"Because it's the right thing to do," said Paul Reuter, editorial director and CEO of CSP Information Group.
CSP is merging the 4-year-old CSP Independent magazine with CSP magazine in 2010, and is investing significant funds to more than double its circulation.
"To merge a profitable, independent magazine that has roughly two-thirds market share of the independent c-store market may sound crazy at first," Reuter said. "But the more we studied how the convenience channel [image-nocss] has evolved over the past five years, the decision to invest even more content to our entire convenience universe makes incredible sense.
"When we launched CSP Independent, the market was moving toward bifurcation, in which we would have two distinct readerships: large chains and smaller, one- to 10-store businesses.
"What we have today and will have for the foreseeable future is one convenience-store industry," Reuter said. "And our expanded, award-winning CSP magazine will reflect this by more than doubling its circulation to reach more than 100,000 decision-making entrepreneurs and key stakeholders who have fully vested themselves in the growth and sustainability of the c-store channel.
"This is a significant investment for CSP," said Reuter, "but it is the right thing to do to help our entire c-store community compete in these challenging times against outstanding operators in QSR, food, drug and mass." As a result, high-volume one- to 10-store operators will now receive CSP every month, compared with five times a year since CSP Independent began publishing in 2006.
Under the new arrangement, CSP, a monthly publication that has won nearly three dozen editorial awards over the past decade, will continue to produce 12 monthly issues in 2010, as well as its award-winning Category Management Handbook and NACS State of the Industry Summit special issue.
"CSP has never been afraid to lead," said group editor Mitch Morrison. "We were the first to launch a magazine for independents, we were the first to launch a Web-conference division, and we were the industry's first to launch Web-based streaming video with CSPTV.
"So I'm excited that CSP will be the first to launch a publication aimed for the total decision-making c-store market," Morrison said. "We are focused on delivering much more insight to both our chain and independent readers. This is a great day for the convenience-store industry, and a great day for CSP."
In addition to CSP magazine, Oak Brook, Ill.-based CSP produces the No. 1 daily e-newsletter, CSP Daily News; hosts about two-dozen business-to-business events; and publishes Fare magazine, the cross-channel, foodservice-focused publication introduced earlier this year.
"We appreciate the thousands of suppliers and retailers who make us the leading voice for the convenience-store community," Reuter said. "Our goal has been and will remain the same: to focus on the people who bring vitality to the industry and provide solutions to help our industry grow.
"We welcome any questions and comments," added Reuter, who can be reached at preuter@cspnet.com.
Members help make our journalism possible. Become a CSP member today and unlock exclusive benefits, including unlimited access to all of our content. Sign up here.