Marie Clapper, President, Clapper Communications Companies
The two magazines in the Clapper Communications companies stable with the highest circulation totals are Crafts 'n Things, with 175,000, and Pack-O-Fun, with 100,000, according to Des Plaines, IL-based President Marie Clapper. Clapper first joined Pack-O-Fun as an editorial assistant in 1976, about the time Clapper Communications companies bought Crafts 'n Things as its second magazine property. A few years before, she and Lyle Clapper (now company Chairman) were married. Pack-O-Fun began more than 50 years ago, originally published by Lyle’s parents John and Edna Clapper. The veteran titles were joined earlier this year by Paper Made Easy (on scrap booking and the like), which targets women ages 25 to 65, like the company's other magazines, and by the younger-skewed Make It! Your Room. Oddly enough, she notes, Cross Stitcher has the company's largest male audience.Q. Scrap booking has really caught on in recent years. Why do you think that's the case? A. Because people are tied in with families, especially since 9/11. With the faster pace of today's world, you can slow down with scrap booking, and pass on something to your children. A scrapbook says, "I love you."
Q. Is the soaring cost of weddings inspiring more couples and their families to make their own favors or floral displays at receptions?A. I think it's that—and wanting to be authentic, to be real, and to return to things that have meaning, rather than just buy things. Our magazine 101 Bridal Ideas has come out around the first of the year for eight years and our latest issue was our best-selling ever, with more than 175,000 sold.Q. What's the big season or time of year for arts and crafts in general?A. There's definitely a seasonality to crafts—and it is Christmas time. The busiest period for crafts is from the time the kids go back to school until Christmas. Our people are gardeners in the warm weather and when it gets colder, they turn to crafts and making gifts. I think Halloween is the second biggest time. Crafts and making decorations are offsetting the fact that there's less trick-or-treating.
Q. You did a big promotion with Wal-Mart last Christmas season. How successful was that?A. This coming Christmas will be the third year. Last year we distributed 120,000 extra copies of Crafts 'n Things that were featured in special displays in Wal-Mart's crafts department. The magazine was polybagged with our "Home for the Holidays" booklet, and it did very well. This year our Christmas promotion will begin October 20, and we're adding a back-to-school promotion with Pack-O-Fun, to be displayed starting September 24.
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