Month: January 2008

Hmmm, Energy Saving for Dummies and Water Saving for Dummies.  Do we really need these titles?  Here in Ausytralia the Federal, State and Local Goverbnments have provided considerable information on both subjects.  The energy companies, too, have provided considerable information.  Plus there are websites and other communication outlets connected to environmental groups and other community groups.  So, I wonder about the value of these $9.95 books, the production of which would have consumed considerable energy.  I think I’d prefer these titles not be distributed here.

We are playing into traditional society pressures by placing pregnancy magazine titles next to our wedding magazine titles.  Not that it matters but I was curious about what our customers thought.  I conducted a straw poll over a couple of days and asked four under 25 customers and four over 40 customers.  All the under 25s and one over 40 said it would be better if they were separated and thee over 40s thought they went well together.  Hardly earth shattering.  In a couple of instances my question led to a chat about other magazines and from that came valuable insight.  It’s always worthwhile talking with customers in the body of the shop.

Back to the pregnant wedding placement, we are going to think about how we can dilute the visual statement that one leads to the other.

On hearing the news of the closure of the Bulletin yesterday, Ben Kay managing our newsagency at Forest Hill and Simon Frost managing our newsagency at Frankston independently of each other whipped up signs promoting the last issue of the Bulletin.  They sold out.  Fantastic initiative.

We have tapped into the respectful approach Who has taken to Heath Ledger’s death and displayed the product at the front of the shop – but without the visual noise we would bring to such a display.

This issue of Who is a wonderful tribute, a keepsake for any Heath Ledger fan.  I am sure it will be a huge success.

I was wrong in my expectation that another weekly would come out early and publish today.

The Bulletin, the magazine for which Australia’s first newsagencies were created in the 1800s and Australians longest running magazine, is closing.  The current issue is the last according to the ACP Magazines’ announcement.  Given the link to the reason for which we were created, this is a sad day for newsagents.  Sure, the Bulletin was not a shadow of its former self.  It’s closure must give us pause to contemplate our own longevity as a channel – not in a doom and gloom sense but thinking about the future and the opportunities before those of us with the guts to seize them.

I received this from a newsagent who participated in our Tower Systems online business management event yesterday:

I had my phone on speaker phone sitting at my computer which is next to where my staff unpack magazines. When I got off the phone and wandered down to the front of the shop to discover a different shop to the one I had before the online meeting. The good ideas you raised had been put in place by one of my ladies (with big ears!!). We have a magazines display with our papers, on the front counter, and a wire display frame near the lotto counter. She wants to know if she will have time tomorrow to tidy and rearrange the whole mag section. Such keenness has never been seen.

So the moral of the story is, the next online meeting make sure my phone is on max volume.

I love stories like this – people taking initiative based on new information.  That it was overheard makes it all the more special.

Part of the session yesterday was about found space, you know, the space we create out of thin air in retail off of which we can sell products. The best found space is that next to or near products which generate considerable traffic – newspapers, lottery counter, high volume magazines etc. While suppliers push us to display their products where they think they will work, it is often when we act as retailers and place products where we see opportunities that sales kick on.

Tower Systems is hosting these free business building meetings to help newsagents grow their businesses.

I received an email from someone asking about the aisle end to which I refereed in my post about our Wheels magazine display earlier today. In addition to our Wheels feature, we have this display for Burke’s Backyard.  (All photos are from our Forest Hill location.)

And we have this display for InStyle magazine.

Plus we have several other magazine displays to drive impulse sales. Not everyone has the space or the resources to run with displays like this. We have found that in our situation the effort is rewarded.

File this under careful what you wish for. A few weeks ago I complained about ACP Magazines shutting down supplying in-store display materials over Christmas. Well, the drought is over and we have more material than we can reasonably use. Burke’s Backyard is this week’s feature title. Then, today, we receive display material for Wheels. Rather than take down Burke’s or the display we have for InStyle on our traditional aisle end displays, we have created a new space – next to newspapers, for Wheels:

We chose placement next to the newspaper stand since we feel it is more appropriate to the Wheels target customer. Time will tell. Hopefully the folks at ACP will be happy with this even though it is not a power end display.

The free cookbook with this week’s issue of Woman’s Day is the best magazine add-on I’ve seen in a long time.

Shoppers know the value of the cookbook – as opposed to glasses, tea towels and other items where the value is less understood. The other aspect of the cookbook which I like is that it’s part of the broader ACP Magazines brand.

We are supporting the cookbook giveaway by placing the title in several locations and drawing attention to the offer.

Rap-Up is a good magazine for the target market but it’s not working well enough in my newsagency.  I cannot justing the pocket the single copy occupies.  With these single copy titles we either need more and some support to grow the sales or to cut the title.  I have decided to do the latter.  The space saved in the music section will be used well to support another title.  Rap-Up is a title which could benefit from a magazine czar who has access to newsagent sales another data – who could help the title find a better home.

The Magazineer is a wonderful blog for people who make and love magazines. If you’re a publisher, submit your titles for a review.

Wal-Mart, the largest retailer in the US, has cut 1,000 magazine titles from its stock file. While some titles are no longer published, most are. Titles such as The Economist and the New Yorker< Business Week and Better Homes and Gardens. See the New York Post coverage here and the MediaBistro take here.

The decision by Wal-Mart focuses attention on magazines. It will get other US retailers thinking and maybe cutting. It will stop some new titles launching. It will make some consumers question why they read magazines – if it’s not at Wal-Mart it can’t be that good.

Wal-Mart has to do what is right for its shareholders. It always has. Ask any family connected with a small business in middle America. This giant retailer has, in my view and the view of many, wrecked many small towns and treated many employees appallingly. So why expect them to support a socially important media channel?

Maybe the Wal-Mart decision is an opportunity for small business in the US? That’s how I see it – despite my bias against Wal-Mart. However, such a Pollyanna view of the world is probably not practical.