November 5, 1998 - Company Update
Distributor Channel Implosion Translates to Production Changes For Command Magazine
Distributor Channel Implosion Translates to Production Changes For Command Magazine
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November 5, 1998 - Company Update
Distributor Channel Implosion Translates to Production Changes For Command Magazine |
press release from Ty Bomba, XTR Corporation with commentary from John Kranz
The following comments were officially posted by Ty Bomba, publisher of Command Magazine. It underscores the adverse effects resulting from the implosion of the distributor channel, and places an exclamation point on the recent announcement made by Ulrich Blennemann of Moments in History (11/3/98), who decided to take more drastic measures in curtailing the MiH production schedule. The next several months are going to be a critical time period, especially for those publishers who have relied heavily on the distributor channel in the past. Competitive Edge publisher, Jon Compton, likewise commented on the great challenge his company, One Small Step, has had to come to grips with in light of the distributor channel implosion.
During the past year or so, while our subscriber base has held steady at about 3,700, our sales to wholesalers — the people who buy our products in large lots, then resell them to hobby stores for retail, off-the-shelf purchase — have imploded. That is, where we used to sell about 4,000 copies of each hobby edition to those wholesalers, we're now selling under 1,000. Naturally, so swift a shrinkage of what used to amount to over half the hobby edition's circulation has generated a lot of problems on that side of our corporate operation.
We've reacted the only way we can: we've instituted economies. After pulling back to a one-game-per-issue format, and finding that still wasn't enough, we had to make the decision to delay printing issue number 50's hobby supplement in order to gang-print it with hobby supplement 51. We'll probably have to do the same again with numbers 52 and 53; but we think the savings from those two joint-printings should then be enough to put the hobby edition back into the black, no matter what happens with what remains of its retail sales.
Interestingly, as this wholesale shrinkage has gone on, we've begun to get calls from individual hobby store owners asking to order our products directly from us. It seems when they ask their wholesalers for our stuff, they're told: "Sorry, that's not available." After asking around, we've found what seems to have happened is the wholesalers have sunk so much of their capital into collectible card games and electronics they virtually have nothing left to purchase and stock other kinds of products. So any dip in sales of those two categories immediately sends them into a tailspin of order-cutting of their own.
Despite all the additional work it's meant over the years, at this point I have to be glad we went split-format back in '92. If it weren't for that decision, which thereby created two pretty-much-independent-of-each-other revenue streams for us, why, we'd be in really bad shape right now rather than just faced with a temporarily uncomfortable one.
So we're figuring the main magazine portion of issue no. 51 will ship during the first half of December, followed by the two twin-printed hobby supplements at the end of that month or in the first half of January. We thank you for your patience, confidence and continued support. We'll keep you posted here and on line at our Web site as we work through this, straighten things out and get back to a regular schedule again.
Ty Bomba, Publisher
XTR CorporationAbout XTR Corporation
XTR Corporation is the publisher of COMMAND magazine, a leading international publication dealing with military history, strategy and analysis. COMMAND has a deserved reputation for well-researched and well-illustrated content as well as attractive full-color maps and diagrams. COMMAND is published bimonthly in two versions. The Newstand version includes the magazine only. The Hobby version includes the magazine plus one or two beautifully-crafted board wargames complete and ready-to-play with one or more rules folders, as well as full-color maps and playing pieces. XTR and COMMAND fully support all their products with errata and updates.
Related Links 1. Official XTR Bulletin Board 2. Command Magazine Talk
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Copyright © 1999-2002. ConsimWorld.COM. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part in any form or medium without express written permission is prohibited. Web Masters are encouraged to link directly to this page, this URL is not subject to change. For general site information: kranz@consimworld.com
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Copyright © 1999-2002. ConsimWorld.COM. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part in any form or medium without express written permission is prohibited. Web Masters are encouraged to link directly to this page, this URL is not subject to change. For general site information: kranz@consimworld.com
Headline News | Archives | New Products
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Copyright © 1999, 2000 ConsimWorld.COM. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part in any form or medium without express written permission is prohibited. Web Masters are encouraged to link directly to this page, this URL is not subject to change. For general site information: kranz@consimworld.com
