I’m in Singapore and noticed partworks being sold in 7-Eleven. While this probably because there are no specialist magazine retailers here, it was a shock to see such a specialist title in a convenience store with only a small range of magazines. The placement tells me that the giant 7-Eleven corporation can specialise when necessary, that they are a threat beyond the magazines they stock today.
We need to not look at the 7-Eleven model as set in stone. This is a very nimble worldwide organisation which leverages knowledge from one region into another where appropriate.
I know plenty of newsagents don’t like partworks. To them I’d say careful what you wish for. Imagine is partworks completely moved from our channel. That would be a wedge move that would encourage other departures. Play that out a bit and you can see where it lands.
The problem, of course, is that the terms under which we are supplied magazines are unfair and commercially disadvantage us against our competitors and that hurts our customers.