Another Magazine Published For Wal-Mart Customers
By George Anderson
American Media plans to publish a new magazine, Looking Good Now, exclusively for distribution in Wal-Mart stores beginning in January, reports the New York Daily News.
The new magazine, produced by the editors of Men’s Fitness and Shape, will be published ten times a year and will be sold at Wal-Mart’s checkouts for $1.99. American Media plans to print 750,000 copies of each issue.
It follows the introduction of another magazine developed exclusively for Wal-Mart, All You, by Time Inc. That magazine, which debuted in August, sells for $1.47 at Wal-Mart’s checkstands.
The reader focus of Looking Good Now’s editorial content will be women but Carolyn Bekkedahl of American Media said there will also be articles developed with male readers in mind.
Moderator’s Comments: Are the exclusive deals being made with publishers producing magazines solely for Wal-Mart shoppers the beginning of a trend? How
are (or should) other retailers be reacting to the exclusive deals magazine publishers are making with Wal-Mart?
Wal-Mart, as many know, is the largest seller of single-copy magazine sales in the country. Estimates range from the retailer accounting for anywhere from
20 percent to 30 percent of newsstand sales. –
George Anderson – Moderator