Mag Nation is something in the middle. It offers services of both but is neither. Which is probably why it won the Innovative Retailer Award.
Ravi, a pathologist from Mumbai moved to New Zealand with his wife Suchi in the 70s. However, the government at the time did not recognize his medical qualifications and Ravi looked for other employment opportunities. He dabbled in a number of businesses and finally stumbled on an opportunity to buy a small convenience store.
The story is familiar and common so far but now comes the twist in the tale.
This small and unassuming convenience store had such a strong focus on magazines that tourists, especially from Australia, commented on what a good collection he had.
This led to Ravi and his family to think that they could make something out of this concept. That is how Mag Nation came about.
It really took off and soon his nephew Sahil Merchant joined the company. Sahil had been working on his own career till then. In 1997, he took the big leap and left a very promising career and decided to work full time for Mag nation. “Everyone thought I was crazy,” Sahil says with a smile, adding: “Being and entrepreneur is hard work.”
Mag Nation as a concept is simple. Their logo says it all: Everything in this store can be browsed, touched and felt except for our staff. The idea is simple. “It’s a very basic retail idea.” The idea is to give as much exposure as possible so that they keep coming back and some day they will buy it. “The more you touch, the more you are likely to come back. The more likely you are to come by the more time you spend and the more likely you are to buy.”
“There are essentially three tiers: Publishing, Distribution and Retailers,” says Sahil who looked happiest when answering the structure of this venture.
Magazine industry is a really low-margin industry. Publishers depend on the strength of their distribution to increase the reach of the magazine so they can charge higher rates for advertisement. “We do have links with some of the publishers so we can deal with them directly. But with some of the others, we have a stock risk arrangement. This means that we can send back the magazines that we haven’t been able to sell and they will pay us for those,” says Sahil. This means that even if its been thumbed, flipped and looked through by the 2000 odd people that come through Mag Nation each day, it can still be returned and money claimed.
Through this and a number of other arrangements Mag Nation maintains their profits.
If you sit in Mag Nation for ten minutes, it’s easy to see at least 20 people walk in and use their various facilities without buying a single magazine. So what bring in the money? “No. Magazines are doing that. One hundred percent,” says Sahil. The café, the free internet, the comfortable seating, the music and all the rest of it is just designed to enhance the experience of being surrounded by magazines of every kind.
Mag Nation displays and sells around 4,000 magazines. Some of them are your stock standard ones that you would find at any newsagent. What sets Mag Nation apart are the magazines that most haven’t heard of, but which have a dedicated following.
“There’s this magazine Curvy (a magazine for artists, designers and illustrators) which is one of our niche magazine. And then there is T, a journal of T-shirt culture. Wooden Toy and Dumbo Feather, pass it on are other fantastic but niche market magazines.” Dumbo feather, pass it on is a fantastic concept. Each magazine profiles five people who are inspirational in their own way and its been called a mook (a cross between a book and a magazine).
So what kind of demographic do you cater to? Sahil looks around at a grandfatherly-looking character ensconced with a fishing magazine and at the young student using the free wireless and grins “All kinds.” And then elaborates: “Everyone really. Anyone who is passionate about it. We do tend to attract what we call the Urban Savvy who are tuned in to fashion, arts and culture.”
So here’s the inevitable question. From a tiny convenience store in New Zealand, Mag Nation now has five stores – 3 in Auckland and 2 in Melbourne so what’s next. Sahil has no hesitation: “Global magazine domination,” he says wide grin.
The story is familiar and common so far but now comes the twist in the tale.
This small and unassuming convenience store had such a strong focus on magazines that tourists, especially from Australia, commented on what a good collection he had.
This led to Ravi and his family to think that they could make something out of this concept. That is how Mag Nation came about.
It really took off and soon his nephew Sahil Merchant joined the company. Sahil had been working on his own career till then. In 1997, he took the big leap and left a very promising career and decided to work full time for Mag nation. “Everyone thought I was crazy,” Sahil says with a smile, adding: “Being and entrepreneur is hard work.”
Mag Nation as a concept is simple. Their logo says it all: Everything in this store can be browsed, touched and felt except for our staff. The idea is simple. “It’s a very basic retail idea.” The idea is to give as much exposure as possible so that they keep coming back and some day they will buy it. “The more you touch, the more you are likely to come back. The more likely you are to come by the more time you spend and the more likely you are to buy.”
“There are essentially three tiers: Publishing, Distribution and Retailers,” says Sahil who looked happiest when answering the structure of this venture.
Magazine industry is a really low-margin industry. Publishers depend on the strength of their distribution to increase the reach of the magazine so they can charge higher rates for advertisement. “We do have links with some of the publishers so we can deal with them directly. But with some of the others, we have a stock risk arrangement. This means that we can send back the magazines that we haven’t been able to sell and they will pay us for those,” says Sahil. This means that even if its been thumbed, flipped and looked through by the 2000 odd people that come through Mag Nation each day, it can still be returned and money claimed.
Through this and a number of other arrangements Mag Nation maintains their profits.
If you sit in Mag Nation for ten minutes, it’s easy to see at least 20 people walk in and use their various facilities without buying a single magazine. So what bring in the money? “No. Magazines are doing that. One hundred percent,” says Sahil. The café, the free internet, the comfortable seating, the music and all the rest of it is just designed to enhance the experience of being surrounded by magazines of every kind.
Mag Nation displays and sells around 4,000 magazines. Some of them are your stock standard ones that you would find at any newsagent. What sets Mag Nation apart are the magazines that most haven’t heard of, but which have a dedicated following.
“There’s this magazine Curvy (a magazine for artists, designers and illustrators) which is one of our niche magazine. And then there is T, a journal of T-shirt culture. Wooden Toy and Dumbo Feather, pass it on are other fantastic but niche market magazines.” Dumbo feather, pass it on is a fantastic concept. Each magazine profiles five people who are inspirational in their own way and its been called a mook (a cross between a book and a magazine).
So what kind of demographic do you cater to? Sahil looks around at a grandfatherly-looking character ensconced with a fishing magazine and at the young student using the free wireless and grins “All kinds.” And then elaborates: “Everyone really. Anyone who is passionate about it. We do tend to attract what we call the Urban Savvy who are tuned in to fashion, arts and culture.”
So here’s the inevitable question. From a tiny convenience store in New Zealand, Mag Nation now has five stores – 3 in Auckland and 2 in Melbourne so what’s next. Sahil has no hesitation: “Global magazine domination,” he says wide grin.
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