Minimum Security, Maximum Exposure for Martha Stew
Alderson, WV, Dec. 5--Holiday decorating at the Federal Prison Camp for Woman at Alderson should be minimalist this year. But then again, it's always minimal at the minimum security prison in West Virginia, according to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
So as Martha Stewart, the nation's most notorious desperate housewife, settles in for a quiet Christmas as inmate number 55170-054, it's unlikely she'll pull out the tasteful silver and ice blues of her new "first snowfall" holiday line available at Kmart stores everywhere.
But even if Martha is not with us in person this holiday season, there's still plenty of Martha in stores, homes and corporate boardrooms, and her name sells magazines, furniture, sheets, ribbons, paint, books and even "Free Martha" ornaments.
Some consumers may wince at supporting "that woman" convicted of lying about a stock sale, but many businesses are noticing that customers either don't care what Stewart may have done or care enough about the decorating maven to keep buying, no matter what.
"I didn't see that she did anything wrong," said Tracy Lyons, who has all of Stewart's books at her Sandy Lake home in Mercer County.
Apparently, a lot of other Martha Stewart fans feel likewise. Subscription renewals of her magazine, Martha Stewart Living, are running well ahead of industry norms.
And shares of stock in Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia Inc. recently hit a three-year high, driven in part by expectations that a Sears-Kmart merger will put more things Martha in more homes, thanks to the addition of all those Sears stores.
Never mind that the company lost nearly $15 million, or 30 cents a share, on lower revenue in the third quarter, or that it is projecting a loss in the 20-cents-a-share range for the final three months of the year.
Still, the company recently bought a second magazine to tap into the natural living trend and plans a TV show featuring its Everyday Food brand and an ensemble cast. But it hasn't abandoned the star homemaker who could return to television after her release from jail in March. Neither have magazine readers. Circulation dipped 10 percent in the second half of 2002 then headed steadily back up beginning in 2003
"I think what it says is the consumers have not been affected by this," said independent circulation expert Dan Cappell, hired by Martha Stewart Living to audit the flagship magazine.
The Martha Stewart scandal began unfolding in the summer of 2002, when allegations that she may have been involved in insider trading at a friend's pharmaceutical company first surfaced.
Ultimately, the homemaking diva was found guilty of obstructing justice and lying to the government about why she unloaded her Imclone stock in late 2001, just prior to a Food and Drug Administration decision that sent the shares plunging. In October, she began serving her five-month sentence.
Attention to detail -- some say obsession -- always set Stewart apart, leaving her open to satire and scorn from those watching her earn a fortune whipping up the perfect chocolate macaroons and mango lassi.
But Stewart's meticulous standards and fastidiousness nonetheless were appreciated by customers and by Pleasant Hills store owner Michael A. Shull, who two years ago decided to add her furniture line -- even though she was in trouble with the law.
"She did so much background research on it. It's just done to a T," the owner of Bradley Michaels Furniture said of the Martha Stewart line. Since adding the brand, Shull also has come to appreciate the care taken in regular updates faxed by the North Carolina factory that supplies the furniture.
They keep him up-to-date on everything from furniture sales (up 23 percent since her sentencing) to personal developments (she checked into her West Virginia prison cell in October). With bemusement, Shull noted that it was helpful to know the latest when customers asked questions.
His own sales of Stewart lines are up 10 perce
