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Masthead News Archives
October 2002
October 2002
October 31, 2002
Retailer locks up airport contracts
TORONTO-HDS Retail North America-Canada's largest specialty retailer operating 270 stores exclusively in airports, hotels and malls-has been awarded news-book-and-retail concessions at Toronto's Pearson International Airport and the Ottawa International Airport. HDS has held the concessions at Pearson for more than 20 years; it's been in Ottawa since 1986. The Pearson contract will extend to 2009 with an option to run to 2012; The Ottawa contract will extend to 2012. HDS operates under such retail banners as Great Canadian News Company, Great Canadian Book Company, Relay (airports), Maison de la Presse (in Quebec), Piccadilly Place (hotel gift shops) and Xpress stores in malls. When Pearson's $4.4 billion Terminal 1 opens next October, it will hold 28 of HDS's 37 Pearson stores. "It's a multi-million dollar investment [to build the new stores]," says Gerry Savaria, HDS vice-president of marketing.
October 29, 2002
Chapters/Indigo drops Guns&Ammo
TORONTO-Gun magazines were shooting blanks on Canada's newsstands, says the country's largest big-box magazine retailer. Indigo Books & Music, which also owns Chapters Inc., Coles and SmithBooks-277 stores in all-has decided not to carry magazines focusing on firearms and/or ammunition. Tracy Nesdoly, Indigo's vice-president of communications and product development, said the category's poor sell-through rates (less than 35%) prompted the decision, which was made "several months ago." Hunting magazines are not affected. While Indigo would not name which magazines it no longer carries, recent data from auditor ABC suggests they were: emap USA's Rifle Shooter (2,150 single copy sales in Canada on a total circ of 66,000), emap's Guns&Ammo (2,067 single copy sales in Canada on a total circ of 585,000) and San Diego-based American Handgunner (1,614 on a total circ of 66,000). Strong regional pockets of demand for these titles in Canada did not exist, Nesdoly said.
October 24, 2002
Two Canuck mags win 17 awards
PRAY, Montana-The 22nd annual awards of the International Regional Magazine Association, held Oct. 9, saw two Canadian titles walk away laden with honours-six golds, seven silvers and four bronze awards for editorial and visual excellence. Throw in seven honourable mentions and it's no wonder if Cottage Life (four gold, six silver, three bronze and one honourable mention) and Beautiful British Columbia have a spring in their step this week. "When it comes to quality journalism and presentation, Canadian magazines can compete anywhere," says Cottage Life founder Al Zikovitz, who is also chair of the Canadian Magazine Publishers Association. Five of the six IRMA judges were American. The sole Canadian judge was Toronto-based design consultant Jim Ireland. For a list of the award-winning work, visit www.regionalmagazines.org/2002win.htm
October 22, 2002
Cabinet minister holds stake in magazine
TORONTO-Foreign Affairs Minister Bill Graham, who was named to the cabinet in January, is a minority shareholder in Quarto Communications, publisher of Cottage Life and explore magazines. The holding was revealed in a list of Graham's assets filed recently with the Office of the Ethics Counsellor. Quarto founder Al Zikovitz says Graham invested in Quarto around 1997 when founding partner Tony Wilshere sold his stake. Wilshere recommended Graham to Zikovitz, who promises that Graham has an "arm's length" relationship with Quarto with no attempts being made to influence business decisions. Which raises the question: Does Zikovitz influence Canada's foreign policy? "I wish I could have a tremendous influence, believe you me ... but he does his thing and I do mine."
October 18, 2002
Relaunch of Woman in doubt
TORONTO-The phones have been disconnected, e-mails bounce back and access to the Web site is "forbidden." Put it all together and it looks like Elizabeth Scott won't be relaunching Woman Magazine this fall as planned. Woman suspended publication in January 2001 to refinance and was to have relaunched the following September. The terrorist attacks in New York prompted her to wait. Scott told Masthead in April that she was in the process of executing a reverse takeover of a defunct mining company and planned to relaunch this fall as a publicly traded company, Woman Inc. She also announced that she had taken on a silent partner. The Periodical Writers Association of Canada warns that more than $6,000 is owed to writers whose work was to have appeared in the new magazine.
