Commenting on the January to June results, Chris Duncan, CEO of UK Publishing, said: “Bauer Media continues to be at the forefront of the UK consumer magazine industry, publishing audited circulation figures as a matter of record and providing full transparency for our commercial partners. We are reporting ABCs for the full, uninterrupted January to June 2020 period which reflect the unique circumstances in which we have traded. While our traditional supply-chain experienced massive disruption during lockdown, the demand for our products remained strong and even increased in some markets. We saw home delivered and digital copies grow through our subscriptions channels, and sales in independent shops rise as more of our readers sought out copies closer to home.

Tribune Publishing, owner of New York's Daily News and Capital Gazette, among other titles, announced it will permanently close the newsrooms of both newspapers. Staffers will work offsite. The Daily News will close its newsroom at 4 New York Plaza in Lower Manhattan with no plans for a future physical office, The New York Times reports. Workers have until Oct. 30 to collect items left in the office.

Brooks Brothers has agreed to be acquired for $325 million by Sparc Group, a venture backed by the mall giant and apparel-licensing firm Authentic Brands Group. As part of the agreement, Sparc Group, which has previously acquired Aéropostale, Forever 21, Nautica and recently bid on Lucky Brand, has committed to keeping at least 125 Brooks Brothers stores open. The retailer has about 200 stores in North America. The sale is subject to bankruptcy court approval. The 200-year-old Brooks Brothers, the nation’s oldest apparel company, filed for bankruptcy in July. While the pandemic has taken a heavy toll on sales as its stores went dark, the retailer has been struggling for some time under a heavy debt load, increased competition and the move to more casual workwear.

Details on the Company’s Chapter 11 process and go-forward strategy are as follows: The Company expects to close a significant portion, if not all, of its brick-and-mortar stores and, in connection therewith, the Company has launched a store closing and liquidation process. The Company, however, will continue to operate its business in the ordinary course in the near term; and The Company is evaluating any and all strategic alternatives, including the potential sale of its eCommerce business and related intellectual property.

Time Out will likely cease printing most of its 40 magazine editions based in cities worldwide. The company plans to continue printing the magazine in London, Madrid and Barcelona, Time Out Group CEO Julio Bruno told the Financial Times. However, the group is “unlikely” to resume printing in the US and Portugal, according to the report. Other territories are “under review by management.”

REI Co-op announced it is pursuing a sale of its newly completed corporate campus in the Spring District neighborhood of Bellevue, Washington with the intention of shifting to a less centralized approach to its headquarters presence in the Seattle area. Rather than a single location, REI’s “headquarters” would span multiple locations across the region, and the company will lean into remote working as an engrained, supported, and normalized model for headquarters employees, offering flexibility for more employees to live and work outside of the Puget Sound region and shrinking the co-op’s carbon footprint.

Fiscal 2020 fourth quarter revenues were $611 million, a decline of 22 percent from the prior year period, due primarily to (1) COVID-19 related advertising cancellations and delays that reduced revenues by an estimated $136 million; and (2) Previously announced magazine portfolio adjustments designed to improve profitability that reduced advertising and consumer related revenues by approximately $40 million. Fiscal 2020 fourth quarter earnings from continuing operations was $6 million, compared to a loss of $4 million in the prior year period. Fiscal 2020 full year revenues were $2.8 billion, a decline of 11 percent from the prior year due primarily to (1) COVID-19 related advertising cancellations and delays, and impact to consumer related activities that reduced revenues by an estimated $154 million; (2) Previously announced magazine portfolio adjustments of approximately $126 million; and (3) $79 million lower political advertising revenues in Meredith's Local Media Group, as expected in a non-political year. These declines were partially offset by $31 million retransmission growth. Fiscal 2020 full year loss from continuing operations was $209 million, compared to earnings from continuing operations of $129 million in the prior year, due primarily to non-cash impairments of goodwill, intangible, and lease-related assets.

The nearly 50-year-old kitchenware retailer, which filed for bankruptcy in July and said it would close over 50 of its 121 stores, has been sold for nearly $89 million to a joint venture between e-commerce investment firm CSC Generation and Marquee Brands LLC. The sale, which is still subject to bankruptcy court approval, was first reported by The Wall Street Journal. According to court documents, the joint venture plans to keep at least 50 Sur La Table stores open.

The Postal Regulatory Commission marks 50 years of public service in its mission to ensure transparency and accountability of one of our Nation’s most valued treasures rooted in the Constitution — the U.S. Postal Service. President Richard M. Nixon signed into law the Postal Reorganization Act of 1970 on August 12 of that year. This momentous legislation would transform the Post Office Department into a newly independent Postal Service the following year. Yet the law immediately created the Postal Rate Commission as the 1970 Act ended the role of the U.S. Congress in setting stamp prices. Later, with passage of the Postal Accountability & Enhancement Act of 2006, the agency was renamed the Postal Regulatory Commission as part of significantly expanding its responsibilities. For half a century, the Commission has been the regulatory anchor providing legal and economic oversight of the one agency that touches the lives of all Americans in every community nearly every day, at their homes and offices. Ever since Congress and President Nixon created it on August 12, 1970, the Commission has consistently conducted its work in an open and accessible way, with full transparency and an opportunity for robust input by the public. The agency's operations on behalf of its fellow citizens foster a vital and efficient universal mail system.

