Deals and Developments: GUIDEPOSTS SEEKS INSPIRATION ON THE NEWSSTAND

Folio: The Magazine for Magazine Management, April 1, 2004

Byline: Jeff Bercovici

Guideposts, the massive but next-to-invisible feel-good title founded 60 years ago by Dr. Norman Vincent Peale, is getting into the single-copy business. With total circulation of 2.6 million, the monthly is on a par with titles such as O: The Oprah Magazine and Southern Living. But with no significant distribution, its average newsstand sales, at 9,085 in the second half of 2003, were closer to those of Tropical Fish Hobbyist. That's set to change. With the help of Warner Publisher Service as its distributor, Guideposts put 125,000 issues of its March issue in retail outlets. Most of those copies were shelved in specially designed display boxes on mainline racks, but the magazine also secured roughly 9,000 checkout positions, says vice president/publisher Janine Scolpino.

"Newsstand has always been part of our long-term strategic discussions," says Scolpino. "There's a set of problems in the retail marketplace, but there's also a huge set of advantages. There's an awareness factor when you're out on the newsstand that we don't really enjoy today."