October 15, 2002
CLB Media seeks 50 mags by 2014
AURORA, Ont.-Back in 2000, burgeoning legal publisher Canada Law Book Inc. (Canadian Lawyer, Law Times) announced an ambitious plan to expand its holdings in the trade-publishing sector. A string of acquisitions followed: Burlington, Ont.'s Clifford/Elliot, Mississauga's Kerrwil Publications and, in April, Markham's Action Communications-collectively, 20 trade magazines in all. The company, now known as CLB Media, announced last week that offices in those three cities will close in 2003 and relocate to CLB's capacious headquarters located in this suburb, 55 kilometres north of Toronto-but not before a bit of renovations; an additional 26,000 sq. ft. of space will either be added or converted to the accommodate CLB's growth strategy that calls for the company to own 25 titles by 2004 and 50 by 2014. CLB currently employs 97 staff.
October 11, 2002
CMPA to attend Mags U 2003
TORONTO-A statement released today reveals that the Canadian Magazine Publishers Association has decided to participate in Magazines University 2003 and cancel its plans for a national magazine conference slated for next May. "Members of the consortium have agreed to enter into formal negotiations to conduct a full review of governance, financial and logistical arrangements before committing to jointly stage Magazines University beyond 2003. Participating organizations will focus on re-engineering the event to ensure that it serves the evolving needs of all Canadian magazines," the statement reads. An independent Mags U chairperson will be announced in a matter of weeks.
October 8, 2002
Publisher offers $100k to lucky subscriber
MISSISSAUGA, Ont .-"More and more I'm realizing that one has to be pretty outrageous," says Bob Kennedy, publisher of female fitness mag Oxygen and MuscleMag International. Kennedy, set to launch soft-porn glossy American Curves later this month (see News archives, June 18), is offering US$100,000 to the 100,000th subscriber to his new bimonthly, which will feature hard-bodied women posing in provocative micro garments. Kennedy recently returned from a visit to Wells Fargo in Las Vegas to pick up the booty-1,000 freshly minted US$100 bills. Like Kennedy's other titles, the new magazine will distribute 90% of its 260,000 copies in the U.S.
October 4, 2002
Published photo sparks lawsuit
QUEBEC CITY-A woman dressed as an angel with nipple pasties is suing a French-language weekly for $45,000 in damages to her reputation after she was photographed by Voir magazine while handing out candy in a St. Foy nightclub. Voir publisher/founder Pierre Paquet says the action is groundless. The nightclub had given Voir permission for the shoot, Paquet says, and not only did the woman consent to be photographed, she also helped select the photo to be used (the photog was using a digital camera). However, the matter is complicated by the fact the pic ran alongside an article detailing a future erotic event at the bar. Paquet has instructed his lawyer to fight the action with vigor. Will he settle out of court? "No way, otherwise it means that for every picture we take, there will be room for negotiation afterwards."
October 1, 2002
Profit gets new publisher
TORONTO-Kerry Mitchell has succeeded Rick Spence as publisher of Rogers' Profit magazine. Spence stepped down in July to pursue a project he declines to articulate. Mitchell, who took her post yesterday, was last week chief operating officer with Ottawa-based InBusiness Media Network. From 1992 to 1995 she was an executive with Key's Where International. She later joined Telemedia in 1995 and assumed executive posts at now-defunct Equinox, was founding publisher of Style at Home and publisher of Canadian Living before leaving the company in 2000, shortly after Transcontinental acquired Telemedia for $135.2 million in 2000. "It's a great brand," she says of Profit.
