Traditional American Newsstands are dying...

by michele 7. April 2014 11:04
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I have a confession to make...

by michele 18. March 2014 08:48

I am a terrible procrastinator!

It is over four months since our 40th anniversary and I still haven't written about it. Oh I have tweeted & facebook about it  but they seem like a something quick and without thought.

Oh what a party!! The sun was shining that day both inside and out. The shop was filled with balloons, streamers, bunting up outside, three large cakes and our window filled with 42 raffle prizes. We have wonderful long term realtionships with our suppliers and they were all extremely generous with gifts. We were literally giving away presents all day long. Our foriegn magazine supplier, LPMI, gave us over 100 large boxes of truffles and our main magazine suppliergave us BOXES of magazines to give away. We had chips, candy bars, T-shirts, pins, noise makers for kids, playing cards, umrellas, books, travel mugs, lunch bags, dvd's, stickers and on and on.

Live music always brings a fully charged energy to a gathering and thanks to Mixtape Magazine there were two different acoustic musicians and then a band, Liars on Fire that closed out the party although we didn't want them to stop playing. They obliged us as they were having such fun too!

The party was even outside where The Food Wolf food truck was serving up delicious fare. It was such a success that the Food Wolf will be back in our parking lot each week once the season is up and cooking!

The customers... oh our wonderful customers. We were packed in here, there was laughter, smiles, joy and to sound rather cliche there was a lot of love flyng around in the shop. It was so wonderful to give back to all the really loyal people who choose to come here.

I am also very apprectiative of the media that decided this was a story worth mentioning. CKDU took care of us, CBC has us on the radio, Halifax magazine had us featured in their shopping blog and CTV spent over an hour filming for their evening news.

We were certainly on a high for weeks afterwards from both a job well done and such fantastic energyon the day. My favourite comment summed it all up....."I always feel so welcome, when I left I was walking on air."

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Atlantic News | Magazines | Our Community

It's our birthday...

by michele 18. October 2013 04:54

Our 40th Birthday!

It's been months in the planning but we are on the eve of our party.

Forty years in retail as a local independent shop is a big thing, forty years as a newsstand is also a feat. The last 5-10 years have seen shops like us close all over the country, there are only 10 of us left. I was speaking with a young man yesterday who was visiting from NYC and he told me that there was nothing like our newsstand left there! Without question it is harder to do business in our very wired world. Our greatest competitor is the lack of peoples leisure time, time that is now sucked up by our permanent attachement to the immediacy of a laptop, tablet, or mobile phone. We all get lost searching, surfing, texting, facebooking etc. But enough of that. I was talking about a party!

Tomorrow is about our customers, those that have been coming 40 years or to the new person who recently said " I didn't know there was a store like this. When I came in my jaw dropped." We have gifts galore to give away, and a grand prize draw of $500 worth of prepaid credit cards. Local magazine, Mixtape has just launched their new magazine and they are promoting it with a concert in the store. We have also asked Food Wolf (celebrating their 1st birthday) to join us as part of the party. The food truck will be serving their street food from our parking lot. Lapham's Quarterly has sent several signed editions of their magazine to give away. ( Lewis Lapham, Harpers editor for over 30 years gave a talk at Atlantic News when he was in Halifax to receive an honourary degree from University of Kings College. He wrote us a note saying, "You operate the best magazine store I've ever seen or hope to see.”) We have two tickets from the Jazz Festival, prepaid cellular phone cards, Orangina t-shirts, Monocle magazine hankies, back issues of The New Criterion, current issues of Geist magazine, umbrella's, a gift basket from Metro Guide Publishing, the list goes on & on.

The celebrations will continue with “40 days 40 mags”, a random draw of a magazine each day that will start on Oct. 21.

We hope that people will share their memories of the store by sending them by email (newsstand@atlanticnews.ns.ca), or posting to facebook or twitter (@magsstore).

Bring on the party!!

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A New Sidewalk

by michele 13. July 2013 07:07

and our Back Door

Who would have thought that having the sidewalk ripped up literally to our front door's threshold would have been such a good experience!

