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Magnetix – a terrific magazine specialist in Wellington

The Magnetix store in Wellington New Zealand is the best specialty magazine retail business I have seen. It is ideally located in a busy city, well laid out, makes browsing easy, carries a diverse range of magazines, respects categories and segments and engages in creative in-store merchandising. Plus, their coffee is good.

From the outside of the store on the street to deep inside you can see this is a specialist business.

Here are some photos from my visit yesterday. First up, the front of the shop.

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Here is a closer look at the table at the entrance. This is terrific for encouraging people to stay and drink their coffee and take a look at a few pages of the newspaper.

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Just inside the entrance, to the left, is a wall of magazine posters, displayed in a way that makes them more interesting than we usually see magazine posters handled.

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Inside and past the coffee counter is the entry to the magazine / card part of the business. Here is their father’s Day pitch. At other times of the year it features different seasons.

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Their approach to displays can be seen in the magazine section. Check out this display for British magazines. Brilliant.

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And see their promotion of Great Trains West as part of a Father’s Day pitch near the train magazines.

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Magazine sections are well signposted and easily browsed. In each category and segment the shopper is spoilt for choice, making the business a destination for the magazine lover.

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The magazine pitch continues at the counter,l with a small selection of other items.

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Here is a view from the counter looking to the back of the store.

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Here is a view looking from deep inside the business out to the entrance.

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Magnetix is a terrific business. It is a genuine specialty business. You could only have one of these in a city the size of Wellington, population of around 200,000. Having only one shop and it being the destination in the city for special interest magazines offers a traffic model that could work, even at magazine margins.

Don’t assume their magazine displays look like what you have in a newsagency. They are nothing like it. More space. Shop floor assistance. Hip staff – nerdy about magazines. They go deep into special interest and this is the key. Plus they import plenty of titles direct.

Some other points worth noting: Magnetix is in a high street situation (not in a mall), it is located away from the main traffic area of the CBD, meaning rent could be less, the coffee is run as a separate business in that it has its own traffic – it is not run as a bolt on to the magazine business. Both are best-practice.

If you are ever in Wellington, check it out. Newsagents will find it fascinating. We can learn a lot from what they are doing at Magnetix.

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  1. K Quin

    I’ve always loved magnetix, from the coffee staff to the atmosphere of the whole place. It is such a nice friendly place to be – and you can always find your magazine.

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