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Consumer Reports Launches New Women's Shopping Magazine ShopSmart
Monday May 15, 8:30 am ET



Consumers Union Extends Successful No-Ad Business Model

YONKERS, N.Y.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 15, 2006--Consumers Union, the nonprofit publisher of Consumer Reports, announced today the launch of ShopSmart, a new quarterly shopping magazine for women that will offer objectivity in a sea of product hype. Aimed at women aged 30-plus, ShopSmart makes shoppers smarter by presenting only the products that the independent experts at Consumer Reports have found to be the very best in their tests.

Hitting newsstands on August 1, 2006, ShopSmart will retail for $4.99, be published quarterly, and begin with a distribution of 800,000 copies nationwide. Retailers will including Barnes & Noble, Wal-Mart, Borders, Kroger, Safeway and Publix, and the magazine will be heavily supported by in-store marketing initiatives and a national media campaign.

"Women's shopping magazines too often read like product catalogues, serving advertisers and not their readers," said Jerry Steinbrink, vice-president of Publishing for Consumers Union. "In our intensive consumer research we found tremendous enthusiasm for a magazine like ShopSmart and I am certain it will become an indispensable tool for the discerning shopper."

ShopSmart will be a unique addition to the shopping magazine category as it will draw upon Consumer Reports' celebrated tradition of accepting no advertisements so as to provide unbiased product reviews. And like Consumer Reports, ShopSmart will deploy "secret shoppers" to ensure that the products reviewed will be identical to those consumers buy. In addition to product reviews, ShopSmart will give readers shopping tips and advice on how they can get the most out of the products they purchase. Yet ShopSmart will differ from Consumer Reports. While the monthly Consumer Reports provides comprehensive reviews of an array of products within each category, ShopSmart will assemble the "best of the best" for shoppers.

"ShopSmart is exactly the kind of magazine women need to make savvy, fast, and informed decisions about the products they buy and use everyday," said Lisa Lee Freeman, Editor of ShopSmart. "Readers of ShopSmart will learn when it's safe to splurge and when it pays to save."

ShopSmart will be under the editorial guidance of Freeman, who has previously held senior editorial positions at Consumer Reports, CosmoGirl!, Working Woman and Investor's Business Daily. Business operations will be handled by Steinbrink.

Consumer Reports has had great success in launching and growing its products in recent years. ConsumerReports.org has over 2.3 million paid subscribers, and is the largest subscription-based Web site in the industry. The circulation of Consumer Reports magazine is over 4.1 million and has been expanding. And Consumer Reports on Health and Consumer Reports Money Adviser have had successful launches and subscription growth.