It was a three day job, day one starting really early before the store was even open. Our front doors were inaccessible for eight hours that day and on day three for thirteen hours so thank god for our back door. It enters into my office and the back storage room. I had so much fun because of the delight, surprise & timidity expressed by our customers to entering a "private" space. Many got such a kick out of walking through the "inner sanctum" getting a "back stage pass" going through the"nerve centre", the "inner workings", the "place that it all happens".

There were a few customers who had been coming in for years that had never really stopped to have a conversation before but perhaps the intimacy of the space encouraged them to stop and have a chat. I was really pleased by comments two young ladies made. One was " so thankful that you made the effort to stay open" and the other said that she felt it "showed a lot of trust and that we valued our customers"

The constuction crew were fantastic. Many customers were so appreciative for the help navigating the sidewalks, intersection and directions to our back door. One woman even tweeted "Best construction crew ever"

The bonus is we have a fabulous new sidewalk and entrance to our store

 

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Growing Pains

by michele 13. June 2013 04:27

For the "reading industry"

I spent last week at MagNet, Canada's magazine conference which I always find engaging and inspiring. I often come back with lots of actionable tasks in my note book. This time I have come away from the conference with a better sense of what is ahead for us as an industry. Bo Sacks, Precision Media Group, talk was on modern media trends. He said the "pulishing industry is just experiencing growing pains not armageddon." There is a shift, no question and it is heading toward digital. The analogy was naturally the vinyl LP and it's previous domination of the music industry and now its much smaller market segment. I saw three record stores in Leslieville, TO, two on Queen St W, TO and now Taz here in Halifax is opening a second location, which shows that good quality/content does have lasting appeal. Another speaker made reference to boomers and millenials being very different and yet very similar. The boomers joy of discovery was computers, for millenials the joy of discovery is analog. His sons use straight razors to shave and wear fedoras!

One of the growing pains for the industry is the multitude of devices that people use. Bo Sacks held up a newspaper and a phone and asked which one was the primitive device. Answer: the phone. The printed newspaper is perfect after 600 years but the phone will be different yet again in 5 years. With mobile, desktop, laptop and tablet platforms there is the need to publish for each. According to David Carey Hearst Corps Magazine CEO "While we love the different screen sizes for consumers , as publisher, there is enormous complexity in terms of adapting our product." With devices changing so rapidly and the life cycles unsure it makes it very expensive for publishers.

Bo Sacks predicts by 2020 digital will be king. As the industry evolves there are a number of relatively new publishers that are making their mark delivering great content, great design and the experience that people will continue to desire. Printed magazines are here to stay and will enjoy a place in the industry that is satisfies the need for a crafted product and a different reading experience.

 

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A cultural shift...

by michele 10. April 2013 10:39

Where will we end up?

About 8 months ago there was a distinct shift in my business. I feared it was the effect of the internet on the magazine business. In years pervious I had seen other shifts such as “I saw it on the web, do you have a copy?”The next shift was when they stopped asking that question. Another, has been niche titles using a different business model to get their magazine on the newsstand. Then there was the media blowing things out of proportion with “the death of print” stories. We have also seen the rise and and slow descent in certain categories depending on what's happening in the world. For example, after 911 our house and decorating section took off as people cocooned.

Back in September I felt isolated and I have to admit fear crept in. I began to emerge from my shell when I started asking people in other businesses how things were going. What I heard was they too saw a shift. I have been comforted in learning that it was not magazines alone that have been affected. Just last week I read in Road and Track that the greatest impact of 16 year olds having their drivers license (46% in 1978, 31% in 2008) was the internet. The rites of passage to independence use to include getting a car now it's owning a phone that connects you to everything 24hours a day. Today in New York magazine there was an article stating that fewer people are viewing art “in its natural habitat.”

It doesn't matter what the business or service is we are all being affected by the internet. We are in the middle of a cultural shift and it is taking on momentum. For me it is a lament for the loss of adventure, anticipation, and at times, quality. Everything is so immediate, that time is not taken to work toward, look forward to , wait longingly for something one might desire. Now, it is I want it, I have it , what's next. Will we savour things, treasure a stolen moment, or enjoy the adventure of the journey?

I have joked that the digital natives will one day not have their eyes peeled to their phones, will discover they are in front of the store and decide to step in. There they will find something totally new. They will tell their friends “Check this new thing out, you can flip the pages, it feels really good, hey, it even smells neat, it doesn't blink or flash, I can come back to it over and over again. I like magazines. ”

I am hopeful. After my 15 year old plays x-box with his buddy in a different town, he still enjoys his book later in the evening.

