Anita Malik
At a time when many print publications are struggling to sell ads and subscriptions, laying off staff or even going out of business, one Phoenix-based magazine is making a comeback.
Anita Malik’s pan-Asian-themed East West magazine once again will hit newsstands next month. The national publication went on hiatus about two years ago to restructure business operations. Now, thanks to private investors, she is looking forward to the Oct. 6 relaunch.
“This is like my baby,” said Malik, 33, the founder and editor-in-chief. “We want to pay tribute to our readers, because that’s why we’re coming back.”
She said the magazine will be mostly the same and will focus on long-term growth.
The primary content will tell American stories of struggle and controversy through an Eastern lens. The magazine also will include fashion, beauty and celebrity features.
Malik once was a staff writer for The Arizona Republic and later worked for the
The first print edition of East West was published in February 2004. In 2007, Malik said it became the first Asian-American magazine to be sold in grocery stores. That same year, she was listed among Folio magazine’s Top 40 Innovators Under 40.
By November 2007, advertising sales had slowed, but reader interest was strong, forcing Malik to make a tough decision. She and her two-person staff couldn’t handle the growing work load, so they opted to take a break and regroup.
The subscriber-based, bimonthly magazine had a circulation of 25,000 before Malik pulled the plug. She relaunched the East West Web site in June and is gearing up for the print relaunch next month.
Malik said private investors were funding the relaunch, but she wouldn’t say who they were or how much they were investing. Even in a stalled economy, she said investors still are eager to support nitch publications that have strong content and a large reader base.
“I’m glad she’s bringing it on board again,” said Les Gin, president of
Gin said he gives away a number of publications, at his bank and East West was always the first to go.
“You’ll learn a lot about the Asian community, and the plus is it’s all in English,” he said, noting that most Asian-American publications are in Asian languages.
As for Malik, she’s ready to re-enter the publishing world.
“Sometimes when you’re an entrepreneur, you need to take a step back,” she said. “Now I know about publishing, and this time around it’s a whole different ballgame.”
Founder: Anita Malik
HQ:
Employees: 2
Circulation: 25,000; subscription-based
Web: www.eastwestmagazine.com
Inventory is declining. The housing market is stabilizing. It’s a great time to buy.
Do these phrases sound familiar?
They should, because the real estate community was using the same talking points five years ago leading up to the housing boom, which proved to be as sustainable as ice hockey in the desert. Investors and speculators have come back, consumers still can buy homes they can’t afford, and housing prices fluctuate with the faintest monsoon breeze.
It all begs the question: Will Arizona, and particularly Phoenix, learn from their real estate mistakes and break free of the boom-and-bust cycles that define our economy?
“Probably not,” said Jay Butler, director of Realty Studies at Arizona State University. “I don’t think we’re really going to change things. We’re hearing some of the same verbiage as the boom market.”
Think tanks, politicians, developers and academics have hyped population growth and urban sprawl for decades — in many cases, for their own benefit. Before the recession and housing crash, how often did we hear about
“People get caught up in the growth,” he said.
Monique Walker has been a Realtor for only six years, but she has experienced the ups and downs firsthand. In January, it was taking an average of 12 months to absorb existing homes on the market. Now, it’s slightly over four months.
“In only eight months, our market has completely turned around,” said Walker, who is with Re/Max Achievers in
Short sales and foreclosures have fueled home sales, as homes priced under $150,000 are the hottest commodity, followed by properties under $250,000, she said.
That’s the price point investors crave.
Since opening in January, Leveraged Acquisitions LLC has been purchasing homes for 50 cents on the dollar, racking up at least 28 properties in
“The bidding wars are back, and that’s no fun,” said Frank Kelly, who launched the company with Jeff Kadlec and Michael Rodrigues.
They believe professional investors are getting a bad rap for artificially inflating values.
“We all played by the banks’ rules,” Rodrigues said. “We just believe in the free market, and ultimately people are responsible for what they do and don’t do.”
Investors have picked up inventory, and that’s surely welcomed by Valley homeowners who have watched values plummet for more than a year as foreclosures hit record highs.
Bill Young, CFO of West Valley National Bank said in some cases, background checks on borrowers are more detailed, and lending standards are tougher.
“We got away from that in the mortgage industry and banking industry and did a whole lot of mortgages that should not have been done,” said Young, who sold his
Still, many local bankers have said too many homeowners are qualifying for loans through the Federal Housing Administration. Under FHA guidelines, first-time home buyers only have to put down 3.5 percent on homes valued at less than $340,000.
Young put in a bid in mid-July on a
John Vatistas thinks long-term normalization of
“Not without continued economic expansion, relocation of quality companies to the
He primarily blames Wall Street for the housing meltdown.
“Let’s face it: Wall Street’s unquenchable thirst for profits, coupled with the fact they essentially bribed the rating agencies to play their little financial manipulation games, was a recipe for disaster,” he said. “If mortgage companies didn’t have a willing Wall Street to sell their crap loans to, there would be no mess to clean up.”
Get Connected
Russ Lyon Sotheby’s International Realty: www.russlyon.com
Leveraged Acquisitions LLC: www.dropbidstoday.com
Most retailers’ claims to green-ness have to do with their products and practices, rather than the buildings within which they are located.
However, Phoenix-based Vestar Development Co., builder of retail strip malls and larger “power centers” such as Tempe Marketplace, said Wednesday that it believes shopping centers should go green along with office, residential, government and other buildings. more…
If it’s a Friday evening in 2009, chances are regulators, somewhere, are taking over a bank.
Whether it’s in