I was talking with a newsagent yesterday who told me that he ran out of newspapers on one day a week ago and was not able to get additional stock from the publisher so he took fifty copies from a major supermarket he is required to supply as a sub-agent. Within fifteen minutes he was called by his newspaper representative and told to return the fifty copies to the supermarket. His shop was without the newspaper for the rest of the day and he had to point customers to the supermarket. The supermarket returned 40 copies of the newspaper the next day.
there was a time when newspaper publishers relied on newsagents to manage distribution in their ‘territory’. Now, thanks to corporate deals between publishers and some national retailers, newsagents are no longer local managers. As my story illustrates, the new arrangements can treat newsagents as secondary outlets. No wonder newsagents are losing their top of mind position with consumers when it comes to newspapers and magazines.