Court Grants Source Interlink Temporary Restraining Order
Order prohibits publishers, distributors from denying shipments.
Magazine publisher and wholesaler Source Interlink said late Wednesday it has been awarded a temporary restraining order in its anti-trust lawsuit against several major magazine publishers and rival wholesalers.
The order, granted by the U.S. District Court in the Southern District of New York, prohibits publishers and national distributors from denying shipments to its magazine distribution business, the company said.
“We and our loyal employees continue to be committed to serving retail partners and building our business,” Source Interlink chairman and CEO Greg Mays said in a statement. “We view today’s ruling as an important step in that direction.”
Source filed the lawsuit on Monday, alleging that the defendants —including publishers Time Inc. and Hachette—“conspired” to force the company to sell its distribution business at a steep discount to rivals Hudson News and News Group.
Other defendants named in the complaint include American Media Inc., Bauer Publishing, Curtis Circulation, Distribution Services Inc., Kable Distribution Services, and Time Warner Retail.
In January, Source and fellow wholesaler Anderson News announced separate 7-cents-per-copy price hikes. Publishers largely balked at the surcharge and refused to pay, upset at the wholesalers' sudden and "unilateral" decision to boost costs.
On Saturday, Anderson CEO Charlie Anderson announced the company was suspending “normal business activity.”
Source also is seeking compensatory and punitive damages in the suit. A preliminary injunction hearing is scheduled for February 23, the company said.
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Anderson News
Submitted by Anonymous on Thu, 02/12/2009 - 08:31.Anderson News has shut down operations and is now closing for good - I hope The Source fares better in their negotiations with the publishers.
What about the 7 cents?
Submitted by Anonymous on Thu, 02/12/2009 - 09:41.So publishers and national wholesalers must ship their products to Source Interlink as usual, but does the injunction also require them to pay SI the 7-cents-per-copy surcharge?
7 cents
Submitted by Anonymoose on Thu, 02/12/2009 - 10:54.the 7 cent surcharge was rescinded by SI last week...
what happens to copies
Submitted by Anonymous on Thu, 02/12/2009 - 11:44.what happens to copies currently in the pipeline!?
The whole magazine
Submitted by Anonymous on Thu, 02/12/2009 - 11:57.The whole magazine distribution system needs a major overhaul. It's very inefficient for all involved. Hopefully these major issues will catapult a change in the way magazines get to retailers.
????
Submitted by RSA for Prologix East on Thu, 02/12/2009 - 12:14.Ok WHO says that Anderson is closing for good? Where are you getting your info? We have yet to hear anything. My boss was just out in our stores doing surveys. Why would company have him doing surveys of racks if we were closing for good?
the definition of "necessary"
Submitted by Anonymous on Thu, 02/12/2009 - 12:16.Source says pay us $.07 a copy or we can't stay in business. The publishers respond, "no thanks, we'll find an alternative." The Source says "never mind" on the $.07 and files suit. Absurd.
Good Riddence!
Submitted by Anonymous on Thu, 02/12/2009 - 12:41.Anderson and Source are victims of their own poor business practices. In the end, their arrogance and resistence to change will be their downfall. Publishers will be better off in the long run creating a more efficient and cost effective distribution system.
Anderson News employees terminated
Submitted by Anonymous on Thu, 02/12/2009 - 13:01.Anderson News employees terminated
Knoxville News Sentinel - Knoxville,TN,USA
Publishers had stopped shipping product to Anderson and another distributor Source Interlink, which filed an antitrust lawsuit this week. ...
http://blogs.knoxnews.com/knx/harrington/2009/02/anderson_employees_term...
I am NOT anonymous!!! I am a real person!!
Submitted by I am NOT anonymous!!! on Thu, 02/12/2009 - 13:24.My name is Martin and i am or should i say was? a Route driver for Prologix east, i just got THE CALL!! Boss said he is 99.9 % sure we are DONE! Well i almost made it 10 years for this company. And i did in fact enjoy my job!! We have went thru alot of changes in that alomost 10 years and i still enjoyed my job, well atleast mostly i did. There has been a few times that it got bad. I truly did like my stores and the people i came to call friends. I will miss my friends in my stores and my friends that i worked with.
BUT.........I do have to say that i AM NOT HAPPY in the way they have handled this! They couldnt tell us sooner they were closing? Kept us hanging like this? Making us think we were going back? Now what? What about my insurance? Are they going to give us a severance package like they did with the associates they laid off when they closed my distribution center? Almost 10 years of loyalty and this is the thanks we get from management.
i work for source and did my job today
Submitted by Anonymous on Thu, 02/12/2009 - 17:12.I work for Source Interlink as a merchandiser and did my Walmart store today. The only trouble is, I barely received any magazines! Just a few monthlies and a recipe book. Wow, I hope we start getting our regular stuff back soon.
