Newsagents have been advised that the March issue of Gardens & Outdoor Living magazine, published by Horwitz Publications, will be its last edition. The question newsagents now have is how long to keep the title? The title has been pulled because of poor sales – below 40% sell through in many stores. Some newsagents have told me that following yesterday’s announcement, as proof that the publisher now gets what newsagents knew, they will early return the last issue and use the space more productively. Seems fair.
Mark
The publisher concerned is now looking at changing this title to a seasonal magazine.
I can see it now; received 30 on 1st July 2007; return date December 2007. No compensation for extended shelf life.
If the publisher thinks that I will hold another seasonal magazine to fund the distributors cash flow, they are sorely mistaken. We are all at the mercy of the worst drought on record; the publisher blames the drought for poor performance of this title. I strongly suggest that if this publisher expects newsagents to accept this title in a new format then they need to look closely at how they intend to roll out another seasonal magazine that sits on shelves for 3-6months with no recompense.
Vaughan