Released: July 24, 2006

Consumer Reports starts shopping magazine

Source: By Maria Aspan, New York Times (Free Registration)

Consumer Reports, the not-for-profit magazine that provides information on cars, computers and household appliances, is taking a step toward the publishing mainstream in a category that has vexed other publishers: women’s shopping magazines.

Consumers Union, which publishes Consumer Reports, will introduce ShopSmart, a shopping magazine intended for women over 30, on Aug. 1. The magazine will be published quarterly and will have an initial newsstand-only circulation of 800,000.

The move comes at a difficult time for magazines in general, which are battling flat or slipping circulation numbers, and for shopping magazines in particular. Cargo, the Condé Nast men’s shopping magazine, and Vitals Man and Vitals Woman from Fairchild Publications all closed within the last year.

And while shopping magazines helped redefine the blend of editorial and advertising on the newsstand, ShopSmart will not accept ads or free test samples of products, in accordance with Consumers Union rules.

According to John Sateja, the senior vice president for information products for Consumers Union, the organization is undaunted by the current magazine market.

“We’ve really kind of defied the odds,” he said, noting that Consumer Reports’ newsstand circulation has increased by 19 percent over the last year. “I think we’ll really stand out in the marketplace.”

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