As districts grapple with decisions on what the fall will look like for teachers and students amid the surging COVID-19 pandemic, Learning Company Houghton Mifflin Harcourt today announced new professional learning opportunities for educators nationwide. This follows the recent launch of Teacher’s Corner™, a new online space for continuous professional learning through HMH’s digital teaching and learning platform, Ed: Your Friend in Learning and another solution within HMH’s suite of professional learning offerings. HMH’s all-new live online professional learning will help districts navigate the unique challenges facing them this back-to-school season, including addressing student learning gaps, training for remote teaching, supporting social-emotional needs and improving equity and access. Professional learning consultants, who are teachers themselves, provide a digital ‘shoulder to shoulder’ experience partnering with educators via live online courses and coaching through HMH’s award-winning Coaching Studio™ platform, with a focus on each district’s needs and goals.

Meredith Corporation launches its Meredith Data Studio, a suite of advertising solutions leveraging the company's vast, proprietary, first-party data and predictive insights capabilities to help inform its partners' marketing, product and business strategies. The offerings feature full-service data solutions, predictive analytics, paid consulting and self-service tools, all powered by Meredith's 360 platform, an end-to-end audience insights and activation platform designed for managed or self-service access, as well as predictive capabilities to analyze billions of intent signals and engagements to trends and purchase intent in order to deliver precisely targeted audience and contextual advertising. "As a brand-led organization that reaches nearly 95% of American women, Meredith possesses rich, exclusive data with massive scale in content-rich environments. Using those assets, we've built an exclusive, in-depth 12,000+-term taxonomy, a proprietary identity graph and over 12 billion intent signals to achieve an unmatched, comprehensive and timely understanding of women and their purchase intent – the holy grail for our partners," explains Alysia Borsa, Chief Business & Data Officer, who oversees Meredith Data Studio.

The new organization will align functions based on core business operations and will provide more clarity and focus on what the Postal Service does best; collect, process, move and deliver mail and packages. The new organizational structure is focused on three business operating units: *Retail and Delivery Operations — basic mission: Accept and deliver mail and packages efficiently with a high level of customer satisfaction. This organization will be led by Kristin Seaver. *Logistics and Processing Operations –— basic mission: Process and move mail and packages efficiently to the delivery units, meeting service standards. This organization will be led by David Williams. *Commerce and Business Solutions — basic mission: Leverage infrastructure to enable growth. This organization will be led by Jacqueline (Jakki) Krage Strako.

Financial and Business Highlights: *Gross revenue was $203.3 million in the second quarter of 2020, a decrease of 28.4% compared to $283.9 million in the second quarter of 2019. *Gross profit was $48.4 million, or 23.8% of gross revenue in the second quarter of 2020, compared to $68.4 million, or 24.1% of gross revenue, in the same period of last year. *Net loss for the second quarter of 2020 was $(7.9) million, or $(0.15) per diluted share, compared to net loss of $(0.5) million, or $(0.01) per diluted share in the second quarter of 2019. Year-to-date net loss was $(10.8) million, compared to $(2.6) million in the same period of 2019.

Chatham Asset Management, LLC announced that Tony Hunter will become Chief Executive Officer of The McClatchy Company, following the local news company's emergence from Chapter 11 and the completion of its Court-approved sale to Chatham, in September. Mr. Hunter will succeed Craig Forman, McClatchy's CEO, who along with the current board and Chairman Kevin McClatchy, will leave the company upon McClatchy's emergence from its court-supervised reorganization.

Since going online and rebranding as Time In in the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, Time Outis releasing its first print issue on August 11, dedicated to the memory of Time Out’s founder Tony Elliott. Elliott launched Time Out as an eight-page listings guide he handed out himself in London 52 years ago. He died in July from lung cancer. Since launching in London in 1968, the brand has expanded to include 328 cities in 58 countries, and continues to expand its Time Out Market experience with locations in Lisbon, Montreal, New York, Chicago, Boston and Miami.

Another week with double-digit gains in all but one category led to a 15.1% jump in unit sales of print books from the comparable period in 2019 at outlets that report to NPD BookScan. The juvenile nonfiction segment had the biggest gain over the week ended Aug. 3, 2019, with units spiking 40%. The usual suspects were atop the category bestseller list in the week—Big Preschool Workbook was #1, selling nearly 33,000 copies, followed by Crystal Radke’s My First Learn-to-Write Workbook, which sold more than 28,000 copies. Last year at this time, Big Preschool Workbook sold nearly 14,000 copies. Print unit sales were up 18.9% over 2019 in the adult nonfiction category.

