Stora Begins Job Cutting Process

http://www.topix.com/business/paper/2013/08/1308308PCEO5

Stora Enso has kicked off negotiations with employee representatives regarding job cuts at several of its mills in Finland and Sweden.

This is part of the company's plans to streamline operations and cut costs by some Euro 200 million ($267 million), announced in June. As a result, the company may slash up to 2,500 jobs in total. In Finland, 650 jobs may disappear, while 750 may be cut in Sweden. The company will also axe 850 positions in Europe excluding the Nordic countries, while 250 jobs could be trimmed outside Europe.
A company spokesperson confirmed that negotiations have started at several mills in Finland, Sweden, Germany and Belgium, as well as for some group and support functions. "All units are going through their operations and when the planning is finished, if necessary, they will start co-determination negotiations locally," she said.

U.S. Congressman: Port Hawk Violates Free Trade

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/nova-scotia/story/2013/08/29/ns-free-trade-complain-port-hawkesbury.html

Government funding for the Port Hawkesbury Paper mill violated free trade laws, a U.S. congressman says.
NewPage shut the plant down in 2011, citing economic conditions. It left 1,000 people out of work. The province eventually stepped in to help it re-open under a different owner. Nova Scotia spent $124 million to do so.
Maine Congressman Michael Michaud complained that violated free-trade law. The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative has begun an investigation.
Maine has a number of paper mills, including one owned by New Page, the company that shut down the mill outside Port Hawkesbury. Michaud argues the government money gave Cape Breton an unfair advantage.
Tina Thibeau of the Nova Scotia Department of Economic Development said the U.S. Trade Representative then raised the issue with the Canadian government:
“Nova Scotia explained how its support is fully consistent with Canada's international trade obligations and the success of the Port Hawkesbury mill is not grounds for a trade dispute,” she said.
Thibeau said the province expects that will be the end of the matter.
But a spokesperson for the Office of the U.S Trade Representative said it appears the province's funding maintained a capacity that otherwise would not exist.
It feels the money resulted in significant commercial harm to U.S. industry and the paper market. It may ask for trade-remedy action.

Verso Awards Forest Certification Grant

http://news.paperindex.com/CompanySpecificNews/Verso_Paper_Corp-_Awards_Verso_Forest_Certification_Grant_to_Dirigo_Timberlands/

Verso Paper Corp. (NYSE:VRS) today announced that it has selected Dirigo Timberlands to receive a Verso Forest Certification Grant. Dirigo is a forest management company that provides forest management planning, road construction and timber harvesting services to a range of forest ownerships throughout the state of Maine. The grant will enable the company to pursue group certification of its client landowners to the Forest Stewardship Council™ (FSC®) Family Forest Standard which, in turn, will allow Dirigo to increase the amount of FSC-certified pulpwood it supplies to Verso's two paper mills in Maine.

Nippon Announces New Divisions

http://www.nipponpapergroup.com/e/

Nippon Paper Industries Co., Ltd. (The Company, President; Yoshio Haga) is pleased to announce that as of October 1 it will newly establish its "Containerboard Sales Division" and "Duplex Board & Industrial Paper Sales Division", in accordance with the restructuring of current organization of Paperboard Division.

The Company reinforces efforts for the expansion of the package and the paper processing field represented by paperboard & industrial paper business as part of the transforming the business structure in its Forth Medium-Term Business Plan.

Williams-Sonoma Reports Q2 Results, Expands to Philippines

http://online.wsj.com/article/PR-CO-20130828-910535.html

Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE: WSM) today announced operating results for the 13 weeks ended August 4, 2013 ("Q2 13") versus the 13 weeks ended July 29, 2012 ("Q2 12").

