Here’s some great news in the regional title niche — the Santa Fean magazine is back in the newsstands, with new owners and a new attitude.
“Santa Fean magazine, silent since February, quietly returned to distribution stands in August with a new owner, new look, new feel and new staff, and another issue is coming out the first week of October,” writes Gabriela Campos in The New Mexican.
According to Campos, the previous owners of the Santa Fean let their staff go last fall with little notice, making the December/January issue ostensibly their last. Around the same time the owners of Essential Guide, another local title, were looking for new owners.
“I pretty much stumbled on both of them,” said new co-owner and publisher Kelly Haug. “I pretty much reached out to them at the same time.”
In addition to the magazines, she and Martin Haug also acquired a shipping business and a print design shop. They say they are thriving on the challenge of running four new businesses at once.
Haug says the Santa Fean and Essential Guide are her primary job now and focusing on subscription growth.
“I would like to get our subscriptions to double by the end of the year, if not sooner,” Kelly said. “Our website launch is at the end of September. … I suspect we will print twice as many copies as we are currently printing by the first quarter of 2021.”
Along with subscriptions, she’s looking to increase their retail presence by working with a distribution group. And she’s committed to keeping 15,000 copies in free distribution stands around town.
“I want to show the Santa Fe community that Santa Fe is strong and resilient,” Kelly said. “It’s still here and it’s not going anywhere. Ultimately, the format of [the magazine] represents Santa Fe, the community, and the uniqueness of Santa Fe has never changed.”
That’s the beauty of regional magazines — they really are directly connected to the hearts of the people who live and work in a particular place — and this is also why the regional magazine market has remained popular.
We wish Kelly and Martin Haug all the best in their new adventures, and we are thrilled to see the Santa Fean back in circulation!