The Postal Service reported total revenue of $17.6 billion for the third quarter of fiscal 2020, an increase of $547 million, or 3.2 percent, compared to the same period last year. Compared to the same quarter last year, Marketing Mail revenue declined by $1.4 billion, or 37.2 percent, on a volume decline of 6.4 billion pieces, or 36.4 percent. First-Class Mail revenue decreased by $373 million, or 6.4 percent, on a volume decline of 1.1 billion pieces, or 8.4 percent. Secular declines in mail have continued to negatively affect mail revenue and volume, and those declines have been significantly exacerbated by the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. Meanwhile, Shipping and Packages revenue increased by $2.9 billion, or 53.6 percent, on a volume increase of 708 million pieces, or 49.9 percent, compared to the same quarter last year. In the near term, the Postal Service anticipates that these trends will continue given the surge in e-commerce as many Americans stay home due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Postal Service has and will continue to serve its customers during this crisis through the delivery of medicine, essential consumer staples, benefits checks, and important information, but does not expect its package revenue growth over the medium to long term to make up for its losses in mail service revenue caused by COVID-19.

The New York Times Co’s second-quarter results beat Wall Street estimates, as its digital unit, which includes news, podcasts and crosswords, overtook the legacy print business for the first time. The Times, which competes for ad dollars with big players like Facebook Inc (FB.O) and Alphabet Inc’s (GOOGL.O) Google, has been shifting towards a subscriber-backed model in an effort to cut its reliance on advertising. The shift has paid off for the publisher that expects third-quarter digital subscription revenue to rise about 30%. “We posted our best-ever results for new digital subscriptions, and for the first time in our history total digital revenue exceeded print revenue..,” outgoing Chief Executive Officer Mark Thompson said in a statement.

Costco Wholesale Corporation reported net sales of $13.04 billion for the retail month of July, the four weeks ended August 2, 2020, an increase of 14.1 percent from $11.43 billion last year. For the forty-eight weeks ended August 2, 2020, the Company reported net sales of $149.66 billion, an increase of 8.8 percent from $137.56 billion during the similar period last year.

• Second quarter revenues of $767.0 million rose 89.7% as compared to the prior year, reflecting the Acquisition. ◦ Same store pro forma revenues (as defined and reconciled below) decreased 28.0%, due to unfavorable impacts resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic and general trends adversely impacting the publishing industry. • Digital advertising and marketing services revenues were $168.8 million in the second quarter, or 22.0% of total revenues. • Over $160 million in annualized synergy measures were implemented by the end of the second quarter, with approximately $41.2 million in savings recognized in the quarter.

Q2 2020 Headlines: •Net sales declined 35% to $251 million in the second quarter, and declined 24% to $441 million on a year-to-date basis •Billings1 declined 39% to $297 million in the second quarter, and declined 34% to $428 million on a year-to-date basis •HMH has further improved its leading win rate in the Texas Literature adoption with virtually all decisions made •Significant growth in digital platform usage with 486% increase in student assignments over the last twelve months as schools adjust to remote learning environment •Strong growth of 127% in SaaS billings as digital transformation accelerates

Total reported sales for the second quarter of 2020 were $2.2 billion, a decrease of 17% compared to the second quarter of 2019. The decrease in revenue was primarily the result of lower sales in the Business Solutions Division (BSD) and CompuCom Division driven by impacts related to the COVID-19 pandemic, combined with lower sales in the Retail Division driven by lower volume and fewer retail stores in service. Product sales in the second quarter were down 15% relative to the prior year period. Service revenue was down 26% in the quarter related to lower comparable sales at CompuCom and sales of service in our BSD and Retail Divisions, all of which were negatively impacted by the COVID-19 outbreak. On a consolidated basis, service revenue represented approximately 14% of total Company sales in the second quarter of 2020. The Company reported an operating loss of $456 million in the second quarter of 2020, compared to an operating loss of $15 million in the prior year period. GAAP operating results in the second quarter included $466 million of charges including $401 million of non-cash asset impairment charges, and $65 million in merger and restructuring costs. Asset impairment charges of $401 million in the second quarter of 2020 included $363 million related to impairment of goodwill and other intangible assets at CompuCom and in the Company’s contract business combined, largely related to the effects of the COVID-19 outbreak on current businesses conditions. Asset impairment charges also included $25 million related to the impairment of operating lease right-of-use (ROU) assets associated with the Company’s retail store locations, with the remainder primarily relating to the impairment of fixed assets. Merger and restructuring costs of $65 million include $6 million associated with the Business Acceleration Program (“BAP”), $51 million associated with restructuring charges related to the recently announced Maximize B2B Restructuring Plan, and $7 million in merger, acquisition and integration-related expenses.

The McClatchy Company announced that the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York has approved the sale of substantially all of McClatchy's assets, including all 30 of McClatchy's news organizations, to Chatham Asset Management LLC. Chatham emerged as the successful bidder during an auction held on July 10, 2020. As previously disclosed, Chatham will acquire substantially all of McClatchy's assets for approximately $263 million in a credit bid of McClatchy's first-lien debt, plus new money consideration of approximately $49 million in cash. The transaction is subject to customary closing conditions and regulatory approvals. McClatchy expects to complete the transaction in September.

