The Sears catalog ran for 105 years. When it was discontinued in January 1993, it was the longest-running general merchandise catalog in American retail history. At its peak in the mid-twentieth century, the Sears "Big Book" was the largest circulation periodical in the United States — not a magazine, not a newspaper, …

Print catalogs did not disappear. They contracted — significantly, across most of retail — but the brands that continued mailing print books did so because the print catalog still drives measurable revenue for their customer segments. Brands that mail print in 2026 have made a deliberate decision to continue spending …