Montgomery Ward - As Online Retailer

As Online Retailer

At its height, the original Montgomery Ward was one of the largest retailers in the United States. After its demise, the familiarity of its brand made its name, corporate logo, and advertising to be considered valuable intangible assets. In 2004, catalog marketer Direct Marketing Services Inc. (DMSI), an Iowa-based direct marketing company, purchased much of the intellectual property assets of the former Wards, including the "Montgomery Ward" and "Wards" trademarks, for an undisclosed amount of money.

DMSI applied the brand to a new online and catalog-based retailing operation, with no physical stores, headquartered in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. DMSI then began operating under the Montgomery Ward branding and managed to get it up and running in three months. The new firm began operations in June 2004, selling essentially the same categories of products as the former brand, but as a new, smaller catalog.

The DMSI version of Montgomery Ward is not the same company as the original. The new company does not honor obligations of the previous company, such as gift-cards and items sold with a lifetime guarantee. David Milgrom, then president of the new firm, said in an interview with the Associated Press: "We're rebuilding the brand, and we want to do it right."

In July 2008, DMSI was announced to be on the auction block, with an auction scheduled for August 2008. The Catalog retailer Swiss Colony purchased DMSI on August 5, 2008. Swiss Colony – which changed its name to Colony Brands Inc. on June 1, 2010 – announced it would keep the Montgomery Ward catalog division open. The Web site launched September 10, 2008, with new catalogs mailing in February 2009. A month before the catalogs' launch, Swiss Colony President John Baumann told United Press International the retailer might also resurrect Wards' Signature and Powr-Kraft store brands. Montgomery Ward started promoting six exclusive new brands in July 2012 in ts Early Fall 2012 catalog and on its website– Devonshire Collection, Apothecarie Collection and Elysian Forest Collection furniture, Chef Tested kitchen products, Comfort Creek towels and sheets, and Freshica shoes.