Page 82 - Consuming Media

01Consuming Media 10/4/07 11:17 am Page 69

Newspapers and magazines are perishables that are often only read once and then
disposed of. In this they differ from records, films and books, which have a longer
normal lifespan and are often kept by their consumers who may sometimes return to
them long after the purchase. These different aspects of time – the ‘speed’ of their
lifespan – also affect the tempo in the shops selling print media.

SELECTION AND PURCHASE
The shops where newspapers and magazines are sold are characterized by a fast pace
and great visual accessibility. Most such shops have glass walls from floor to ceiling,
making it possible for prospective customers to get an overview of the products from
the street. The shops lack doors in a strict sense, which also facilitate accessibility and
allow customers to come and go easily. Nor do customers stay long in the stores –
most seem to know what they are looking for when they come in; they walk straight
to the product, pick it up and then immediately go to the counter, pay and leave.
This behaviour is also encouraged by the shops themselves. A tobacconist says that
representatives from the two major distribution companies, whom he meets a few
times per year, advise on how the magazines should be arranged on the shelves.
According to them all magazines on the same subject, for example, mobile phones,
should be placed side by side: ‘The customers must be able to find the right title
quickly; otherwise they leave.’ Only the latest issues are left on the shelves, and all
back issues are tucked away in stores. Children’s magazines should be placed on the
bottom shelves and porno magazines on the top shelves, where they cannot be seen.
Each magazine should be placed so as to get maximum exposure, for example by not
being placed on top of each other, and the lighting must be good. These directions
emphasize the perishability of the magazines and are meant to optimize exposure.
The placing of the magazines according to theme or genre has the obvious purpose
of making it easier for customers to find what they are looking for, but might also
tempt them to buy more than they had planned. Distributors and shop owners
address their customers as subjects who are always on the go and have the power to
leave suddenly without making a purchase.
The bookshop entrance is likewise designed to draw people into the store. The
spacious, open entrance, barely marking the border between inside and outside,
attracts presumptive customers. When customers enter, they immediately encounter
platforms displaying the season’s articles and special offers. At the start of the new
school year, stationery dominates: glossy wrapping paper for textbooks, strawberry
flavoured pencils and beautiful, collectable erasers, displayed en masse in racks on top
of a rounded platform. Close by is a pallet full of notepads, sold in such quantities
that they are not stacked on platforms or shelves, and the customers pick them up as
they are delivered.
The sales figures and the marketing in the bookshop, like in the rest of the retail
trade, are rooted in annually recurring events. This can be understood as a way of
creating the periodicity that is built into the products of the newsagent. The events
may be tied to the calendar, such as Christmas, Father’s Day, Saint Valentine’s or

Print Media 69