It's Tuesday: 5 Things About The World of Magazines & Media - Issue #19
Are you excited for Halloween? If you're a Halloween enthusiast, what kind of Halloween? Personally I’m more of a pass out candy and look at the decorations kind of fan.
When I was a kid, my parents would often travel for business and when I was in High School, there was nothing better than when they left me alone on the weekends. however, I wasn't a party host. Instead, I reveled in the aloneness and the ability to come and go in my own home as I pleased.
On one such weekend, I was invited to go with some friends to the premier of one of the "Halloween" franchise movies. I'd never been to a horror flick before. When I got home after midnight, I turned on all the lights in the house. Dragged the dog and the cat into my bedroom, and sat on the floor with them until the sun came up.
I haven’t been to a horror movie since.
Speaking of horrors, let’s check out the latest in supply chain news:
Let's check out the latest....
#1 From the Supply Chain Wars: Home Depot is in the shipping business now...
Home Depot executive says chartering ships to sidestep the supply-chain crisis 'started as a joke.' Now it's a critical lifeline for decorations, plumbing supplies, heaters, and more — www.yahoo.com Major companies are scrambling to overcome backlogs. From flying in power tools to chartering ships, Home Depot has worked to overcome port delays.
And this could be an issue too...
Amazon’s Greatest Weapon Against Unions: Worker Turnover | HuffPost Impact — www.huffpost.com The churn inside Amazon’s warehouse and delivery network has created a formidable barrier to organizing.
And then there is this from an indy bookstore in NOLA...
Tubby & BOO's on Twitter: "PAPER: There's a paper shortage, which is driving up costs. Demand for wood is SUPER high (you may have heard about lumber shortages), & there isn't enough to go around, which causes delays in obtaining materials to make paper AND increases the cost." — twitter.com “PAPER: There's a paper shortage, which is driving up costs. Demand for wood is SUPER high (you may have heard about lumber shortages), & there isn't enough to go around, which causes delays in obtaining materials to make paper AND increases the cost.”
#2 More issues for retailers: 712K retail workers quit in August. Plus: From Jennifer Rubin, "We should not have to guess why American workers are quitting en masse."
As retailers shaped holiday hiring plans, 721K retail workers quit in August | Retail Dive — www.retaildive.com Retail industry news, voices and jobs. Optimized for your mobile phone.
Opinion | We should not have to guess why Americans are quitting en masse - The Washington Post — www.washingtonpost.com What do Americans need?
Prior to the pandemic, there was a move throughout the country to improve conditions at US retailers. The pandemic has accelerated that. For the magazine world, this impacts publishers at every single level: reporting, editing, printing, shipping, subscription delivery, retail merchandising. And yes, even on the digital side. There are employment shortages everywhere.
#3 Not surprisingly, the Swiss figured this one out...
These competitors joined forces to allow readers to use a single login across their news sites » Nieman Journalism Lab — www.niemanlab.org OneLog brings together some of the largest and most trusted Swiss media companies. Their single sign-on solution will reach 2 million active accounts in 2022 — representing one in four inhabitants in the country.
One log in for all your media needs? Sign me the *&$k up! Not only that, this system works with both free and paid sub sites? Awesome! C'mon US media, get it together and get something like this set up.
IMHO, Apple News and Apple News Plus is not a neutral provider.
#4 From WaPo: 'More immediate, more visceral' and a lot tougher on Eric Clapton: A plan for reviving Rolling Stone
Perspective | ‘More immediate, more visceral’ and a lot tougher on Eric Clapton: A plan for reviving Rolling Stone — www.washingtonpost.com With Web-savvy new editor Noah Shachtman, the boomer-rock bible wants to shrug off dusty magazine conventions — and take on sacred cows.
As a novice publisher rep (working in newsstand marketing) way, way back in the day, the place I wanted to work the most was Rolling Stone. I thought the RS reps were far and away the coolest of the cool kids in any territory in the US.
It's interesting to watch how these titles re-adjust themselves. I recall sitting through presentations years ago where Stone was trying to tell advertisers that the magazine wasn't for the "kids" anymore.
Plus: I love their cover strategy and hope that it works.
#5 Printing Impressions: Chatham Asset Management makes bid for commercial printer, RR Donnelley
Largest Bondholder Chatham Makes Offer to Acquire RR Donnelley for $7.50 per Share in Cash — www.piworld.com Chatham Asset Management, which sown approximately 14.9% of the outstanding common stock and which is the largest bondholder of Chicago-based RR Donnelley & Sons (RRD), has submitted a letter seeking to buy the remaining shares of North America's largest commercial printing company for $7.50 per share in cash.
Well this is very interesting! Chatham also owns A360 Media, the company formerly known as American Media. They also own Acclerate360, the largest magazine wholesaler in the US as well as affiliated national distribution and data warehouse companies in the single copy business.
And now, your moment of Magazine Zen
And your moment of Magazine Agita
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Got any questions or comments? Please drop me a line. You can always reach me at joe.berger at newsstandpros.com.
That’s it! May the start of your week not be filled with emails that start with “I hope you had an awesome weekend!”