The U.S. Postal Service is implementing major changes to its delivery operations, effectively eliminating OT for carriers and informing them to leave undelivered items for the next day. This is all part of a cost-saving campaign under new Postmaster General Louis DeJoy, who estimates it will save the cash-strapped agency $200 million per year. Postal workers and unions as you might expect are not happy with the changes, which run counter to their mission to provide timely deliveries. A spokesman said the USPS is “developing a business plan to ensure that we will be financially stable and able to continue to provide reliable, affordable, safe and secure delivery of mail, packages and other communications to all Americans as a vital part of the nation’s critical infrastructure.”

1-800-FLOWERS.COM, Inc. announced that it has completed its acquisition of PersonalizationMall.com®. Chris McCann, CEO, 1-800-FLOWERS.COM, Inc., said, “The addition of PersonalizationMall.com to our unique business platform, including our all-star family of brands, significantly enhances our ability to help our customers engage and stay connected with the important people in their lives. Like our leading brand positions in Gourmet Food and Flowers, the broad assortment of products and customization processes offered by PersonalizationMall.com makes it a leader in the growing market for personalized gifts.”

Consumers are getting snookered in new and more devious ways online. And they know it, although often not until after the fact, judging by a study released last week by specialty insurer Hartford Steam Boiler (HSB) conducted by Zogby Analytics. Of consumers polled, 23% had their identity stolen in 2019 -- a 5% increase over 2016 and 2018, the study says. And these victims spent 27 hours dealing with the fallout, mainly correcting personal information and monitoring their credit. Overall, 77% are at least somewhat concerned about identity theft occurring while they are shopping on a public Wi-Fi connection. Moreover, 34% suffered a cyber attack last year, with viruses or malware the most common damage for 72%.

Meredith Corporation announced that it is teaming up with The Kroger Co.'s media advertising business, Kroger Precision Marketing (KPM), to offer a new integrated media service that will help CPG brands make advertising more shoppable. Meredith's offering provides brand advertisers access to Kroger's first-party purchase data and custom audience segments to power media campaigns across its portfolio of 40+ trusted, iconic food and lifestyle brands, including Allrecipes, REAL SIMPLE, EatingWell, PEOPLE, Better Homes & Gardens and Southern Living. The new integration marks the first time that brand advertisers on Meredith properties will be able to apply closed-loop sales data from Kroger to their campaigns. The service launches at a time when brands need to re-engage consumers whose shopping patterns have been disrupted. Meredith and Kroger Precision Marketing, by matching premium content with sales data, are positioned to influence product discovery, meal planning, product trial, and shopping routines.

Following a survey of its workforce over the last few weeks gauging employee experience with working remotely and reaction to the prospect of returning to its Manhattan offices, Penguin Random House US has confirmed that it will not return to its offices "until sometime next year," CEO Madeline McIntosh wrote in a letter to staff, adding that the publisher will return "when it’s safe and when it’s practical," whenever that may be. "Clearly, we miss being together and would want to quickly get back to the offices if it meant we could safely return to in-person meetings and conversations. But just as clearly, most of us feel that the current state of virus risk means that it would not be comfortable or responsible to come back together in our office spaces anytime soon," McIntosh wrote. "On the bright side, the vast majority report that, overall, working remotely is going quite well, and some are feeling they prefer it as a long-term solution."

The retailer stated on its website that “It’s time to say goodbye.” “Every brand has a story and ours has taken an unexpected turn. “We may be saying goodbye before too long so we’re taking 70 percent off everything. Thanks for being part of our family & history,” they said. A week later, they seem to have made the decision to shut down operations, at least for the foreseeable future. They argue COVID-19 have led them down a path they didn’t expect, confirming both their physical stores and their e-commerce are closed and that they aren’t able to take orders, marking the end of a 3-decade story.

The horrible situation that airlines are in is having quite an impact for many suppliers. For example, American Airlines’ nut supplier has a huge surplus, and is selling them directly to consumers. Inflight magazines are in an equally rough situation. They’re typically run by third parties, and rely on advertisers to pay the bills. With the number of travelers way down, circulation of these magazines is also way down. Well, it looks like United Airlines and INK Publishing have a creative solution for this… Well, Hemispheres magazine is making a comeback in August, but it won’t be available on United Airlines flights. As reported by Ramsey Qubein, United Airlines will be making its inflight magazine an elite perk, known as “Hemi at Home.” US-based United Global Services, Premier 1K, and Premier Platinum members, will start receiving copies of Hemispheres magazine at their mailing address on file.

