Samir Husni, Mr Magazine, is the subject of an interview with Mark Glaser at PBS’ Mediashift. It’s interesting reading.

This will be music to newsagent’s ears since we crave to be the magazine specialists.

Supplementary magazine returns are those returns sent by newsagents to magazine distributors ahead of their recall date. This is usually done because of gross over supply, an uneconomic shelf life or lack of shelf space.

At a meeting of 35 newsagents in Newcastle this morning all but two reported that they have trouble getting the PBL owned Network services to credit newsagents for supplementary returns on time. These newsagents cite month after month of having to call and email chasing credits – often resending the returns from two and three times.

There is no such delay by Network on the other side. They expect newsagents to pay on time and cut off supply if this is not achieved.

The anger in the room of newsagents toward what seems to be a sloppy and labour intensive supplementary return credit practice was palpable.

All newsagents are looking for is for the Network accounts department to treat newsagents as they, Network, demand newsagents treat them. Waiting two and three months for credits for supplementary returns is an awful impost on these small businesses.

It was odd today in Newcastle to hear of so many newsagents reporting that their supplementary returns go missing. Network management must be aware of the problem.

Regional magazines are more popular than ever, or so it seems. Coast, Cravings and Dish are good examples of the genre, covering a specific region from the perspective of the title’s subject matter. While SA Life is the pin-up child of regional magazines – it’s taken the SA market by storm – a swag of more niche titles have entered the market.

Regional magazines, such as the three above, are usually of high content and production quality. They have to be to break through the clutter on newsagency shelves.

In my own newsagency, as best we can tell, we have more than 15 Australian regional magazines. Not SA Life however. .

A challenge for regional magazines is where to place them. While their subject matter dictates current location, there are so many that I’d like to create another area featuring regional magazines and thereby underscore an important point of difference we offer. Such a display may be short term given that few of these titles pay their way. Of the titles we carry, data shows that only three have sales which come close to justifying their existence.

Over the four weeks from May 23, five new partworks will be launched. Most are for children except for Charmed which focuses on a broader demographic. I know from personal experience that Gordon and Gotch has a list of newsagents who aggressively promote partworks – make sure you’re on it if appropriate.

Naturist magazines are dying if the data from my newsagency and others I have seen reflects a national trend.

While never in the top selling titles, Tan, H&E and a couple of others usually paid their way at least. No more – I suspect that these titles are not cash-flow positive in any newsagency.

Without a stocking subsidy to cover labour and real-estate costs, there is no choice but to request that the titles are no longer supplied. While the publishers will not be happy with the position, they need to understand the cost to newsagents of under performing titles. Each magazine pocket had a real-estate cost. Each issue has a labour cost to process arrival, return and upkeep. Then there is the cost of lost opportunity, of having underperforming stock on the shelf.

This is what newsagents must do – decide on the threshold, where depth of range can be cost justified and then kill the titles which fall below. Cash-flow is the ideal measure since it goes to the heart of a healthy business and it is very easy to measure month by month title by title.

It makes no financial sense for me to subsidise Tan and H&E just so I can feel better about my magazine range. The saved pockets will enable me to better display nearby titles which are selling well.

I’ve heard that NDD is this week considering moving to the First Fleet organisation for the packaging and distribution of the magazines they represent. Such a move would most likely lead to a cut in the number of distribution days. Currently, NDD product can be delivered five or six days a week. Under a First Fleet arrangement I would expect this cut to one or two days a week. This would impact newsagent customer service and workflow.

Publishers who moved to NDD because they did not want the First Fleet restrictions would be unhappy.

First Fleet does not deliver everywhere. Often newsagents in previously serviced remote locations have to travel some distance to collect product which previously was delivered to their doorstep.

Newsagents, publishers and even major retailers such as Coles and Woolworths will recall the impact on their businesses when Gotch and Network made the move a couple of years ago. In some states it was six months of disaster. Newsagents, collectively, lost hundreds of thousands of dollars. I know of one major retailer who threatened a major compensation claim at the time – not sure that that proceeded though.

Gotch and Network moved to First fleet to cut costs out of their operation. Project Hero it was called. The hero was their P&L – the move was most successful so it’s logical that NDD looks to achieve the same gains.

Given that its current distribution arrangements are a point of difference I am surprised NDD is seriously considering this move.

From a newsagent perspective it could be another reason to rethink carrying NDD product at all.

The one day over the counter promotion of Australian Women’s Weekly yesterday generated an additional 23 sales of the title.

The designers at The Monthly are pumping out exceptional covers. Innovative and bright. Even in traditional newsagency magazine racking their current masthead stands out. This is crucial given the sea of colour in the magazine aisles.

With the low level of browsing of the news and current affairs space, covers like this one from The Monthly is sure to draw people across for a look.

Ben Kay, manager of my newsagency, set this up today on a stand out the front of the newsagency. It’s not a new promotion but it is uncommon in newsagencies. We often get so caught up in the daily grind that we forget to remind our customers of what’s new and of the deals like the amazing Lindt chocolate with Delicious this month.

While it’s reasonable for newsagents to say that customers will know if new issues are in, we are on a mission to chase impulse purchases in as many ways as possible. We’re treating every sale as a victory. we have to – disruptive construction continues in and around our shop as the landlord ‘adjusts’ the centre.

We’re running a one day magazine promotion to support Australian Women’s Weekly. Any customer buying Take 5 and That’s Life can purchase AWW for $2.00. The team member selling the most will receive a gift as a reward for their effort. Central to this mini campaign is us talking with our customers about AWW. We’re funding the promotion ourselves and promoting it over the counter and on a stand at the front of the shop.

AWW is doing it tough and we felt that an over the counter offer like this could reacquaint some of our Wednesday regulars with the iconic title. I appreciate the offer may be seen by some as devaluing the brand. My view is that having a stack of product on the shelf and not moving for the month is as devaluing.