Economist becomes latest title to turn to street sales

by Paul McNally, Brand Republic 04-Sep-08, 14:20

LONDON - The Economist is to begin selling copies on the streets of London in a bid to boost its circulation and appeal to a broader range of readers.

The weekly magazine has announced a trial of the new distribution technique, with distributors operating in targeted locations every Friday from tomorrow.

The method has already been adopted by News International, which employs street vendors to sell The Sun and The Times in the capital.

Publisher Yvonne Ossman said: "The Economist is no longer a niche brand of the establishment and hasn’t been for some time.

"Our readers are incredibly diverse. We hope that by putting people on the streets we will help unite our paper with more of the people it has been written for."

Unlike The Times, which is hoping street sales will allow it to recover from a 3% year-on-year decline in circulation, sales of The Economist remains healthy according to the latest consumer magazine ABCs.

The title recorded a 5.8% year-on-year circulation rise to 183,539 in the first half of 2008.

It was named the most popular weekly magazine for businesspeople in the new Ipsos Mori British Business Survey, published yesterday.