Nearly two quarters into the U.S. economic recession, advertising appears to be outpacing the U.S. economy, according to an analysis of data from the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) and Standard Media Index (SMI). The BEA Thursday released estimates that real GDP (gross domestic product) contracted 32.9% during the second quarter of the year, following a contraction of 5% during the first quarter. By comparison, the U.S. ad economy contracted only 27.4% during the second quarter and 1.4% during the first quarter of the year. That analysis is based on the U.S. Ad Market Tracker, a collaboration of SMI and MediaPost that indexes at market growth monthly.

The Association of American Publishers (AAP) today released the StatShot Annual report for Calendar Year 2019, estimating that the U.S. book publishing industry generated $25.93 billion in annual revenue, up by 1.1% as compared to 2018. In terms of units the report estimates that 2.76 billion units were sold. All figures represent publishers’ net revenue from tracked categories (trade, higher education course materials, PreK-12 instructional materials, professional books, and university press), in all formats, from all distribution channels. Overall publishing industry revenue was essentially flat, coming in at $25.93 billion for the year, which was a 1.1% increase as compared to $25.63 billion in 2018.

On July 27, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) put a new rule into effect that allows employee benefit plan administrators to use an electronic “notice-and-access” disclosure system as the default method of communication, making it much more difficult for millions of Americans who currently receive critical, paper-based information about their 401k, pension and retirement plans to access this information. This includes information called for under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA), including quarterly benefits statements, plan summaries and plan changes. This new rule puts many at a disadvantage, particularly the 10% of Americans who say they do not use the internet. According to a 2019 Pew Research Center survey, the size of this group has changed little in recent years, despite ongoing government and social service programs to encourage internet adoption in underserved areas. Among those most disadvantaged by this new rule are senior citizens, (27% of whom do not use the internet), low-income families, people with disabilities and those living in rural or other areas with little or no access to the internet.

*Operating cash flow increased 42% to $51.2 billion for the trailing twelve months, compared with $36.0 billion for the trailing twelve months ended June 30, 2019. *Free cash flow increased to $31.9 billion for the trailing twelve months, compared with $25.0 billion for the trailing twelve months ended June 30, 2019. *Net sales increased 40% to $88.9 billion in the second quarter, compared with $63.4 billion in second quarter 2019. Excluding the $582 million unfavorable impact from year-over-year changes in foreign exchange rates throughout the quarter, net sales increased 41% compared with second quarter 2019. *Operating income increased to $5.8 billion in the second quarter, compared with operating income of $3.1 billion in second quarter 2019. *Net income increased to $5.2 billion in the second quarter, or $10.30 per diluted share, compared with net income of $2.6 billion, or $5.22 per diluted share, in second quarter 2019.

Staffers at Hearst Magazines digital and print properties voted overwhelmingly yesterday to unionize with the Writers Guild of America, East (WGAE). The election, which happened by mail ballot, follows Hearst management’s refusal to voluntarily recognize its staff’s efforts to unionize in November of last year. Roughly 500 Hearst employees make up the new bargaining unit and work across editorial, video, design, photo and social. The unionized staff seeks to address issues that include diversity, transparency, compensation and editorial standards through its contract.

Pursuant to the terms that will apply to borrowing under the CARES Act, the Postal Service will provide the Department of the Treasury with certain information regarding our costs, revenues, and overall financial position. This includes providing Treasury, under strict terms of confidentiality, with those contracts that generate the most revenue for the Postal Service. Providing this information is merely an acknowledgment of the fact that Treasury has been designated by Congress as the lender for the Postal Service, and it therefore has a legitimate interest under certain circumstances in understanding those factors that affect our current and projected financial position. Other conditions, such as the requirement that borrowed funds only be used for operating expenses, and not for capital expenses, were expressly mandated by Congress in the language of the CARES Act. Contrary to insinuations made in the Washington Post article, nothing in these terms confers upon Treasury any role whatsoever in Postal Service pricing, management, or strategy.

The U.S. Postal Service announced a loyalty program designed to help smaller businesses, according to a press release obtained by Total Retail. Registered business users of USPS Click-N-Ship will earn credits by purchasing postal products they're already using for their shipping needs. Priority Mail and Priority Mail Express postage purchased online through Click-N-Ship will generate credits that can then be applied to future purchases of these products. Click-N-Ship business account users will earn $40 credits for every $500 spent on Priority Mail and Priority Mail Express labels. The program will launch nationally on Aug. 1. Existing business accounts will be auto-enrolled in the program. New Click-N-Ship business account users will earn a one-time $40 Welcome Bonus for the first $500 spent on Priority Mail and Priority Mail Express postage. In addition, the Postal Service is offering a one-time $20 Introductory Bonus for any registered Click-N-Ship business user for $500 spent in August and September this year.

UPS announced second-quarter 2020 consolidated revenue increased to $20.5 billion, a 13.4% increase from the second quarter of 2019. Net income was $1.8 billion for the quarter; adjusted net income was $1.9 billion, 8.8% above the same period in 2019. Operating profit was $2.2 billion, and adjusted operating profit was $2.3 billion, up 7.4% compared to last year’s second quarter. Diluted earnings per share was $2.03 and adjusted diluted earnings per share was $2.13, up 8.7% from the same period last year. GAAP results included a pre-tax transformation charge of $112 million, equivalent to $0.10 per share. In the prior year period, GAAP results included a pre-tax charge for transformation costs of $21 million, equivalent to $0.02 per share.

