New Age Retailer
New Age Retailer
New Age Retailer is the major trade journal serving the chain of metaphysical bookstores that emerged in the 1980s as the New Age Movement came into existence. From its beginning in the mid-1980s, the magazine has grown into a large bimonthly report on new publications in the post-New Age spirituality, including books, music, and various related products from jewelry to greeting cards. For example, crystals, which lost the central place that they had in the New Age community of the 1980s, have remained popular as art objects. Each issue of New Age Retailer is built around a listing of several hundred new books, many of which come from small independent publishers. A picture of the book cover is accompanied by basic ordering information and a brief description of the content supplied by the publishers (usually the same material found on the book's cover or dust jacket). A similar treatment is offered for new cds and products. While New Age Retailer is built around providing basic information on new products, it also provides additional guidance to assist retail outlets improve their sales, the major factor affecting the health of the metaphysical wholesale community. On a regular basis, the magazine offers information on contacting sales representatives and wholesale jobbers, attending trade shows, and expanding inventory. Each issue also features a set of articles on a particular topic of interest to store owners on such diverse topics as building a store website and doing effective but inoffensive advertising. New Age Retailer generally circulates only within the psychic/occult business community, but may be ordered from Continuity Publishing, Inc., 1300 N. State St., Ste. 105, Bellingham, WA 98225-4730. Its webpage can be found at http://www.newageretailer.com/. It provides clear insight into the business world that undergirds the current metaphysical/ spiritual community and offers a means of contacting small publishers issuing metaphysical products.
Sources:
New Age Retailer. Bellingham, Wash., n.d.
New Age Retailer. http://www.newageretailer.com/. February 28, 2000.