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Glossies display troubled market

Jill Barshay Oct 16, 2007

TEXT OF STORY

Doug Krizner: The sights of New York City never fail to amaze. As they say: “Only in New York.”

Yesterday, a new scene to behold: A high-powered magazine editor posing in a store window. As Jill Barshay reports, it’s a sign of things to come.


Jill Barshay: No, you’re not crazy. That was “House and Garden” editor Dominque Browning posing in the display window of the Madison Avenue Crate and Barrel yesterday.

Lori Rosen runs a public relations firm for the magazine industry. She says the glamorous doyenne of home decor is the last person you’d expect to see in a chain store. Rosen says the stunt is driven by bad times in the glossy magazine business.

Lori Rosen: Expect to see many more innovative promotions and stunts like this. Everybody is vying for eyeballs. Everyone is vying for attention in this time-challenged marketplace.

Rosen says publishers are scrambling to keep advertisers, and advertisers are demanding more for their money.

House and Garden is cultivating some Hollywood talent to help grow its audience, too. It put a celebrity — Gwyneth Paltrow — on its November cover.

In New York, I’m Jill Barshay for Marketplace.

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