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Dennis Publishing is working on a catalogue-style women’s magazine

with an online shop where readers can buy the products featured.

The project, possibly to be named The Collection, is being developed by

Dennis’ contract publishing company Dennis & Beyond, which launched a

dedicated customer magazine division in January this year.

The magazine is thought to focus on clothes and will feature more

editorial than a typical catalogue. It is scheduled to launch next

spring.

Dennis & Beyond managing director Duncan Grant refused to comment

further on the content of the magazine or whether it had found a client

to back the title.

The publishing arm was rumoured to be pitching the publication to

several companies but may alternatively decide to pull it across to its

main consumer magazine division which publishes Maxim and MacUser, among

others.

Dennis and Beyond announced the creation of a consumer customer magazine

arm after its survey of senior marketers showed a substantial number

wanted their own customer title.

The publisher planned two magazines for the new unit, the first was a

bi-monthly women’s magazine to be distributed on newsstands, which has

now been scrapped. The second was a version of Maxim aimed at younger

readers for a leisure client, which is going ahead.

News of the development of an internet-linked catalogue comes five

months after Felix Dennis, owner of Dennis Publishing, spoke of the

inevitable decline of ’golden age’ of traditional magazine publishing at

a recent Periodical Publishers Association conference.

’I do not predict the death of magazines, but I fear a slow decline as

our readers become viewers and magazine publishers become content

providers,’ Dennis told delegates.

Dennis Interactive publishes 15 websites and Grant said: ’We are now

offering an internet-linked service to all new clients.’

1999 has been a year of ups and downs for Dennis & Beyond. Haymarket

Publishing bought its non-contract business magazine Direct Response in

May, Toshiba dissolved one of its contract titles - Toshiba Unplugged -

and CompuServe’s Go Online went in-house.

However, it won the contract to relaunch Telewest’s publication Business

Outlook and to publish the Chartered Institute of Banker’s title

Financial World, as well as a new quarterly magazine for Lynx Express’

Red Star customers called Well Red.