Halifax news retailers welcome one-cover-price trend

Magazine buyers in Halifax, at least, are happy that U.S. magazine publishers are printing one price on their covers, according to a story in the Chronicle Herald newspaper. The co-owner of Atlantic News in Halifax, Michele Gerard, quoted one of her customers: "One young man happily said, ‘Good, one cover price. It’s about time.’ On Saturday, I had a customer say, ‘I can buy magazines again.’ "

She said magazine retailers, like bookstores, have taken some heat about the differences between Canadian and U.S. cover prices for magazines as the loonie reached parity with the U.S. greenback.

"Two to three people would comment every day," she said, even though it costs more to ship and sell U.S. magazines and books to the smaller Canadian market than it does to sell them in the United States. "There were some disgruntled, unhappy consumers," she said, adding that the U.S.-Canadian cover price differences haven’t had as much impact on her business as other factors like general price increases, low subscriptions rates and the Internet, which has eroded the magazine market. There’s more time spent online."

The News Group, a major suppliers, has said that over 70 per cent of magazines they distribute (mostly from the United States) have gone to a single Canadian cover price, according to Gerard and those changes have meant lower Canadian prices in some cases.

"We have been watching our two largest suppliers and have noted over 100 titles where the prices have decreased by up to $2," she said.

For example, she said Bride and Bloom magazine, which previously had a cover price of US$5.95 and C$7.95, now has a single cover price of $6.99.

George Kapsalis, owner of Blowers Street Paperchase in downtown Halifax, said magazine sales were down two months ago when the Canadian and U.S. dollar hit par, and there was still a big discrepancy in the U.S. and Canadian cover prices.

"People weren’t buying until the Canadian price was more in line," he said, adding that the change to single prices and a corresponding reduction in some Canadian cover prices is slowly bringing sales back up. "Any time customers don’t feel they are getting ripped off, it’s a good thing," he said. "It’s getting better."