Backstage - the 50th anniversary of Johnson Publishing Company

Ebony, Feb, 1992

IT was in 1942, in another America, in another world, that Chairman and CEO John H. Johnson founded Johnson Publishing Co.

And as Johnson Publishing Co. begins a year-long celebration of its 50th straight year as the publisher of the No. 1 Black magazines in the world, the company is still breaking new ground in communications and cosmetics.

Nothing indicates this better than the large number of new ventures the company launched within recent months. The biggest development by far was the launching of the new French subsidiary to sell Fashion Fair's high-line products throughout France, French-speaking Africa and the French West Indies. By moving from independent distribution to full control of its own French marketing under the banner of Fashion Fair S.A.R.L., Fashion Fair became virtually overnight the No. 1 Black-owned and Black-operated business in France. And in keeping with the high-line reputation of Fashion Fair, the French subsidiary has established offices on the fashionable Rue Du Faubourg Saint-Honore, with neighbors like Christian LaCroix, Gianni Versace and Hermes.

Shortly afterwards, Fashion Fair established a London office on fashionable Brompton Road, one block from Harrods department store. The new London office is responsible for department store operations in the United Kingdom and export operations in Europe and Africa. In London, as in Paris, Fashion Fair is sold in all major department stores, including Harrods, Selfridges and the House of Fraser Group, and is the largest-selling line in the Morley's Group.

Meanwhile, back in America, Johnson Publishing Co. formed a joint venture with Spiegel, Inc, to develop a new fashion line, E Style, and a new catalog for Black women. This venture is a logical outgrowth of the pioneering role of Ebony Fashion Fair, the world's largest traveling fashion show.

At the same time, the company moved into the rapidly growing video field with a series of educational and motivational cassettes featuring major personalities like Oprah Winfrey and Bill Cosby. The venture was launched at a Washington luncheon, followed by a White House meeting with first lady Barbara Bush, who was placed major emphasis on education and excellence.

In the communications field, the company celebrated the 40th anniversary of Jet magazine, the largest-selling Black news magazine in the world, with a weekly circulation of 967,157, a total readership of 8,542,000 and a 38.5 percent market penetration among Black adults. EBONY, in the meantime, remains the largest Black magazine in the world, with a monthly circulation of 1,817,337, a total readership of 10,373,000, and a 45.3 percent market penetration among Black adults.

During the same period, the company expanded its presence in the TV industry with the nationally popular Ebony/Jet Showcase, which is the largest show of its kind and which reaches almost 97 percent of all Black TV households.