NOLA L. SARKISIAN
Staff Reporter
At first glance, it looks like any other magazine’s editorial department, complete with 12 desks, papers strewn pell-mell, stacks of trade journals and glossy magazine pages affixed to walls.
Only one thing seems anomalous: the near-constant sound of giggling.
The source? Teen-age girls, who are a big part of the editorial team at mXg, a Manhattan Beach-based publication that is creating a so-called magalog or catazine, a magazine and catalog hybrid.
The publication is targeted at teen-age girls and focuses on fashion, boys and celebrities, not unlike many other consumer magazines. But right beside the editorial spreads is a toll-free telephone number and Internet address that readers can dial up to order the clothing being featured.
“It’s a market that made sense. Teen-agers are excitable and want to take action immediately if they see something they like,” said Publisher Hunter Heaney, 31.
Many creative businesses in Los Angeles are staffed by young people, but that’s taken to an extreme at mXg. Most of the 45 employees haven’t hit 30, and about 25 of them are teen-agers who work part-time after school.
“These kids get to write, try on clothes and listen to music. Yeah, I’m young and hip, but I’m still out of touch with their world. They’re the ones that really knows what’s cool,” said Editor-in-Chief Lia Haberman, 26.
For Lindey Thomas, it’s the best job she’s ever had. She has interviewed the designer of fashion line Sugar 26 Red and Tatyana Ali from the “Fresh Prince of Bel-Air.”
“I see my name on the masthead and I’m like ‘ohmygod’ and I flip out,” said Thomas, 16. “Plus, it helps my writing. At school, I never get to write in a creative way or on such fun topics.”
Everything that appears on the pages receives input from the vocal youngsters, who vote on whether the merchandise, as well as the prose, is “supergood” or not.
“This is a big and growing market and it makes sense to have teen-agers involved in a product that’s for them. Otherwise, they can tell when it’s somebody their parents’ age sitting at a computer and trying to use their slang,” Heaney said.
Last week, the 98-page quarterly magazine rolled out on newsstands nationally. In addition, there’s a Web site that will offer chats with the editor and celebrities, CD and book reviews with direct links to sellers and clothing.
The clothing featured in catalog spreads is ordered directly from manufacturers, but mXg parent HMB Publishing tacks on a markup to the wholesale price, just like a retailer. Unlike other magazines in which advertising generates the bulk of revenues, mXg catalog purchases account for 80 percent of HMB’s sales, and advertising accounts for only 10 percent.
“People still like the tangible feel of a publication and its convenience rather than having to boot up every time they want to read a story,” said Seema Williams, an analyst at Forrester Research in Cambridge, Mass.
In addition, clothing is a hot commodity in the world of e-commerce. In 1998, online apparel sales accounted for $530 million and in 2003, the figure is expected to leap to $13.5 billion.
The concept has come a long way since Heaney and his fellow Harvard Business School alumnus Stuart MacFarlane debuted with the first issue in August 1997. The partners raised $200,000 in seed money from friends and family, primarily through a pay phone.
“We started in this pool house that was Stuart’s brother-in-law’s and it didn’t have a phone line, so we called everyone we knew. We couldn’t get venture money, because they wanted to stick it in pure Internet players,” Heaney said.
