Every one of the 32 newsXpress member shops in our latest benchmark study saw newspaper and magazine volumes fall between January and May 2026. Newspaper units dropped 15% to 25% at most shops. Magazine units fell almost everywhere, with revenue holding slightly better only because cover prices rose.
We want to be straight about this, because plenty of people in our channel are not. This is not a store level problem you can merchandise your way out of. It is structural. Digital substitution is permanent. Print will keep declining, and pretending otherwise wastes time and capital.
The useful question is not how do we fix magazines. It is what do we do with the space, the supplier relationships and the customer traffic that print used to drive.
Here is what the data shows. The shops in our study that grew overall revenue did not do it through print. They offset print decline with growth in gifting, collectibles and premium stationery. Our stationery data tells the same story in miniature: unit sales across 12 reporting shops fell 8.2%, but average unit price rose 6.7% as shops shifted from commodity pens and pads toward quality journals, planners and gift stationery.
The advice we give members facing print decline is specific:
- Measure print’s true contribution. Floor space, labour and capital against gross profit. Most shops are shocked by the answer.
- Shrink print deliberately, not by neglect. Keep the titles that earn their space, return the rest, and reclaim the fixtures.
- Reinvest the space in categories with proven network results: considered gifts, coins, trading cards, premium stationery.
- Use the foot traffic print still brings. Every newspaper customer walks past whatever you put between the door and the counter. Choose well.
Helping members through this transition is core to what newsXpress does, and it is included in membership. We benchmark your data against peer shops, identify which categories should take the space, connect you with the suppliers, and support the change with marketing.
Print decline is the reality of our channel. Whether it sinks your business or funds its reinvention is a choice. Our members are choosing the second option, with evidence behind every step.