Flea Market Style Jumping Back onto Shelves

flea_market_style_fall_2011After a two-year absence, several former Harris Publications titles are coming back to print.

Billionaires and flea markets might not seem a likely match, but that hasn’t stopped Spencer Hays. The owner of Athlon Media, Hays is behind the recent acquisition of 70-some titles from the former Harris Publications, including Flea Market Style, notes Keith J. Kelly in The NY Post.

“If fact, a dozen of the magazines that were shuttered when the family-owned Harris Publications pulled the plug on its 70-title portfolio will be revived in the fourth quarter under new owner Athlon Media,” Kelly notes.

Some of the same staff are back, including Ki Nassauer, who said the new issue will be available in November.

“Also in the works for the fourth quarter are some of the gun mags, including American Frontiersman, Guns of the Old West, The New Pioneer, and several of the buyers guide annuals,” Kelly continued, noting that more title revivals are in the works for next year.

It’s a great thing to see these kind of niche magazines being published again, and further evidence that the niche category is strong and spurring a lot of creativity and innovation.

Does this mean that the well-heeled Spencer Hays will be seen hanging around the flea markets? Who knows. But it does mean that readers still love their print magazines, and the rebirth of the American magazine continues.