The Week magazine ceased publishing in Australia on October 12, 2012. I liked the magazine but would never actually pay for it. I can get the same review of the week’s news free online. Anyway, it died.
I was shocked to see The Week in one of my newsagencies on the weekend. Was this a miracle? Had The Week has risen from the dead?
No, this is no miracle, it’s the UK edition from Dennis Publishing and distributed in Australia by the Bauer owned Network Services. This is no miracle, it’s a scam! There is no justification for sending the UK edition here, taking up our shelf space and using our cash.
The Week failed in Australia, abysmally. The failure cost newsagents money as we were oversupplied the title consistently. Now, some genius has decided that the UK version of The Week should be on our shelves.
Dennis Publishing and Network Services should know better. This is a sneaky move. Okay, they may sell some copies but why have I been sent stock in my store out in the Melbourne suburbs where the Australian edition failed to sell? Why didn’t Network ask me before they decided to spend my money this way? They want me to pay them on time yet they deny me mechanisms with which to reasonably control the level of debt.
This supply of the UK edition of The Week is another form of oversupply. It disrespects and abuses newsagents in a way Network would not treat the supermarkets or other magazine outlets.
Network and Dennis Publishing are treating us as suckers.
I am writing to the ACCC, documenting this example with history of the Australian title. Network will argue to the ACCC that I can stop the title and I can return unsold copies. Well, it’s not as easy as that. I have to submit the request and they have to decide if it’s acceptable. I can’t just cut the title.
FYI: The company behind the Australian issue of The Week, Dennis Publishing Pty Ltd, collapsed owing a considerable sum – see the creditors report here.
Same thing happening with Grazia, Australian edition now dead and the English Edition shipped in as Air freight. Though the two were also run concurrently for a few months.
Pathetic. Had not realised the rip off until reading this Mark. Early returns.
Mark you would have to be the biggest supporter of mags this Industry has ever seen and you are to be thanked for your efforts.
But I do see that you have a commercial reason as well as obvious love of mags.
I don’t think mags will survive in the Newsagency of the future other than a “traffic genertator” certainly not a “profit generator.
The supermarkets have the correct model based on “Planagrams” and far better margins and commercial arrangements.They only get what they want not what the distributor wants!
My shop over the last twenty years has gone from 100sm to 290 sm and is heading back to about 120sm when next it’s time to rip up $200/300k. No longer can i afford mags space costing anywhere from $700/ $1500 sm in my case about $850psm. I will need to lift GP% from say 38/40% up closer to 50%.
State Federations are no longer relevant and they should close say within two years.
National Federation I’m not sure about but feel they also are not relevent.
The future is all about Marketing groups and probably drop the word newsagency over time to reflect The Marketing GRoup rather than a ‘generic” term no longer relevant.
Some/many may disagree that’s your right but at least have some constructive discussion to balance Mark’s position.
Dont get me wrong Mark is a genuine leader and top of the class in retailing but his position on mags needs to be challenged.
MIchael
Nextra Albany Creek News.
Brisbane
Michael, I have no commercial reason other than a desire to help newsagents.
You have been negative about magazines for many years, all the time I have known you. Maybe your success, or otherwise, is as a result of your negativity.
Magazine sales in my newsagency are up year on year, against trend.
Magazines represent important foot traffic. What we do with that will define our future. Ignore the category at your peril – maybe as you are discovering.
Associations are not relevant to the retail newsagency model given the rapid expansion of diversity.
Michael, challenge me all you like. I can grow magazine sales in almost any newsagency if they do what I say. I appreciate that sounds arrogant. It’s meant to be delivered with frustration as too many newsagents are like you – killing off an important category. yes, magazines have an overhead … but they also present opportunities.
for years here I have been saying that the ideal newsagency in a centre (incl gifts etc) is around 150 sq m.
In terms of occupancy cost, newsagents need to negotiate better. This is why I have happily just taken on a new shopping centre location.
I think this makes me realise that there will be newsagents in the future that publishers will deal with and others they wont to maximise the sale of their product. I see magazines (specialty) as a point of difference and a feature of my shop is that we will try and get any variety of magazine in for our customers.
Couldn’t agree more Chris. With such a vast range of magazines available only to newsagents we are mad not to use them as our point of difference. There’s no competition here and it doesn’t require much time to manage magazines well.
Ditto Chris and Jenny , specialists will always perform better.
Associations are a waste of money. Newsagents should quit and save their money.
Network Services. What would expect?
We have had the same thing happen with FHM. Getting the UK edition now, as a good a seller as the Australian version.
Hi mark, I would like to get in contact with some of the contributing journalists of the week publication before its closure. Do you have any people you could refer me to? I am writing a news article for my university and finding it hard to find any information about it.
Sorry Nicole I don’t have any details.
No worries,
Great article by the way!