Hamptons magazine business heats up as summer approaches
The Hamptons publishing scene is once again defying the soft national trend.
Revenue at the beachy titles is up double digits and publishers are tossing posh kickoff parties this weekend — with other big events planned through the summer.
And because it is the Hamptons, there is also a good bit of score-settling built into the mix.
“Print advertising is thriving in the Hamptons — it’s really a national branding capital,” said Debra Halpert, the longtime publisher of Hamptons magazine, who added Beach to her portfolio after Hampton owner GreenGale Publishing was sold in April to onetime rival Modern Luxury.
“I am loving the consolidation of the older demographic titles under one owner,” snips Brandusa Niro, the publisher of the fashion-centric Daily Front Row, which becomes Daily Summer for the season on the East End.
“The sameness will be even greater, and that has already sent a lot of new business our way, especially in the event area,” Niro said. “Our sponsorship revenues are up more than 40 percent so far this season.”
Of course, Beach, which has Padma Lakshmi on the cover, was repositioned away from lifestyle into a health and wellness publication, stirring some local rancor.
Cristina Cuomo was the launch editor for Beach until she was dismissed suddenly by Modern Luxury last September in a downsizing. Then, a month after she announced the launch of her Hamptons Purist in the health and wellness niche, her former publisher followed her by announcing a conversion of Beach in the same niche.
“We don’t think there’s any copy catting,” said Halpert. “We wish her well. We think we’re just doing what resonates with people here.”
“I know I am nuts launching a Web site, app, magazine and a guide all at once — but you can’t just do print anymore, it has to be a 360 degree approach to reach all platforms,” said Cuomo. The debut magazine and an accompanying pocket guide has 147 ad pages and features health advocate and former supermodel Christy Turlington on the cover.
Cuomo’s tossing a kickoff party Friday night at a private home on Pond Land in Southhampton and on July 2 is hosting a premiere of the new flick, “Blind,” with Alec Baldwin and Demi Moore at the UA Theatre in Southampton — with dinner to follow at the Home Nature showroom.
Business is also booming for Richard Burns, who hired bestselling author Michael Gross to edit Avenue on the Beach. Burns renamed his company from Dan’s Papers to Dan’s Hamptons Media earlier this year to reflect the fact that Dan’s business is now more than 40 percent non-newspaper.
Burns’ year-on-year revenue has risen 10 percent — and the week of Memorial Day is up 25 percent. He is holding one of the largest kickoffs, dubbed Rosé Soirée, on Sunday, May 28, at the Southampton Arts Center. Roughly 600 people are expected at the fifth signature event in his Dan’s Taste of Summer series.
Social Life Magazine, now in its 14th year, is holding its launch Saturday in Southhampton and features a cover shot of Montauk summer resident Naomi Watts, who is starring in the upcoming Netflix movie “Gypsy.” Publisher Justin Mitchell says ad revenues are up 18 percent.
“I think what you have here is people want to disconnect from the electronic world and sit by the pool or the ocean and read a traditional magazine,” Mitchell said. “It’s almost like a luxury to do that.”