Publishing News
Meredith to Launch Quarterly Magazine With Ayesha Curry
Release: Meredith Corp. has announced that it's partnering with "New York Times best-selling author, restaurateur, chef, television host and producer Ayesha Curry on a new lifestyle magazine. Known for her growing food empire, Curry will infuse her unique perspective on food, family and home into every issue of this new extension of her lifestyle brand. The premier issue will debut on newsstands nationwide in May 2020 with a cover price of $9.99 and an initial newsstand print run of 400,000... The magazine will feature bold photography and a heavy paper stock, as well as a limited amount of advertising opportunities for premium clients to reach a high-quality audience.... Meredith and Curry plan to announce the new magazine's title in the next few months." Meredith tells MBR News that the magazine will be quarterly, and newsstand only for the launch, with subscripton availability likely offered after two or three issues, once consumer response has been assessed.
Avenue Magazine, Site Relaunch Under New Owner
MediaPost: "New York lifestyle publication Avenue Magazine is relaunching as Avenue, under new owner Charles S. Cohen. Cohen, a real estate developer and film distributor-producer purchased the publication at the end of 2018. Cohen Media Group produces and distributes independent and art-house films, including two Oscar nominees "The Insult" and "Faces Places." “We took our time to deliver a completely revitalized magazine, from the design to the contents… and expand on all the elements that readers have loved for years,” Cohen stated. Avenue is led by publisher Michael Calman and editor-in-chief Kristina Stewart Ward. Topics will range from connoisseurship, design and travel to parenting, culture, restaurants and real estate. Avenue’s redesign is by Pentagram. There's also a redesigned website, under the direction of Maggie Maloney, the former digital editor of Town & Country magazine, and a weekly newsletter. The publication will be available in print bimonthly in locations throughout New York and select locations in London and Paris.Created in the 1970s, Avenue was considered one of New York City’s first society magazines. It was distributed exclusively among New York’s high-end residential buildings, with seasonal issues available in South Florida and the Hamptons. In its premiere January/February 2020 edition, Avenue is focused on the theme of “Legacy.” It will feature content from contributors like photographer Peggy Sirota and journalist Amy Fine Collins, who photographed and wrote the digital cover story on American Ballet Theater principal ballerina Misty Copeland.
Hola! U.S. Edition goes Digital Only
MediaPost: "Hola! magazine is shifting its U.S. strategy — ending its print run and producing a digital-only publication geared to upscale millennial U.S. Latinas. Its site, with both English and Spanish editions, focuses on seven verticals: celebrities, health/beauty, fashion, lifestyle, food, royals and videos.Alex Traverzo, marketing director, Hola! and Hola!.com USA, credits “authentic, in-culture conversations” for the site’s success. “Cultural relevance also improves ad effectiveness… and positively impacts the branded content we create for our clients.” Its top digital advertisers include Estée Lauder Companies, Ulta Beauty, Sephora, Mars, Unilever, Target, Toyota, Porcelanosa, and Childrensalon. Hola! U.S. edition claims 2.5M unique visitors across Hola.com sites, and over 3.4M followers across its social-media channels. “2020 marks the year of clear Latinx influence — as a growing electoral force and as one of the nation's leading economic growth engines with buying power set to reach well over $2.3 trillion,” said Sylvia Banderas Coffinet, publisher/chief brand revenue officer... The ¡Hola! Group publishes 30 international editions in 10 languages across five continents. The 75-year old international brand is in 120 countries and is the largest global Spanish publisher in the world"...
Publishers Can Find Pockets Of Growth Amid Drop In Ad Spending
MediaPost's Rob Williams writes: "Magazine ad revenue will slump 9.7% this year to $9.8B, a steeper decline than the 9.1% drop to $11.8B for newspapers, according to estimatesconsulting firm Winterberry Group published last week.The forecast shouldn't surprise anyone in the publishing industry, following a year of consolidation, widespread job cuts and dozens of stories about the threat of "news deserts." The trends are disheartening, but there are some pockets of opportunity for publishers, as the Winterberry report also suggests.U.S. digital ad spending will expand by about 15% to $166.4B this year. It is becoming more fragmented as newer categories such as influencer marketing and digital video carve out a bigger share. While search and paid social will be the biggest categories, publishers can find room for growth in display ads and possibly in digital audio formats like podcasts.Winterberry forecasts that digital audio advertising will expand by 15% to $3.4B, a market that publishers are well positioned to dominate by repurposing written content as spoken-word audio.Even in the realm of offline advertising, publishers can find growth in experiential marketing and sponsorships of live events, where spending is forecast to grow by 3.1% to $48.5 billion, making it the second-biggest category after linear TV. Aside from offline and online advertising, publishers can build their revenue from subscriptions, paywalls, licensing and affiliate fees from online marketplaces. Building those businesses requires specialized expertise, but it can be done."
