If you ever had the urge to make a purchase while cruising at 35,000 feet, this was your go-to — the always novel, ever-entertaining SkyMall catalog.
But it appears the ubiquitous airline catalog’s days of selling over-the-top wine bottle openers or robot kitty litter cleaners are numbered.
SkyMall and its parent company, Xhibit Corp., filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on Thursday, seeking a court-supervised sale of their assets.
According to CNBC, SkyMall generated nearly $34 million in revenue in 2013 but had only amassed some $15.8 million nine months into 2014.
And that drop appears to be due to a common killer of corporations — the Internet and smart devices. (Video via CNET)
Quoted by The Wall Street Journal, Xhibit Corp. CFO Scott Wiley blamed an immensely competitive retail environment for the company’s decline, adding: “With the increased use of electronic devices on planes, fewer people browsed the SkyMall in-flight catalog.”
Which isn’t surprising. As Digital Trends reported in 2014, in-flight Wi-Fi has become so commonplace it could eventually kill off in-flight entertainment.
SkyMall has managed to stay in business for 25 years and was reportedly reaching as many as 650 million passengers per year. (Video via YouTube / MattGCPC)
An auction for the company’s assets will reportedly be held in March, with a potential sale closing in April. After that, you might just have to look for that armadillo beverage holder you’ve been pining for on Amazon.
This video includes images from BushLeagueTV / CC BY NC 2.0, Caitlin Bell / CC BY NC ND 2.0, lilywarrior / CC BY NC 2.0 and music from Marco Trovatello / CC BY NC 3.0.
