SkyMall to relaunch with items people actually find interesting

After the guillotine, it looks like a reprieve for in-flight catalogue, SkyMall , ‘celebrated’ for being packed with unusual and unnecessary items, that it went to the wall earlier this year.

The pages of SkyMall. Image by Antonio Zugaldia / CC BY 2.0

Initially its parent company filed for bankruptcy in January with the plan to auction off the publication this month, but the Yahoo website now reports the possibility of a Lazarus-like resurrection.

The New York Daily News says that the CEO of ScotteVest, the travel clothing company, Scott Jordan, is in negotiation to revive the magazine with a new type of content.

He said that it was his plan to include items in SkyMall “that people actually want to buy.”

Reading an inflight magazine. Image by JO NAYLOR / CC BY 2.0

SkyMall’s revenues dipped alarmingly in the first nine months last year to just under $16million – down from the $33.7 million figure it posted in 2013.

The sharp decline was blamed on the fact that passengers now had more Internet access on planes which gave them less opportunity to flick through the mag.

Former editor-in-chief of PC Magazine, Jim Louderback has been given the task of relaunching SkyMall, said they would seek to use articles explaining how many of its new items work. They would emphasise making its reading an entertaining experience which would target real shopppers and their interests.

The quirky nature of the pages would also be there, but in a smaller part of the new-look edition.

Louderback added the publication would include practical merchandising adverts that could be needed for a trip, such as clothing or a camera. Such goods could then be immediately delivered to the customer’s hotel room.