Children’s magazines, puzzle titles and home improvement magazines have shown the strongest performance in the magazine market, according to sector analysis revealed to RN. 

Data from Seymour Distribution shows that from September 2017 to August 2018, children’s magazines increased retail sales value (RSV) by 0.4%, home improvement by 0.7% and puzzle titles by 1.2%. 

Children’s puzzle magazines, in particular, saw a 17% increase in RSV. Meanwhile, in the adult market, Kriss Kross titles experienced a 4.1% increase, bringing annual sales to just over £2m.

Les Wood, of L&J News in Manchester, said home improvement had seen an upturn in his shop. “It’s largely being driven by uncertainty around Brexit with fewer people moving home instead opting to improve their homes,” he said.   

One shot titles and specials also performed well this year (+8%), driven by the Royal Wedding and the centenary commemorations to mark the end of the First World War. 

However, according to half-year figures from January to June 2018, partworks took a 30% hit in revenues, with an industry source reporting a decrease in product from publishers as one possible reason.  

Wood added: “My customers have completely fallen out of love with partworks. Customers have wised up to them being very expensive and I now send many of them back,” he said. 

Across the year, teenage lifestyle magazine sales also plummeted by 41% for the year to August 2018, with men’s lifestyle declining 24%. Meanwhile, buying and selling magazines declined 20%. 

Jason Birks, of Mosci in Sunderland, said: “With titles like FHM closing, men’s titles have come off my shelf as sales have dropped off completely.

“TV magazines continue to do well for me, but with a small amount of space dedicated to the category, I regularly weed out titles that are not performing.” 

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