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We study a duopoly on a market with horizontal differentiation where firms compete in catalog: firms choose a price and a location in the consumer’ space. Whereas there is no equilibrium in pure strategy for the simultaneous game, we show that an equilibrium always exists in a sequential competition. In this subgame perfect equilibrium the leader chooses a more specific product at a lower price than the follower. Thus the leader earns finally less than the follower. This introduces a tension between the temptation of attrition, which leads to an unstable configuration, and the will to guarantee a stricly positive profit. Classification JEL : L11, H41, D43, M3.