Retailer locks up airport contracts
TORONTO-HDS Retail North America-Canada's largest specialty retailer operating 270 stores exclusively in airports, hotels and malls-has been awarded news-book-and-retail concessions at Toronto's Pearson International Airport and the Ottawa International Airport. HDS has held the concessions at Pearson for more than 20 years; it's been in Ottawa since 1986. The Pearson contract will extend to 2009 with an option to run to 2012; The Ottawa contract will extend to 2012. HDS operates under such retail banners as Great Canadian News Company, Great Canadian Book Company, Relay (airports), Maison de la Presse (in Quebec), Piccadilly Place (hotel gift shops) and Xpress stores in malls. When Pearson's $4.4 billion Terminal 1 opens next October, it will hold 28 of HDS's 37 Pearson stores. "It's a multi-million dollar investment [to build the new stores]," says Gerry Savaria, HDS vice-president of marketing.
October 29, 2002
Chapters/Indigo drops Guns&Ammo
TORONTO-Gun magazines were shooting blanks on Canada's newsstands, says the country's largest big-box magazine retailer. Indigo Books & Music, which also owns Chapters Inc., Coles and SmithBooks-277 stores in all-has decided not to carry magazines focusing on firearms and/or ammunition. Tracy Nesdoly, Indigo's vice-president of communications and product development, said the category's poor sell-through rates (less than 35%) prompted the decision, which was made "several months ago." Hunting magazines are not affected. While Indigo would not name which magazines it no longer carries, recent data from auditor ABC suggests they were: emap USA's Rifle Shooter (2,150 single copy sales in Canada on a total circ of 66,000), emap's Guns&Ammo (2,067 single copy sales in Canada on a total circ of 585,000) and San Diego-based American Handgunner (1,614 on a total circ of 66,000). Strong regional pockets of demand for these titles in Canada did not exist, Nesdoly said.
October 24, 2002
Two Canuck mags win 17 awards
PRAY, Montana-The 22nd annual awards of the International Regional Magazine Association, held Oct. 9, saw two Canadian titles walk away laden with honours-six golds, seven silvers and four bronze awards for editorial and visual excellence. Throw in seven honourable mentions and it's no wonder if Cottage Life (four gold, six silver, three bronze and one honourable mention) and Beautiful British Columbia have a spring in their step this week. "When it comes to quality journalism and presentation, Canadian magazines can compete anywhere," says Cottage Life founder Al Zikovitz, who is also chair of the Canadian Magazine Publishers Association. Five of the six IRMA judges were American. The sole Canadian judge was Toronto-based design consultant Jim Ireland. For a list of the award-winning work, visit www.regionalmagazines.org/2002win.htm
October 22, 2002
Cabinet minister holds stake in magazine
TORONTO-Foreign Affairs Minister Bill Graham, who was named to the cabinet in January, is a minority shareholder in Quarto Communications, publisher of Cottage Life and explore magazines. The holding was revealed in a list of Graham's assets filed recently with the Office of the Ethics Counsellor. Quarto founder Al Zikovitz says Graham invested in Quarto around 1997 when founding partner Tony Wilshere sold his stake. Wilshere recommended Graham to Zikovitz, who promises that Graham has an "arm's length" relationship with Quarto with no attempts being made to influence business decisions. Which raises the question: Does Zikovitz influence Canada's foreign policy? "I wish I could have a tremendous influence, believe you me ... but he does his thing and I do mine."
October 18, 2002
Relaunch of Woman in doubt
TORONTO-The phones have been disconnected, e-mails bounce back and access to the Web site is "forbidden." Put it all together and it looks like Elizabeth Scott won't be relaunching Woman Magazine this fall as planned. Woman suspended publication in January 2001 to refinance and was to have relaunched the following September. The terrorist attacks in New York prompted her to wait. Scott told Masthead in April that she was in the process of executing a reverse takeover of a defunct mining company and planned to relaunch this fall as a publicly traded company, Woman Inc. She also announced that she had taken on a silent partner. The Periodical Writers Association of Canada warns that more than $6,000 is owed to writers whose work was to have appeared in the new magazine.
