Hammacher Schlemmer’s roots are a high-quality hardware
store that opened on New York’s Bowery in 1841. In 1926, the store moved uptown
to 147 East 57th Street, where it began to focus on the unique, innovative
merchandise that it’s famous for today. (The landmark store is still there,
currently under renovation.) The family sold the business in 1953; it’s now
owned by the heirs of the man who founded the Bradford Exchange. The main About
Us page (“America’s Oldest Catalogue” in the footer, “165 Years of History” on
the page itself) is here.
OVERALL GRADE: A+
Products/Services:
A+++
There are only two Hammacher Schlemmer About Us pages, and
both are excellent. 165
Years of History is a one-page description of the company’s evolution from
a hardware store to a purveyor of unusual products of high quality. The story
is told with a flowing style and enough pertinent details and anecdotes to make
it fascinating: e.g., the fact that Hammacher Schlemmer issued a catalogue of
over 1,000 pages in 1912 and sold the world’s first pop-up toaster (1930) and
electric razor (1948). The pictures are perfect: one of the original hardware
store with serried ranks of employees; one of the Motorist Touring Kit for
early automobiles; one of the pop-up toaster.
Our Commandment 5
of About Us pages is “Honor thy readers and their attention spans.” Few
timelines do this. Most expect us to click a lot of buttons and somehow to retain
reams of minutiae while trying desperately to get a big-picture view.
If we gave an award for best corporate timeline, Hammacher
Schlemmer’s timeline
would be the reigning champion. Its content and layout are stellar. The years
run across the top. In rows below are Hammacher History, U.S. History,
Extraordinary Items, Media (mentions in the press), and Catalogs. The
illustrations are, hands down, the best use we have seen on a website of
archival material. They range throughout the company’s long history and are
categorized so the context is always clear. They’re accompanied by terse but
informative text—just the kind of corporate storytelling that works best these
days.
Hammacher Schlemmer’s two About Us pages are an unbeatable
combination: a well-written overview that stresses the company’s products and
goals, with a well-designed timeline with substantive visual and verbal content.
Personality: A
The About Us pages offer no information about the company’s
owners. That’s OK, since the company’s mission – to find innovative, unique
products – is clear. In fact, since the owners are associated with the Bradford
Exchange, whose mission is quite different, it’s a wise choice not to broadcast
the connection. Millions of Facebook denizens notwithstanding, not everyone
needs to know everything about you.
Accessibility: A
The Contact
Us page is very thorough, with several options for reaching Customer
Service, Product Help, Corporate Gifts, and the New York store, plus contacts
for press inquiries and inventors. We particularly appreciate the fact that the
online contact
form asks whether we’d like a response via email, mail, or phone.
TAKEAWAY
If you’re going to include a timeline, emulate Hammacher
Schlemmer: hone it until its content (text and visuals) is substantive and
engaging, and make sure the context is always clear from the layout.
Does your Web site’s “About Us” section
accurately convey your organization’s history and capabilities? Every two weeks
we evaluate one example, grading it in three areas that are key to potential
customers: Personality (Who are you?), Products/Services (What can you do for
us?), and Accessibility (How can we reach you?). To talk about your About Us
page, contact us!
Today’s example was chosen at random;
CorporateHistory.net has no ties to this company.
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