United States Postmaster General Louis DeJoy announced today that the United States Postal Service (USPS) has reached an agreement in principle with the United States Department of the Treasury on the terms and conditions associated with $10 billion lending authority provided in the CARES Act. The USPS Board of Governors unanimously approved the agreement in principle yesterday and expects that the parties will formally memorialize the agreement through loan documents that will be jointly developed over the coming weeks. DeJoy expressed his appreciation to U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin for working with him to reach mutually acceptable terms and conditions. DeJoy said, “Access to an additional $10 billion in borrowing authority will delay the approaching liquidity crisis.”

Meredith Corp. doesn't just publish magazines. It manufactures them. That was the conclusion of a three-year legal battle that ended last week when attorneys for the U.S. Department of Justice dropped an appeal against Meredith. The conclusion of the civil lawsuit clears the path for the Des Moines-based publisher of titles such as Better Homes and Gardens, People, Magnolia and Southern Living to collect a $12.2 million tax deduction. At issue was whether Meredith is technically a manufacturer, which would qualify the company for the tax break, which is designed to keep production jobs in the U.S. Although it does not print its magazines, Meredith argued it broadly fits the description of a manufacturer because of all the other work it does to make the product.

Torstar Corporation announced that the Ontario Superior Court of Justice (Commercial List) has approved its previously announced plan of arrangement involving NordStar Capital LP ( “NordStar”), pursuant to which NordStar will, among other things, acquire all of the issued and outstanding Class A shares and Class B non-voting shares of Torstar (the “Shares”) at a price of $0.74 per Share (the “Arrangement”). The Arrangement is expected to be completed on or about July 30, 2020 and remains subject to the satisfaction or waiver of certain customary closing conditions.

Amazon announced it has delivered more than 6 million meals with 7.4 million pounds of food since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic to people in need in over 25 cities across the U.S.—with plans to deliver a million more meals by the end of summer. With communities facing record-high unemployment and many observing strict social distancing guidelines, food banks have experienced unprecedented demand. Amazon delivery drivers are stepping in to help by safely delivering meals directly to clients’ homes. Amazon has donated delivery services to food banks and community organizations since March through its Amazon Flex network and other delivery partners. “Amazon has a longstanding commitment to addressing right now needs – with over $100 million in donations to homelessness, hunger, and disaster relief,” said Alice Shobe, Director of Amazon in the Community. S&P Global Revenue Increased 14% In Second Quarter

*Revenue and Operating Profit Grew Across All Four Divisions *Diluted EPS Increased 46% to $3.28; Adjusted Diluted EPS Increased 40% to $3.40 *Operating Profit Margin Improved 920 Basis Points to 56.9% *Adjusted Operating Profit Margin Improved 740 Basis Points to 58.7% *Several New Products Launched During the Quarter

Postmaster General Louis DeJoy issued the following statement on July 27, 2020: “The Postal Service is in a financially unsustainable position, stemming from substantial declines in mail volume, and a broken business model. We are currently unable to balance our costs with available funding sources to fulfill both our universal service mission and other legal obligations. Because of this, the Postal Service has experienced over a decade of financial losses, with no end in sight, and we face an impending liquidity crisis. Congress and the Postal Regulatory Commission must enact legislative and regulatory reforms to help address the situation. At the same time, it is imperative for the Postal Service to operate efficiently and effectively. Indeed, there are alternatives to every product that we offer, and the only way that the Postal Service can continue to provide prompt, reliable, and affordable universal postal services for all Americans over the long-term is by vigorously focusing on the efficiency of our operations." click read more below for additional comments

McClatchy announced that it filed an asset purchase agreement with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court, formalizing the details of Chatham Asset Management's successful bid for ownership of McClatchy in the Chapter 11 sale process. The filing is a key milestone in the reorganization and paves the way for a change in control of the 163-year-old news company. Under Chapter 11 rules, the proposed asset purchase is scheduled for consideration by the Court for approval at a hearing on August 4. Under the agreement, Chatham will acquire McClatchy for $263 million in a credit bid of the Company's first-lien debt, plus new money consideration of $49 million in cash and the assumption of additional liabilities.

Highlights:*Underlying revenue down 17% on prior year largely due to COVID-19*Group sales decline largely reflects test centre and school closures in Global Assessment and International. After deterioration from March to May we saw improving sales trends in June.*Global Online Learning sales grew 5% due to strong enrolments in new and existing schools in Virtual Schools and slight revenue growth in OPM with good growth in continuing programs offset by discontinued programs.*Global Assessment declined 27% due to the impact of test centre closures in Professional Certification (Pearson VUE), cancellation of spring testing in Student Assessment and school closures impacting Clinical Assessments.*North American Courseware declined 14% with US Higher Education Courseware declining in line with expectations due to the continuation of trends seen in 2019, and a modest impact from the closure of campus-based bookstores. We saw a weaker performance in courseware in Canada largely as a result of school and bookstore closures. *International declined 23% due to the disruption in businesses which rely on physical locations including school and test centre closures.

