Sky Mall

Sky Mall is a catalog that is distributed to airline passengers generally in the seat pocket in front of their seat, that customers can order from using the on board airplane telephones or after leaving the aircraft. The catalog distributes products from a number of luxury good and specialty manufacturers. In these respects it is most analogous to retailers like The Sharper Image (whose products Skymall carries) or Brookstone.

Headquartered in Phoenix, Arizona, Sky Mall is a joint venture of The Greenspun Corporation and Spire Capital.

History

SkyMall, Inc. was founded in 1990 [http://www.skymall.com/shopping/aboutskymall.htm] by Bob Worsley, Alan Lobock, Matthew Del Bianco, and Graham Alcock. It originally offered goods from other companies' catalogs for same-day delivery to customers arriving at select U.S. airports or, if the customer preferred, to their home or office via express shipment. To accomplish the same-day delivery promise, SkyMall operated its own warehouses located on the grounds of or near the selected airports.

Shortly after launching, the company purchased contracts from another company that allowed it to offer catalog merchandise to travelers flying many of the nation's air carriers. This move, which did not receive the support of all of the founders, required a significant shift in SkyMall's focus and operations, ultimately forcing the company to abandon its same-day delivery service and nearly bankrupting the company.Fact|date=March 2007 The company now offers goods from other companies' catalogs for drop-ship to the customer via third-party transport firms.

Departments

* Apparel & Accessories
* Automotive & Hardware
* Computers
* Electronics
* Health & Wellness
* Home Living
* Office
* Outdoor Living
* Pets
* Seasonal
* Sporting Goods
* Toys, Hobbies & Collectibles
* Travel

Participating stores

* VEGAS.com
* LasVegas.com
* Alsto's
* Diversions Catalog
* Driving Comfort by AutoSport
* Footsmart
* Frontgate
* Gadget Universe
* Hammacher Schlemmer
* Improvements
* Plow and Hearth
* Sharper Image
* Steiner Sports
* Successories
* TigerDirect
* The Greatest Gift
* Brookstone

Popular culture

Sky Mall is often parodied in shows for selling sometimes unusual products. In 2006, comedy troupe Kasper Hauser released the book "SkyMaul: Happy Crap You Can Buy from a Plane" as an unauthorized parody of the Sky Mall catalogue. It features absurd products such as a Banana-Organizer, Self-Pepper Spray, Llama Cycle, and Living-Room Beluga Aquarium.

There is a song called "SkyMall" by Jonathan Coulton in which he brought nothing to read on a plane and started shopping.

Heywood Banks made a song entitled "Turbo Nose Hair Clipper" inwhich he purhases the titular product from a SkyMall catalog.

Webcomic creators Penny Arcade have mocked Skymall in [http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2005/9/26/ this strip] .

The comedy site Progressive Boink have an ongoing satire piece in which they lampoon several SkyMall products [http://progressiveboink.com/index.php?/archive/skymall-part-one/] .

External links

* [http://www.skymall.com Sky Mall website]
* [http://www.onlinemarketingtoday.com/news/articles/direct-marketing/direct-marketing-article-15399.htm Article about Sky Mall from Online Marketing Today]
* [http://www.slate.com/id/2164517 "'Where the Wings Have No Shame': What's Skymall culture really about?"] , "Slate.com", April 18, 2007