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Perry Hilbert Jr
11-28-2018, 4:58 PM
My local Lowes big box store, kept the woodworker hobby magazines on a rack between the register and the exits, which was a dumb place, because, you couldn't get a magazine without passing through the register line and then going back again. So about 8 months ago, they put the magazine rack back at the end of the Paints dept in the center of the store. Today, I noticed the magazine rack had been moved yet again. Looked around the store and then went to customer service and asked what happened to the magazine rack. The three college aged kids at customer service pointed to the rack full of books on the wall at customer service. I pointed out that those were all books, not a magazine there. So the guy among them, says that is all they have, if I mean the ones that expired every month, they no longer have those. (He obviously excelled in school) So when I take my items to the register, I see there are magazines at the registers, ALL COOKING MAGAZINES! Well this is quite peculiar. A big "he man" lumber yard and the only magazines they have are cooking magazines in the check out ailse, sort of like the scandal sheets at the supermarket check outs. So I mention to the cashier, an older woman, that it is quite something that a lumber yard sells so many cooking magazines and no DIY or woodworking magazines. . She no they still have them, the rack is at the back of the paint dept. I said with sadness, that yes they were there last month, but not today. She calls customer service and they tell her no more magazines. But another cashier pipes up, yes they have DIY magazines, they are at the Professional/Contractor's checkout. What the.....? Magazines geared toward some cursory knowledge on how to do some small project are now located at the Contractor's Desk? Must be some contractors if they need those magazines. Frankly, their logic, if any, escapes me.

Bill Orbine
11-28-2018, 5:50 PM
I don't think the periodical are selling well enough to be up towards a prime spot in front of the store. I suspect they want to move more profitable merchandise. And being that this is the holidays, maybe the Christmas decorations may have taken up the space?

Bill Bukovec
11-28-2018, 7:40 PM
Somebody told me that Lowe's is set up to appeal to women. I believe it. Maybe that's why they have cooking magazines.

Bill Gugel
11-28-2018, 9:48 PM
Lowes is geared more for women and magazines will soon be no more. sad

Rich Engelhardt
11-29-2018, 4:55 AM
I don't think the periodical are selling well enough to be up towards a prime spot in front of the store. I suspect they want to move more profitable merchandise. And being that this is the holidays, maybe the Christmas decorations may have taken up the space?Bingo - - ~ 25 years in retail tells me Bill is on the right track.

Perry Hilbert Jr
11-29-2018, 7:06 AM
I still like to pick and choose which issues I pay for. Some mags only have two or three articles a year that I am interested enough in to purchase. the issue. Better than paying for all 12. Shame of it is, going to a Book Store to get them. (Which I did yesterday afternoon.) I noticed Cabelas had a pretty sparse magazine selection ten years ago when I first went there. I rarely get an outdoor magazine. 85% ads. Woodworking mags are going the same way.

Frederick Skelly
11-29-2018, 7:40 AM
I noticed Cabelas had a pretty sparse magazine selection ten years ago when I first went there. I rarely get an outdoor magazine. 85% ads. Woodworking mags are going the same way.

Remember, in most cases the reader isnt really paying their bills - the advertisers are. So they probably try to have just enough content to keep up their circulation numbers so they can sell more ads. And the total number of pages is also in the mix, because paper and printing cost money. It's an interesting balancing act that Im not sure they can sustain much longer. Think about how much you get online for free or for the same cost as a subscription.

Stan Calow
11-29-2018, 8:59 AM
Fewer people buying paper magazines in general. Its all available online.

lowell holmes
11-29-2018, 5:03 PM
You never know what magazines will show up at Lowes.

I bought a Fine Woodworking there before.

Bruce Wrenn
11-29-2018, 9:29 PM
One of the local Lowes has magazine rack located between the doors to the toilets. Truly gives new meaning to to referring to toilet as library. Stop, grab the latest issue, and sit down and do some serious reading. That is if you can stand the smell of the guy in the next stall.

Dave Lehnert
12-01-2018, 9:16 PM
Cooking magazines is not so odd. The appliance /kitchen department is bigger than the tool department.
I too like to pick and choose what magazines I like to read. I would buy more from the newsstand but they want as much for one magazine that a full year can be had sometimes. I buy a lot of digital magazines from Amazon. Most I get for $5 a year. But never a woodworking magazine at that price point.

Curt Harms
12-04-2018, 4:22 AM
Somebody told me that Lowe's is set up to appeal to women. I believe it. Maybe that's why they have cooking magazines.

There's a new management team at Lowes in the works. We'll see what changes.

https://www.homeworldbusiness.com/ellison-overhauls-lowes-management-team/

Phil Mueller
12-04-2018, 7:07 AM
Many magazines have been struggling to survive since the advent of online/digital advertising. Advertisers moved away from print to digital because it is far more measurable/accountable and can be better targeted than print. It wasn’t so much readership shifted to digital, but the advertising dollars shifted there. As magazines became less funded by advertisers, content suffered, and subscritpions fell (and yes, at the same time, many subscribers began moving to “free” digital content).

Newstand sales numbers were always less desirable by advertisers because there was little hard buyer data available. With subscribers, demographics were available to help advertisers determine if it was a desirable audience. As subscriptions fell and magazines attempted to boost newsstand, advertisers becames even more disinterested.