Martin, what city?
Submitted by Anonymous on Thu, 02/12/2009 - 19:10.We are being told in Chattanooga, things will be normal within a week or two.
Prologix East
Submitted by Anonymous on Thu, 02/12/2009 - 22:03.I understand that the Prologix East Temporary Restraining Order is only for two weeks. What will The News Group do once the order is over? This Canadian company is in the process of monopolizing the US distribution market like they did in Canada. The difference is that it's against the law in the USA.
Hey, fellow ex-Anderson
Submitted by Anonymous with no Job on Fri, 02/13/2009 - 07:38.Hey, fellow ex-Anderson Employees - Isn't this Source guy the person you want to be working for? HE's got balls. And he's NOT giving up, unlike Charlene Anderson. Anti-trust indeed. He saw an out and TOOK it, his loyal employees be darned. What a disappointment.
Publisher National Distributors
Submitted by Anonymous on Fri, 02/13/2009 - 07:54.I would think that the National Distributor is the weakest link in this channel. With Anderson News Company going away, I have a hunch they are not paying the ND’s. The ND’s will have to slow pay the publishers since they are on a tight margin.
Look out for Kable and Curtis having major problems in the next six months. CMG looks to have managed this very well plus they are connected to Hearst and Conde which provides some security, Time Inc. has a ton of money, however it looks like they are not committed to their clients.
If I were a publisher, in my opinion I would move my business away from Kable and Curtis to the other two as soon as the contract is up.
National Distributors
Submitted by Anonymous on Fri, 02/13/2009 - 12:13.Having Newsgroup and Hudson fill in the gap and take over Anderson's distribution is not going to improve service. There needs to be more local and regional distributors like there use to be. National Distributors base their results on numbers, not service to their clients.
Source
Submitted by anonymous on Fri, 02/13/2009 - 16:30.I'm a merchandiser for Source and have been working all week and I'm to continue as normal according to my bosses.
job security
Submitted by Anonymous on Fri, 02/13/2009 - 17:39.You would think that Source would be letting their employees know exactly what's going on so they could reassure their stores. We were told nothing and had to look up the info ourselves. These magazine publishers make most of their money from subscriptions, not store distribution; so they can play hardball.
prologix services, east
Submitted by Anonymous on Fri, 02/13/2009 - 21:08.This problem with Anderson News shows why many employees of major corporations do not feel their loyalty means anything
to the CEO's, Presidents, VP's, ect., ect. When Anderson bought S.E. Periodicals & Book Sales in Miami because they could offer a better discount to retailers and South East Per. could not, there were layoffs. This is the way Anderson dealt with it's new employees in Miami. And now we're going through this again thanks to very poor managment in corporate headquarters.
Thank you, Charlie
PS- NOW WHAT !!!!!!!!!!
Prologix East - Anderson/News Group = News Group
Submitted by Eddie M. on Sat, 02/14/2009 - 15:01.Seems like anyone working for Anderson News Stores i.e. Walmart/Krogers/WalGreens/Kmart will be working for The News Group. I work for prologix east, where we Pull orders for News Group accounts and Anderson News Accounts. The only reason we are still working is because New Group is still rolling :) Seems like its a Battle between News Group/Hudson News and Source Interlink? I personally think Source Interlink should just walk away like Charlie Did... No offense to Source Employees, but Source is obviously in the same boat Anderson news was. They are better off being bought out by Hudson News or News Group.
Source aquiring Andersons Walmarts
Submitted by Anonymous on Sat, 02/14/2009 - 15:43.Heard this rumor can anyone confirm.
Source Injunction
Submitted by Anonymous on Sat, 02/14/2009 - 16:27.Publishers are watching this communication disorganization with some unrighteous disgust. Distributors are aiding the chaos where decisions are being made about market pull backs.
former employee of NewsGroup -- problems began years ago
Submitted by Anonymous on Sat, 02/14/2009 - 18:30.I was in the magazine wholesale / distribution business for 27 years. I began with a local family owned (not my family) business, which was sold to a larger family and then was purchased by The News Group. This surge into the US by The News Group had its good points as well as its problems. But the real problem began when the customers began telling the wholesellers how to work, when to work and wanted higher concessionson price breaks. I loved the business but knew that the direction it was headed 7 years ago was going to be problematic. I still have friends in the business and I pray they survive. I am not afraid to give my name.....Arnold Wiley of eastern North Carolina...
source employee
Submitted by Anonymous on Mon, 02/16/2009 - 23:48.I have been in the magazine business for 13 yrs. this will affect alot of part time jobs for mothers that need flexibility, I hope we all can go back to a normal job pace, it will hurt part time employment. do the big companys care about anything but there own profits?