Amazon.com, Inc. announced plans to open a fulfillment center in Mt. Juliet, Tennessee. The site, which is anticipated to launch in late 2021, will create more than 1,000 new, full-time jobs with benefits and opportunities to engage with advanced robotics. The company currently has fulfillment and sortation centers in Charleston, Chattanooga, Lebanon, Murfreesboro, Memphis and Nashville. “Tennessee is a great state for business and gives us the opportunity to better serve our customers in the region,” said Alicia Boler Davis, Amazon’s vice president of global customer fulfillment. “We are excited about our growth and remain committed to creating a positive economic impact in the region with job opportunities with great pay and industry-leading benefits.”

Second Quarter Financial Highlights: - Sales of $2.8 billion with significant share gain in the U.S. - Generated reported operating earnings of $205 million; adjusted operating earnings of $315 million - Over $75 million in sequential SG&A cost savings - Generated $232 million in operating cash flow and returned $86 million to shareholders through dividends

Oprah Winfrey's monthly magazine will cease printing after its December 2020 issue, according to a report by Business of Fashion. Asked for comment, a rep for Hearst Magazines emphasized to The Hollywood Reporter that the brand is not going away but will become "more digitally centric." Said Winfrey in a statement: "I'm proud of this team and what we have delivered to our readers over the past 20 years. I look forward to the next step in our evolution."

With another strong showing by the juvenile nonfiction category, unit sales of print books rose 16.6% in the week ended July 18, 2020, over the comparable week in 2019, at outlets that report to NPD BookScan. Units were up 40.9% in juvenile nonfiction from the week ended July 20, 2019, led by a new surge of sales for one of this year’s biggest bestsellers, My First Learn-to-Write Workbook by Crystal Radke, which sold nearly 40,000 copies in the week. The adult nonfiction category also did well, with unit sales increasing 19.9% over 2019, helped by Mary L. Trump’s Too Much and Never Enough, which sold 337,473 print copies in its first week. White Fragility by Robin DiAngelo was #2 in the category, selling nearly 49,000 copies.

Walgreens announced this week that it has joined a groundbreaking consortium that aims to reinvent the single-use plastic retail bag. Teaming up with other major retailers and with non-profit organizations in the Consortium to Reinvent the Retail Bag, Walgreens is committed to being part of the solution to the waste and recycling issues associated with the use of more than 100 billion retail plastic bags every year in the U.S. The goal of the Beyond the Bag initiative is to identify, test and implement viable design solutions and models that more sustainably serve the purpose of the current retail bag. Current alternatives to the plastic retail bag have yet to garner industry-wide support or widespread use by the public and many still have significant environmental impacts.

The ACMA is excited to release the agenda for our upcoming virtual National Forum. Registartion will be announced very soon, but for now, please save the dates and plan on attending. Here are the key facts: No 'Zoom overload' promised! This year’s Forum will be held entirely via a series of Zoom meetings. Following an opening session focused on the upcoming elections on September 2nd, there will be back-to-back 45-minute online sessions held on the three subsequent Wednesdays. Cost & Attendance: Although the issues and focus will on C-level executives, attendance is complementary to all catalog/online/direct merchants and their suppliers, both ACMA members and non-members, as long as you completely fill out the brief registration form (coming soon). See the agenda at: https://catalogmailers.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/ACMA-Virtual-Forum-Agenda-2020.pdf - click read more below for additional info

The New York Times Company announced that it would acquire Serial Productions, the company that produces the groundbreaking “Serial” podcast. In addition to the acquisition, The Times also announced that it had entered into an ongoing creative and strategic alliance with “This American Life” that will enable it to continue to collaborate on long-form audio stories with Serial Productions and to collaborate on marketing and advertising sales with The Times. The terms of the transaction were not disclosed. Serial Productions is a team of audio’s best and most successful long-form journalists and narrative storytellers led by Julie Snyder, Sarah Koenig and Neil Drumming. Each episode of “Serial’s” first season was downloaded 20 million times on average and is credited with igniting the current podcast boom. “This American Life” is the iconic, long-running, weekly public radio program, founded by host and executive producer Ira Glass.

The total invoiced value (or publishers' sales to accounts) of U.K. publisher sales rose to £6.3 billion in 2019, 4% higher than in 2018 and 20% higher than in 2015, making 2019 the biggest year ever for U.K. publishing. The Publishers Association’s new figures, released in its annual "Yearbook" report, shows growth in both print and digital sales. The significance of export sales is underlined by the report: exports accounted for 59% of total sales. Other headline facts include: print sales up 3% to £3.5 billion; digital sales up 4% to £2.8 billion; home sales up 4% to £2.4 billion; export sales up 3% to £3.7 billion; consumer audiobook downloads sales up 39% to £97 million, and nonfiction and reference sales up to 6% to £1 billion.

