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Kentucky Monthly now holds the distinction of being the only locally focused, statewide lifestyle publication to receive prominent checkout lane placement in the Commonwealth’s largest grocery store chain. By June 10, the magazines will be available in the majority of checkout lane pockets the Kroger Company’s 100-plus Kentucky stores have designated for regional titles. Kentucky Monthly has been available for purchase at Kroger—in the magazine aisle and, most recently, via occasional promotional placements—for more than a decade. Kentucky Monthly anticipates as much as a 15% increase in single-copy newsstand sales through this expanded, highly visible placement.
“Kroger stores consistently provide Kentucky Monthly with its highest newsstand sales, which we feel is a result of Kroger’s demographic matching well with our publication’s readers,” said Kendall Shelton, vice president of sales and marketing. “We’ve experienced the benefit of checkout pocket programs in other big-box stores and anticipate the return on investment in this situation will be even higher.”
Kentucky Monthly, the state’s largest paid and requested magazine, is available at more than 260 retail locations across the Commonwealth. The company also has grown its paid circulation by more than 46% during the past three years.
“When presenting the best of our Commonwealth, it’s important to be in front of as many Kentuckians as possible and where better than in the checkout lanes of Kroger stores?” said Stephen M. Vest, the publisher and editor-in-chief of Kentucky Monthly. “Our expanded partnership with Kroger—in combination with our consistent paid subscription growth and statewide newsstand availability—affords Kentucky Monthly the opportunity to put our editorial content, as well as our advertisers’ messages, in the hands of more consumers.”
TNG, the newsstand marketing division for Kroger Company, notified Kentucky Monthly that the checkout lane transition process is underway, with an estimated completion date of June 10, 2014. This completion date coincides with release of Kentucky Monthly’s June/July 2014 issue.