Look, I keep a running list in a yellow legal pad of every catalog that lands in my mailbox in Quincy. Frankly, it's a sorting exercise. Some of these books still earn the postage they cost the sender; others are pitching the same sweater they were pitching when Obama was in his second term. The original version of this article ran back in early 2024 and listed twelve outfits that were supposedly the place to score big. Two and a half years later, frankly, the scoreboard has changed. Let me walk you through what's still standing, what's quietly closing the door, and where the actual savings are.
The Bluestem brands: closing time
If your mailbox in 1998 had Blair, Appleseed's, Draper & Damon's, and Haband all showing up the same week, you weren't alone. Those four were the backbone of the over-60 catalog wardrobe for two generations. They were all eventually rolled into a holding company called Bluestem Brands, which filed Chapter 11 back in 2020 and has been winding things down on a slow burn ever since.
Here's the deal as of 2026:
- Blair stopped accepting new orders around August 2025. The site still loads, but you can't actually buy anything new. Forty-plus years in business, gone with a whimper.
- Draper & Damon's physical stores all closed in spring 2025. Type the old web address in and it punts you over to Appleseed's. Same parent, same warehouse, fewer SKUs.
- Appleseed's is technically still taking orders, but as of May 2025 they eliminated returns and exchanges. Read that twice. You buy a sweater in the wrong size and it's yours. That alone took them off my list.
- Haband was already in trouble before the others. Same situation — a slow fade rather than a press release.
So if you're holding an old Blair catalog from 2024 thinking the Penn-State-blue chinos are still twenty-nine bucks, frankly, that ship sailed. Don't waste the phone call. Move on.
What's actually still working
Now the good news. Several names from the 2024 list are still in business and, in some cases, doing more for the customer than they were two years ago.
Wolferman's Bakery
Owned by 1-800-Flowers, which also owns Harry & David. The English muffins are the headline product — the recipe goes back to 1910 — and they ship a sampler that's reasonable when it's on sale. Watch the price per muffin, not the gift box. A six-pack at twenty bucks is one thing. A "deluxe gift collection" at fifty-eight bucks works out to about seven a muffin once you back out the basket. That's not a deal, that's a basket charge.
Best window: late September through Halloween, before the holiday markup hits.
Oriental Trading Company
Berkshire Hathaway bought them back in 2012 and they've kept the wheels on. If you've got grandkids and you need party favors, vacation Bible school stuff, or fifty rubber lizards for a birthday, this is still where you go. The unit prices haven't moved much in three years, which in this economy is its own kind of bargain. Free shipping has a threshold — it's been creeping up — so check the cart before you click confirm.
Wagmo
Pet wellness and pet insurance. Still operating in 2026, both sides of the business. I'm not in the market — my wife and I haven't had a dog since the kids moved out — but my nephew runs the numbers on this one for his beagle and says the wellness plan pays for itself the first time the dog needs dental cleaning. Whether that's true for your animal depends on the animal. Read the fine print on what's covered before the deductible.
Caldera + Lab
This is a face serum outfit aimed at men, and I'll be honest, it's not in my wheelhouse. The price is what it is — $110 a bottle, $99 if you sign up for the auto-ship. I am suspicious of any subscription that quietly bills you every six weeks, and I'd recommend reading the cancellation terms before you start. If it works for you, it works. Just don't get auto-shipped into a closet full of bottles.
Liingo Eyewear
Heads up on this one. Liingo, which was owned by 1-800 Contacts, rebranded as The Framery. Same business, new name. If you bought a frame from them in 2024 and want a replacement pair in the same shape, search the new site. Single-vision frames typically run in the $90-to-$130 range, and they'll let you try five at home before you commit, which is honestly the best part of the model.
Gentreo
Estate planning software. Still operating. I'm of the school that says a real attorney should write your will, especially if you've got property in more than one state. But for a basic situation where you just need a healthcare proxy and a power of attorney drawn up, the software route is a fraction of the cost — we're talking under $200 versus $800-plus for a lawyer. Know which side of that line your situation falls on.
Underground Printing
Custom T-shirts, mostly. Useful if you're organizing a family reunion or a 5K. Twelve shirts will run you about fifteen bucks each with one-color printing. Not a savings story, just a service that still does the job.
The Frank Costigan rules for catalog savings in 2026
Three things I tell my grandkids when they ask why I'm still looking through paper catalogs in the year of our Lord 2026:
- Compare the shipping number to the savings number. A "30% off" banner on a $40 sweater is twelve bucks off. If shipping is $14.95, you didn't save anything. Frankly, you lost three dollars and a stamp.
- Watch for the sale cycle, don't chase the email. Most catalog brands run three real sales a year: Mother's Day, Labor Day, and the week after Thanksgiving. Everything else is a fake sale dressed up to look like a real one.
- Know which catalogs are zombies. A catalog can keep mailing for two years after the company has stopped fulfilling. Cross-check the website before you spend twenty minutes on a phone order.
One more thing
The old version of this piece had twelve catalogs on it and treated them all as equally exciting. They weren't, frankly, even in 2024. The smart play in 2026 is a shorter list of operations that are actually shipping product, actually honoring returns, and actually pricing things in a way that respects your time. Wolferman's, Oriental Trading, Wagmo, Caldera + Lab, The Framery (formerly Liingo), Gentreo, and Underground Printing are still in that camp. Bluestem's apparel brands have largely left it.
Keep the legal pad. Cross things off as they fold. And don't let a glossy cover talk you out of doing the math.
