Excess inventory continues to hang around (chainstoreage.com)

Stephen Lacy, executive chairman of Meredith Corp., the magazine publisher and owner of 17 broadcast television stations, has had his share of disappointments. In 2013, he tried to buy a group of magazines from Time Warner Inc., only to see Time Warner spin off all its magazines under the Time Inc. umbrella. Mr. Lacy persisted. Meredith-with its long history of women's service titles that include Better Homes & Gardens, Shape and Allrecipes-appeared the most likely partner for Time Inc., whose properties include such women's brands as Real Simple, InStyle and People. Now, after several years of trying, Mr. Lacy has acquired Time Inc. for $1.85 billion, establishing Meredith as the country's largest magazine publisher. It represents a daring bet on the future of print magazines at a time when print advertising and circulation revenues continue to slump. Click Read More below for additional information.

The Envelope Manufacturers Association (EMA) Foundation’s Institute for Postal Studies is releasing its 2023 U.S. Mailing Industry Economic Job Study, which reveals overall industry impact remains strong thanks to growth in e-commerce driven parcel delivery. In 2022, the industry accounted for approximately 7.9 million jobs and $1.9 trillion in sales revenue. This includes employment at the U.S. Postal Service (USPS), private delivery companies, printers, publishers, packaging manufacturers, and paper manufacturers that rely on the Postal Service as a supply chain partner.

The U.S. ad market expanded more than 5% during the second quarter, despite “mass market weakness,” and declines in some major national media, according to a quarterly update released early this morning by Pivotal Research Group analyst Brian Wieser. He notes that the market expansion continues to come primarily from digital media, as the national TV ad marketplace eroded 1% and other major media experienced “double digit declines.” Click Read More below for additional detail.