Smiths Cut Back on Comics
Terry Allen
Terry
The Robert E Howard Comics Discussion Group
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/TheREHcomicsgroup/
Just lifted this from http://www.downthetubes.net/
SMITHS CUT BACK ON COMICS 18/5/04: UK comics publishers are said to be
"reeling" from WH Smiths latest magazine range review, which will see
a reduction in the number of stories stocking titles such as Mighty
World of Marvel and Panini's Spider-Man titles. Over 300 stores will
now no longer take MWOM and there have been cuts to the rest of
Panini's US digest-size range, DTB has learnt. Magazine titles such as
Cult Times and Dreamwatch will also see cuts in availability. The
number of magazines Smiths carries varies from store to store as it is
dependent on several factors (store size, catchment area, customer
demographics). As a very rough guide an average store holds 1,500
titles. WH Smiths, which is suffering finacial uncertainty at present,
denied the range review had been completed when we contacted them.
"News and magazines is a core category for WHSmith which we are fully
committed to," said a spokesperson. "We are currently in the process
of a full magazine range review, as we are with all product lines
across the company. The review is ongoing and no decisions have been
taken and we have no plans to cut the space in store which we allocate
to the sale of news and magazine products. "Range reviews are a normal
part of good retail practice," the spokeseprson added. "We regularly
review all our ranges to reflect current trends and ensure we stock
the most relevant products for our customers. Unfortunately it is not
physically possible for us to stock all the magazine titles that are
currently in print instore, therefore we provide a magazine ordering
service which allows customers to order any current [UK] magazine for
delivery to their local store." There is a £10 charge for ordering a
magazine through WH Smiths.