In our high street newsagency we are tracking excellent year on year results for newspapers with dailies up 12% and foreign language newspapers up 25% – based on unit sales.
I’d be interested to hear how newspapers have gone for others through December.
I expect high street, regional and rural businesses will have similar results to the above. I think the Covid bump will be here for some time, hopefully long term. And, by bump, I mean – more people shopping any from malls and more people buying papers, especially foreign language papers.
8 responses so far ↓
1 Steve // Dec 29, 2020 at 8:39 AM
Unfortunately not the same experience for us Mark. Whilst our total income is up by 18 per cent for the month, newspaper sales are down by 8 per cent for the same period year on year. Ytd newspaper sales are down 3 per cent again despite strong overall revenue growth. Stationery sales also remain under pressure.
2 Rui // Dec 29, 2020 at 11:30 AM
Everything has nice growth in December, except newspapers drop 7%. As the commission will drop to only 10% for newspapers in May next year, not care about it.
3 Jonathan Wilson // Dec 29, 2020 at 9:40 PM
I wonder when we will see the first report of a newsagent who has decided there is no longer enough profit in newspapers for it to be worth stocking them .
4 Mark Fletcher // Dec 30, 2020 at 6:51 AM
I’ve now checked in with several more high street suburban newsagencies and their results are similar. For a more accurate bigger picture look I will wait for the Q4 2020 benchmark data.
Jonathan, there are a few newsagents who have quit papers, some have quit magazines.
5 Graeme Day // Dec 30, 2020 at 7:30 AM
Interesting, Did they change their name?
If so what do they call themselves now?
6 Mark Fletcher // Dec 30, 2020 at 7:37 AM
A couple I know of did change their name.
In my own case, one of my stores has not had magazines since we opened it 3 years ago. The old owner had 25 titles. We are directly opposite a SuperIGA with 125 titles.
7 Andrew A // Jan 1, 2021 at 9:53 PM
So Fletcher you boast of having no mags, no lotto, no smokes etc but you sell a shitload of cuddly toys. Why do you even entertain the thought of cuddling up to a ‘newsagency’ tag.
8 Mark Fletcher // Jan 2, 2021 at 8:52 AM
Andrew, tell people who you are so they can understand the context of your harboured bitterness.
I have magazines in 2 of my businesses.
I got out of tobacco years in 1996 when I felt stocking the category did not fit with being a family business.
I had lotteries for 17 years. I’ve not sought to put it into businesses I’ve opened since because, as I have noted before, there is no bankable upside.
As for your comment on ‘cuddly toys’. You have no idea what I sell. I share some information here, but not the whole of each business.
I hope your 2021 improves.