This photo shows how a Coles supermarket in Melbourne had Country Style magazine shoved into their magazine fixture yesterday morning. It was the second Coles I had been in in 24 hours with this magazine handled this way. This is appalling for Country Style and all magazines as it screams: we don’t care about magazines!
What does the publisher expect? – they sent considerably more volume than the space allocated for the title (because of the free shopping bag packaged with the magazine) and, I suspect, did not pay for extra space in Coles.
Yes, I get that the bag is a free gift and designed to drive sales. All it has done here is facilitate a messy display that disrespects the product.
In your typical newsagency you would not see this. We are more professional at handling magazine issues that require more space than usual for the title. Sure, we complain about it, but we do the work – because we are proud of our shops and how we represent what we sell. Some newsagents store the extra stock in the back room while others shuffle magazines around to accommodate a larger than usual issue.
The irony of the situation is that supermarkets like Coles get more money than newsagents from some publishers to support magazines yet they support the category with less care than newsagents. That is wrong and publishers ought to see it – but they won’t because they think they need supermarkets. More fool them.
Publishers who want their magazines handled professionally ought to quit supermarkets, support newsagents and fund newsagents so we can make a living wage from the category. This would be a win for the publisher and a win for newsagents. It would stop the mess in this photo at Coles, a mess that disrespects Country Style magazine.
What really galls me is the ignorance and arrogance of the publishers behind the MPA trial when they say newsagents need more training. This photo and what I saw in the other Coles show that oles staff need more training.
If you see similarly appalling magazine displays in supermarkets please send photos to me so we can shine a light on this.