Net revenues grew 12.3% to $982 million versus $874 million in Q2 12 with comparable brand revenue growth of 8.4%. Operating margin was 8.0%, equal to Q2 12. Diluted earnings per share ("EPS") grew 14.0% to $0.49 compared to Q2 12. Cash returned to stockholders totaled $120 million comprising $90 million in stock repurchases and $30 million in dividends.

http://www.dailyfinance.com/2013/08/28/williams-sonoma-inc-announces-the-philippines-as-n/

Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYS: WSM) announced plans today for the continued global expansion of its distinguished portfolio of brands. Through a multi-year agreement with Stores Specialists, Inc. ("SSI"), the Philippines will be the next country in Williams-Sonoma, Inc.'s strategic global expansion initiative. Pottery Barn and Pottery Barn Kids will be the first brands to debut and are expected to open in Manila in early 2014 at Bonifacio High Street, the first main street retail concept in the Philippines. The agreement with SSI includes development rights in the Philippines for all brands in the Williams-Sonoma, Inc. portfolio including: Williams-Sonoma, Pottery Barn, Pottery Barn Kids, PBteen and West Elm.

Cenveo to Purchase National Envelope

http://www.paper-world.com/news.php?sprache=uk&menue=100#103739

Cenveo, Inc. (NYSE: CVO) announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire substantially all of the operating assets of National Envelope (“National” or the “Company”). In conjunction with Cenveo’s agreement, Hilco Receivables has agreed to acquire substantially all the accounts receivable and Southern Paper has agreed to purchase the inventory of the Company. Cenveo’s purchase price is expected to consist of approximately $20 million of cash and $5 million of Cenveo common stock.
The closing is subject to Bankruptcy Court approval and customary closing conditions.
Cenveo expects that the acquisition of National will deliver approximately $300 million in incremental annual sales and $ 30 million of incremental EBITDA when the integration of the two companies is complete.

GE Set to Exit Retail Lending

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887324324404579043251576214402.html

General Electric Co. GE +0.12% is preparing to spin off one of its most important financial assets—the unit that issues store credit cards for 55 million Americans—as it retreats from one of the high-growth businesses that defined the modern conglomerate.

The decision to divest the business, amid concerns about the company's exposure to banking, marks an important moment in the evolution of GE and the country's three-decade long consumer credit boom. GE Capital expanded to the point that its portfolio of loans and other assets now would rank it as the country's fifth-largest commercial bank.

Preliminary work to separate the business through an initial public offering is under way, according to people familiar with the matter.

GE has said the U.S. consumer-finance business earned $2.2 billion last year. The operation accounts for about $50 billion of the $274 billion in loans outstanding by GE Capital.

Folio: People on the Move

http://www.foliomag.com/2013/people-move-8-29-13#.UiC3A7yYyKw

Scholastic, the global children’s publishing, education and media company, announced that Elizabeth Shaw has been named editor-in-chief, Scholastic Parent & Child. Elizabeth’s first issue is the August/September issue. 
Megan Tompkins, former Bicycle Retailer & Industry News editor, promoted to publisher, replacing Marc Sani who is leaving the company to focus on reporting on industry news and events.
Jeff Tkach named new group publisher of Backpacker and Climbing. Tkach started in advertising sales at Backpacker as an account manager and will now lead sales, marketing and events operations for both brands.
Colleen McCarthy named New York Media’s executive director of business development, effective Sept. 3. Most recently, McCarthy was director of business development and strategy at the New York Times.
Andy Friedman named executive director of content and user engagement for Penton's Electrical Energy & Mechanical and Manufacturing & Supply Chain markets.
Matt Vella appointed to senior editor at Time where he will oversee business coverage across all brand platforms. Vella was previously the technology editor at Fortune. And more...

People Prepares New Subscription Model

http://www.adweek.com/news/press/people-mag-prepares-new-subscription-model-152113

Time Inc. cash cow People is preparing to unveil a new pricing model designed to transform the way people think about subscriptions, according to people familiar with the publisher’s plans. Other titles in the company are expected to follow suit.

With advertising sagging—PricewaterhouseCoopers estimated that consumer magazine ad revenue will decline 7.3 percent from 2012 to 2017, to $15.2 billion—Time Inc. isn’t alone in turning to consumers for new revenue. Hearst Magazines priced its tablet editions higher than its print editions, betting that people will pay more for an enhanced version. Casting its net for more print subscribers, Condé Nast recently announced a deal with Amazon to let people manage their orders on the e-commerce site.