October 15, 2002
CLB Media seeks 50 mags by 2014
AURORA, Ont.-Back in 2000, burgeoning legal publisher Canada Law Book Inc. (Canadian Lawyer, Law Times) announced an ambitious plan to expand its holdings in the trade-publishing sector. A string of acquisitions followed: Burlington, Ont.'s Clifford/Elliot, Mississauga's Kerrwil Publications and, in April, Markham's Action Communications-collectively, 20 trade magazines in all. The company, now known as CLB Media, announced last week that offices in those three cities will close in 2003 and relocate to CLB's capacious headquarters located in this suburb, 55 kilometres north of Toronto-but not before a bit of renovations; an additional 26,000 sq. ft. of space will either be added or converted to the accommodate CLB's growth strategy that calls for the company to own 25 titles by 2004 and 50 by 2014. CLB currently employs 97 staff.
October 11, 2002
CMPA to attend Mags U 2003
TORONTO-A statement released today reveals that the Canadian Magazine Publishers Association has decided to participate in Magazines University 2003 and cancel its plans for a national magazine conference slated for next May. "Members of the consortium have agreed to enter into formal negotiations to conduct a full review of governance, financial and logistical arrangements before committing to jointly stage Magazines University beyond 2003. Participating organizations will focus on re-engineering the event to ensure that it serves the evolving needs of all Canadian magazines," the statement reads. An independent Mags U chairperson will be announced in a matter of weeks.
October 8, 2002
Publisher offers $100k to lucky subscriber
MISSISSAUGA, Ont .-"More and more I'm realizing that one has to be pretty outrageous," says Bob Kennedy, publisher of female fitness mag Oxygen and MuscleMag International. Kennedy, set to launch soft-porn glossy American Curves later this month (see News archives, June 18), is offering US$100,000 to the 100,000th subscriber to his new bimonthly, which will feature hard-bodied women posing in provocative micro garments. Kennedy recently returned from a visit to Wells Fargo in Las Vegas to pick up the booty-1,000 freshly minted US$100 bills. Like Kennedy's other titles, the new magazine will distribute 90% of its 260,000 copies in the U.S.
October 4, 2002
Published photo sparks lawsuit
QUEBEC CITY-A woman dressed as an angel with nipple pasties is suing a French-language weekly for $45,000 in damages to her reputation after she was photographed by Voir magazine while handing out candy in a St. Foy nightclub. Voir publisher/founder Pierre Paquet says the action is groundless. The nightclub had given Voir permission for the shoot, Paquet says, and not only did the woman consent to be photographed, she also helped select the photo to be used (the photog was using a digital camera). However, the matter is complicated by the fact the pic ran alongside an article detailing a future erotic event at the bar. Paquet has instructed his lawyer to fight the action with vigor. Will he settle out of court? "No way, otherwise it means that for every picture we take, there will be room for negotiation afterwards."
October 1, 2002
Profit gets new publisher
TORONTO-Kerry Mitchell has succeeded Rick Spence as publisher of Rogers' Profit magazine. Spence stepped down in July to pursue a project he declines to articulate. Mitchell, who took her post yesterday, was last week chief operating officer with Ottawa-based InBusiness Media Network. From 1992 to 1995 she was an executive with Key's Where International. She later joined Telemedia in 1995 and assumed executive posts at now-defunct Equinox, was founding publisher of Style at Home and publisher of Canadian Living before leaving the company in 2000, shortly after Transcontinental acquired Telemedia for $135.2 million in 2000. "It's a great brand," she says of Profit.
Most Recent News Comment
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| Jaded says: | |
Wow, Torstar really seems to be on a mission to bankrupt one magazine after another.... |
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Most Recent Blog Comment
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| Lorene Shyba says: | |
Full of terrific information, Thanks!... |
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