Issues with The Industry Overall
Submitted by Anonymous on Tue, 02/17/2009 - 01:51.I am a publisher of a small periodical. I have read through the posts on this thread and prior threads in regards to Source and Anderson. First, let me clarify a lot of points for many of you. Subscriptions as a standalone itema are a money losing proposition. Do you know how much it costs to produce a magazine and to mail? Those costs alone are greater than the what we receive from subscribers. Do you know how much we receive of newsstand sales? First, as many of your are aware on average only 1 out of every 3 copies shipped is sold. But we still incur the costs of shipping and producing all 3 copies. Next, of say the $4.99 retail price we see 35 percent on average after national distributors, wholesalers, and retailers cut. So, that equals $1.75 per sold copy which is far less than the actual production and distribution costs to get those magazines to newsstands. In the past we could rely on advertisers to support the deficiencies and cover the personnel and marketing overhead. However, needless to say, advertisers have got back tremendously due to the bad economy. So, before you start blaming publishers for your employers going out of business maybe you should have a better understanding of the mechanics of the system. FYI, the retailers make out the best. They keep 40 - 45% of the retail price without any delivery or production costs. Everyone should be going back to the retailers asking them to give up a bigger piece of the pie.
re. Issues with the industry overall...I am confused
Submitted by Anonymous on Tue, 02/17/2009 - 09:52.I worked for Anderson - prior to last week - and in Charlie's original recorded message of January when he announced the .07 per copy charge, he made the statement that the publishers have said that they could print 20 copies of a magazine and sell 1 and still make a profit. The wholesalers are required to take all 20 to the retailer and stock the rack and then when they come back the next week pick up the 19, run them across the return scanners for credit, process all that info. This is what costs the wholesalers the extra maney. So by making the publishers pay the .07 per copy, this would hopefully stop the overload and reduce costs and wastes (not to mention the trees that are saved). Yes, the advertisers want to know that they were printed in 20 copies, but they do not realize that they are only seen in 1 of the 20. So I do not understand the math that you have above? Is that maybe for small publishers and not the big ones???? For more info the andersonnews.com web site is still up and on the supplier advantage tab the 10 misconceptions are pretty interesting. Mute point I guess. Do you really think that the wholesalers could get any more money from Wal-Mart, Walgreens, etc?
Source Interlink
Submitted by Anonymous on Tue, 02/17/2009 - 12:46.I went to work yesterday to service magazines for Source, I got to my store to discover that Source was no longer servicing Meijer. Two other people I work with were told to go to Walmart and service those stores, that Source had picked up Walmart accounts. I contacted News Group who I was told is now servicing Meijer. News Group told me they were servicing Walmart. Does any one know who is doing what? I had only been with Source for about 6 weeks, they did not even call me to let me know I was out of a job. Not suprising, they were extremely unorganized and unprofessional during my short time with the company.
Source Interlink is running itself to the ground
Submitted by Anonymous on Tue, 02/17/2009 - 14:54.I used to work for Source Interlink until I realized how screwed their upper management style is. They are completely insane and don't know anything about magazine publishing. They treat their employees like crap and really don't care about their products. It's all about the money for them. They could care less if their business are selling crack, cookies or magazines. A horrible, horrible company to work for. I just feel bad for all those magazines their acquired. Some are very good mags and Source is running it to the ground. Shame on the Source executives. You are killing the publishing industry!!!!
Curtis Family in Grave Peril
Submitted by Anonymous on Tue, 02/17/2009 - 15:41.It looks like the Pope and his apprentice Alter-boy are still up to their shannagins with lie's, false accusations, tell you what you want to hear and pull the carpet out from under your feet. Why would anyone let Bob & Dennis mind the store with such poor work ethic? and, this has been going on for how many years? AS I CAN RECALL, CCC WAS A WHOLE LOT BETTER WHEN DICK BROWNE WAS AROUND, BOY HAVE TIMES HIT ROCK BOTTOM!
Oligopoly
Submitted by Anonymous on Tue, 02/17/2009 - 15:50.Oligopoly
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
An oligopoly is a market form in which a market or industry is dominated by a small number of sellers (oligopolists). The word is derived from the Greek for few (entities with the right to) sell. Because there are few participants in this type of market, each oligopolist is aware of the actions of the others. The decisions of one firm influence, and are influenced by, the decisions of other firms. Strategic planning by oligopolists always involves taking into account the likely responses of the other market participants. This causes oligopolistic markets and industries to be at the highest risk for collusion.
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