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Retail News
Walmart U.S. Names New COO and Chief Merchant; Sam's Club Names New COO
SN: "Beginning next month, Walmart will have new leaders in place at a range of key posts, including a new chief operating officer and a new chief merchant at Walmart U.S. as well as a new COO at Sam’s Club. Walmart said in a company memo that Dacona Smith, COO of Sam’s, is slated to take the reins as COO of Walmart U.S. on Feb. 1. With the move, Lance de la Rosa, SVP of operations at Sam’s, is being promoted to EVP and COO at Sam’s. Also moving up is Scott McCall, SVP for entertainment, toys and seasonal at Walmart U.S., who has been named chief merchandising officer of Walmart’s U.S. business. He takes over from Steve Bratspies, who has left the company, according to Walmart. The leadership changes were among a flurry of executive appointments announced in the Jan. 17 memo from John Furner, Walmart U.S. president and CEO; Suresh Kumar, Walmart’s global chief technology and development officer; Marc Lore, Walmart U.S. ecommerce president and CEO; and Kathryn McLay, Sam’s Club president and CEO"...
Fairway Market Denies Reports It Plans Chapter 7 Filing
SN: "Fairway Market today denied published reports that it plans to liquidate and close all of its 14 stores in metropolitan New York.Fairway said Wednesday that it’s in talks to secure financing that would keep stores in operation. The New York-based upscale grocer called reports that it aims to file for Chapter 7 bankruptcy “categorically untrue and disappointing.” This morning, the company also denied the liquidation reports in a tweet. “Despite reports, Fairway Market has no intention to file for Chapter 7 or liquidate all of its stores,” the company said in a statement released today. “Fairway has been engaged in a strategic process and expects to soon announce a value maximizing transaction that will provide for the ongoing operations of stores. Our lenders remain extremely supportive of our efforts. All 14 stores remain open for business, offering a complete range of high-quality, specialty food products, and we look forward to seeing our customers and employees.” The New York Post reported yesterday that Fairway, according to unnamed sources, was “getting ready to call it quits” with plans to file for Chapter 7 and shut all of its stores. Following Fairway’s statement on Wednesday, another Post article said the grocer declined to elaborate on its plans going forward and “didn’t deny that the company was planning to close stores""...
Has BOPIS Changed Holiday Selling?
RetailWire: "On Christmas Eve, Target prepared nearly five times the number of products for curbside pickup of online orders than it did the year prior. The finding provides more evidence that holiday procrastinators have discovered the convenience of buying online and picking up in-store. In a blog entry, Target CEO Brian Cornell saw the last-minute BOPIS strength as a sign that “consumers are more and more comfortable shopping later in the season.”Target’s holiday results also show customers have become comfortable with in-store pickup. Overall, sales through Order Pickup, Drive Up and Shipt-supported same-day delivery were up more than 50% during the November-to-December period. Stores fulfilled more than 80% of items bought digitally. “We knew our same-day services would be a lifesaver for busy guests, and it was great to see so many families adopting them to make life a little easier,” wrote Mr. Cornell. “The speed and convenience clearly resonated.”Other signs of in-store pickup’s strength came in a study from Adobe, which reported BOPIS increased 35% over the holiday period. Shoppers used the option most frequently during the seven days just before Christmas. Adobe believes the core reasons for BOPIS’s growth are getting product sooner than delivery by mail, saving money on shipping costs and theft prevention. Adobe also said that based on its own survey of more than 1,000 consumers, 82% of BOPIS users are likely to shop for additional items at the store. Salesforce calculated that retailers that offered BOPIS saw 56% more active digital shoppers — people who use site search, add a product to their cart, start to checkout or complete a transaction — in the last five days of the season. Additionally, those retailers collected 18 percent more digital revenue share after the shipping cutoff"...
Meijer Expands Program to Keep Food Out of Landfills
PG: "Meijer is kicking its sustainability efforts into high gear by rolling out the Flashfood app to all of its stores beginning in February. The program allows shoppers to purchase foods such as meat, produce, seafood, deli and bakery items nearing their sell-by dates at discounted prices. The grocer began piloting Toronto-based Flashfood in four Metro Detroit stores less than three months ago and has seen in-store food waste decrease by more than 10% with its introduction. "In just a few months, we diverted thousands of pounds of food from landfills," said Don Sanderson, group VP of fresh for Meijer... Meijer uploads surplus close-dated foods to the Flashfood app at up to a 50% discount for shoppers, who then go to the app, select a Meijer store, choose the items they want to purchase and pay directly. Customers pick up their items items in store and confirm their orders with customer service"...
Coca-Cola Won't Drop Plastic Bottles
BBC: "Coca-Cola will not ditch single-use plastic bottles because consumers still want them, the firm's head of sustainability has told the BBC.Customers like them because they reseal and are lightweight, said Bea Perez. The company, which is one of the biggest producers of plastic waste, has pledged to recycle as many plastic bottles as it uses by 2030.But environmental campaigners argue many Coke bottles would still go uncollected and end up in landfill"...
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