99 North is closed by Canada Wide

Four years ago, Canada Wide Magazine and Communications Ltd. bought 99 North Visitor Magazine in Squamish, B. C. But because of lack of advertising support, according to Samatha Legge, Canada Wide's general manager, it will appear no longer. This, according to a story by Sylvie Paillard, published by the weekly newspaper the Squamish Chief .

The publication was started in 1998 by then 19-year-old Natalie Pereman of Squamish, in partnership with Patricia Heintzman, said the story. At first an annual, it offered a visitors' guide to activities from Horseshoe Bay to Lillooet. In 2000, the magazine went twice a year and increased its circulation to 100,000 copies.

Pereman refused to comment on the magazine’s history and the recent developments except to say she felt “sad.” Heintzman said the pair toiled for years with no payoff but the love of it, and its potential demise is a blow. “Nat and I put five, six years of blood, sweat and tears into this thing and, although I haven’t been invested in it emotionally for three or four years, it’s always sad to see something that you’ve laboured over for so long not succeed.”

Legge said: “When we bought it, we really thought it was a wonderful magazine and we’re really committed to it and wanted to see how we can restrategize to make it financially viable,” she said. She added that her company’s lack of local connection may have been its undoing. “It worked well when it was in the community and we’ve tried to participate in the community and ingratiate ourselves... We’ve not been as successful at it as we’ve hoped.”

Heintzman said the company’s distance appeared to have affected the editorial content, which may, in turn, have alienated the sales. “The editorial content all of a sudden became more of the fish out of water stories – the Billy Crystal going on an outback trip, the city slicker comes to town – as opposed to ‘We do this all the time, come and share our backyard.’” Heintzman said the decision to suspend publication means one less spotlight on the smaller communities along the Sea to Sky Corridor. “I think particularly the smaller communities will suffer, like Pemberton and Squamish. They don’t get the play that other magazines give Whistler.”