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Atlantic News | Magazines | Family | Our Community

A whole new category of magazines

by michele 4. November 2012 16:59

 Simplicty, Style, Sustainability, Smaller Scale, Sanctuary, Solace, Slowing Down, Substance, slow food...

 

 

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Open City

by michele 10. May 2012 04:59

Come join the fun

One of the wonderful things about this city of ours is the incredible amount and range of independent retailers & restaurants. We have an entrepreneurial spirit that is creative, conscious, collabrative and determined to do its best to thrive.

As the owners, managers and staff we are proud to bring our best to our customers. Whether it is deliciously prepared food, letterpress cards, fresh fish, enviromentally friendly products, magazines, great wine, garden supplies, craft beer, kitchen supplies or bike rentals, we are hands on searching for unique products, forming great relationships with our customers, suppliers and our fellow business owners, finding ways to make your experience in our places a better one.

This Sat & Sun I Love Local Hfx is celebrating with OPEN CITY sharing what we do best.  This weekend is for you, our customers; businesses have give aways, live music, demonstrations and our restaurants are offering a fun "SIDE DOOR" takeout so you can sample great food that is prepared with care. And the parking is FREE at the Waterfront.

Please check out the website and have FUN!   

 

  

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What makes a great cover?

by michele 4. May 2012 11:32

Well, in my opinion anyway: 

Buddhadharma is on my path to the front cash and I would often be arrested by it's cover.  The simplicity of it is beautiful. The closeup and sharpness of the photograph is enhanced by the golden glow. The text on the cover completely encapsulates the image. We certainly know that it is an anniversary that Maisonneuve is celebrating!! The 10 is wonderfully bold with a clever use of their logo. I have always wondered who the character is that they use. I turned to the masthead and there it is: They refer to him as the "Maisy guy" though he symbolizes Paul Chomedey de Maisonneuve, the founder of Montreal. A big congratulations to you Maisonneuve, a feisty, independent magazine. Last Tues Foreign Policy arrived. Again the simplicity grabs you as it is so startling both in the strongly worded text and the striking image of the eyes staring at you. Garden design has lot more text on its cover but the main "Perfect Courtyard supports the photo. The flames jump off the page as though they are alive and dancing in front of you. 

 

  

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Atlantic News | Magazines

A new trend of publishing

by michele 22. December 2011 04:21

or simply an emphasis on excellence?

What do the following four magazines have in common? These independently published magazines respect and know their readers. They manage to produce magazines without being based on an advertising model with the limited ads chosen to meet certain design guidelines. These publishers have all used heavy grade, non gloss paper which is perfect bound. They have the feel of a book, with three of them over 150 pages. The photography is excellent and they are full of content.

Published in Calgary, Uppercase has a wonderful description of what inspires them: "Enchanted by great ideas and strange inventions, by colours and patterns, things fancy and frugal; the charm of vintage in a modern life; the ridiculous and the sublime." This magazine is truly filled with design inspiration, and creativity. When I spoke with Celine the editor of Pure Green, a stylish green living magazine from Ontario, she let me know that they want a magazine of quality and substance. They want readers to refer back to it time and again, to treasure it. I think all of that is there in their premier issue. Hailing from Vancouver twice a year, Inventory is  "A Curation of Ideas in Product, Craft and Culture"  "We value products and clothing for more than just their appearance, admiring how they're made, by whom, and why." Like the well crafted products they write about, Inventory will take pages to give their readers indepth stories, such as the twelve pages on one of the finest knitwear brands in the world. Lastly direct from Denmark comes Jeanne D'arc Living. Another lifestyle magazine that draws you in to their warm pages. I feel comforted when I look at the photos of homes, gardens, and want to cook the carbonara recipe.  What makes all of these magazines such a great read is that they are not interuppted by ads and you feel like you are being welcomed into a unique experience.

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About the author

I was born in Yarmouth and grew up in Chester. I have lived on a sailboat, travelled to Zimbabwe, and lived in England where I worked in a fabulous country house hotel. While in England I met Stephen and then brought him home to Nova Scotia. Now I am a wife, mother of two great kids, and a businesswoman. Life is good.