Torstar Corporation announced that, at its special meeting of shareholders held today, shareholders of Torstar voted to approve the previously announced plan of arrangement involving NordStar Capital LP pursuant to Section 182 of the Business Corporations Act. Pursuant to the Arrangement, NordStar will, among other things, acquire all of the issued and outstanding Class A shares and Class B non-voting shares of Torstar at a price of $0.74 per Share.

John Wiley & Sons Inc., and CPI Group, the largest book printer in Europe, announced a partnership bringing together a total supply chain solution including demand planning, print and distribution, customer service, and credit collection. The partnership will establish a state-of-the-art inkjet print production facility within Wiley’s European Distribution Centre (EDC) in Bognor Regis, United Kingdom. “We have a fantastic relationship with CPI and are thrilled to partner with them on this exciting project,” said Cary Hamill, VP of Global Supply Chain and Strategic Sourcing for Wiley. “We believe our collective expertise will provide an innovative solution to publishers for their print, inventory management and distribution needs - whilst continuing to provide our customers and clients with an even better level of service.”

Looks like the long, good read continues. Dennis Publishing just announced subscription rates across all titles have increased by 9% overall during the lockdown and ongoing pandemic. “Since the beginning of lockdown the number of people subscribing to all Dennis titles has increased by 9%,” notes this article on the publisher’s website. “To ensure an uninterrupted service of their favourite magazines, all titles have offered free digital access to subscribers throughout the pandemic, which has been met with glowing reviews by readers. The team didn’t rest on their laurels though, instead implementing engagement campaigns to get new subscribers to the titles, with huge success.” The company decided early on to unlock free digital access to all subscribers, to ensure the mail delays wouldn’t cause readers to lose interest. At the same, they implemented new engagement campaigns to reach new subscribers … with great success.

Meredith Corporation announced that it has begun making Traditional Home available for home delivery via the Meredith Magazine Store, beginning with the Fall/Winter 2020 issue. The quarterly continues to be available at newsstands with a $12.99 cover price. "We're thrilled to provide annual and biannual subscriptions to readers of this beloved home brand," said Doug Olson, President, Meredith Magazines. "Offering consumers home delivery is a logical next step based on the overwhelmingly positive response of readers and the success of Cooking Light and Coastal Living's pivot to Meredith's consumer-driven model. It's a profitable and innovative way for us to deliver our desired print brands like Traditional Home to our passionate and loyal readers." An annual subscription costs $20 for four issues. The brand, which includes growing interior design-enthusiast followings on Facebook and Instagram, is directed by Editor In Chief Jill Waage, based in Des Moines, Iowa.

Ulta Beauty, Inc. shared further updates to its operations as it continues to navigate the impact of COVID-19. Ulta Beauty has completed its phased reopening process. To meet individual comfort levels, guests can shop via Curbside Pickup, Buy Online Pickup in Store, on ulta.com, via the Ulta Beauty app and in Ulta Beauty stores. In addition to our Shop Safe Standards, starting today Ulta Beauty will require all guests and associates to wear facial coverings when in stores. As different parts of the country manage rising COVID-19 cases, the Company will maintain its close monitoring of government and health guidance as well as local case prevalence to inform nimble actions where necessary. Mirroring its thoughtful reopening approach, the Company began welcoming back furloughed employees consistent with individual store operational needs. To date, approximately 50% of those furloughed in April have been reactivated.

Bloomsbury announces its trading update for the four months ended 30 June 2020, ahead of the Company’s Annual General Meeting at 12.00pm today. Bloomsbury experienced strong trading for the first four months of its financial year, ahead of the Board’s expectations, with year-on-year sales growth of 18% during a period of unprecedented disruption caused by the coronavirus pandemic. Our revenue and earnings are weighted towards the second-half, with sales of trade titles rising for Christmas and sales of academic titles being strongest at the beginning of the academic year in the Autumn.

Torstar Corporation announced that the Torstar board of directors has determined to continue to recommend the proposed acquisition by NordStar Capital LP of all of the issued and outstanding Class A shares and Class B non-voting shares of Torstar by way of a statutory plan of arrangement at a price of $0.74 per Share. On July 11, 2020, Torstar announced that it had entered into an amendment to the arrangement agreement dated May 26, 2020 between Torstar and NordStar to provide for the increased purchase price, which constitutes an increase of 17.5% from the $0.63 per Share payable under the original NordStar Agreement.

Pro Carton has launched new home-schooling intiative, EduCarton. The educational resources assist parents and carers of children in lockdown to teach them about the environment and the benefits of cartonboard. All materials are FREE to download. There are a range of materials to explore, including; Crafts, worksheets and colouring: A range of printable activities for children, with many themed around “Carton Campaigners”. Find out more about the intiative at: https://www.procarton.com/publications-news/educarton-home-schooling-initiative/