (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast, file)
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Mad
Nov 18, 09 5:48 PM CST
Good. Slick, shiny paper used in magazines and catalogs is not recyclable. Kinda surprised they took this long to decide to go green Reply
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tomodachi
Nov 18, 09 5:59 PM CST
agreed
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paul123
Nov 18, 09 9:41 PM CST
I think their motivation was a shift in the way people shop as opposed to an environmental motivation. Either way, it makes good sense.
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JoeQ
Nov 18, 09 6:26 PM CST
Outdated? Back in the day, the soft absorbent paper of the old Sears and Roebuck catalogs was much better than that glossy stuff for cleaning up afterwards in those drafty old outhouses. Then you'd just place a mail order and wait for the old Wells Fargo wagon to come down the street. Reply
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