Cygnus Names Taussig Group Publisher

http://www.btobonline.com/article/20130829/MEDIABUSINESS/308299994/cygnus-names-taussig-group-publisher-for-residential-brands

Cygnus Business Media has named Mark Taussig group publisher of its residential properties, including Qualified Remodeler and Kitchen & Bath Design News magazines and websites, the Residential Design + Build digital brand and ForResidentialPros.com web portal.
Taussig joins Cygnus from Hanley Wood Business Media, where he spent 13 years, most recently as director-digital media for the Residential Remodeling Group. Taussig succeeds John Huff, who left the company.

UK Survey: Two Thirds Newspaper Readers Prefer Print

http://www.editorandpublisher.com/Headlines/Article/Survey--Print-Format-Newspapers-Still-Number-One-in-UK

More than two thirds of national newspaper readers say they prefer to read newspapers in print format rather than on a computer, tablet or mobile phone, according to new research for elephant communications.
The findings are from the latest edition of elephant’s British News Index, which explores consumer media habits and interest in current affairs. At a time when many see media habits as a black and white move from traditional to new media, the new data suggests old and new media are far more inter-connected, with specific segments using different combinations of media and platforms.

Paper Recycling Rate in Europe Reaches 71.7%

http://www.paperage.com/2013news/08_29_2013europe_paper_recycling_rate_2012.html

Today the European Recovered Paper Council (ERPC) announced an impressive 71.7% paper recycling rate for Europe. In their annual monitoring report the ERPC revealed that current paper consumption in Europe has dropped by 13% to the level of 1998, but the recycled amount of paper is 1.5 times higher than in 1998 — a remarkable achievement.
Since 2000 the ERPC has worked consistently on improving the quantity and quality of paper available for recycling. The ERPC monitoring report releases extra insights into the wider context of paper recycling revealing that Europe is the global champion in this field.
Furthermore, the ERPC reports that in Europe paper fibre is recycled an astounding 3.5 times a year; world-wide the average is 2.4 times.

Industry Leaders Address World Demand

http://www.paperage.com/2013news/08_29_2013pwc_forest_paper_conference_review.html

The 25th annual PwC Global Forest & Paper Industry Conference, with the theme of "Delivering value, innovation and growth in a volatile world" brought together 400 CEOs, senior executives, customers, suppliers, financial analysts, government representatives and other stakeholders in Vancouver, Canada on 10 May 2012. Through a series of interconnected presentations and discussions, conference speakers and panellists looked at the macro and micro influences affecting the forest and paper industry, providing insight on everything from geopolitical forces present in the world today, to discussions on sustainability practices and the influence of digitization on paper production.
PwC released an eight-page review of of its conference titled, "Growing the future: Global strategies for sustainable success in the forest, paper and packaging industry." The review begins by stating: "Competition is increasing for the world's limited landbase. As the population grows from seven billion people today to an estimated nine billion by 2050, so to does the demand for what's know as the "4Fs" — food, fuel, fibre, forests.

Gap Already Using Facebook GIFs

http://www.adweek.com/news/technology/gap-and-other-brands-are-already-using-facebook-gifs-152107

Tech firm Giphy this morning tweeted that it had launched a Facebook GIFs product, and the digerati immediately buzzed with interest. Within a couple of hours, The Gap posted one of the first branded GIFs on the hugely popular social media platform and a handful of other brands are readying theirs for release shortly, according to sources.

Gap's GIF highlights its Tumblr-based "What's Blue to You" contest while utilizing Facebook's months-old hashtag feature with "#Backtoblue" copy. And a Giphy rep said via email that the social startup is "actively developing partnerships with brands and publishers."

Condé & Project Décor Relaunch Domino

http://ipdahome.org/newsstand/?cat=296

Condé Nast’s Domino, limited to twice-annual newsstand specials since 2009, is being revived this fall as both a quarterly print magazine and an e-commerce site, WWD sources report. Taking the lead on the relaunch are the founders of the e-commerce design site Project Décor, which include one of the co-founders of the food delivery app Seamless Web. Condé is believed to be holding on to the brand’s intellectual rights and to have an ownership stake, though it’s not clear what the ownership structure looks like. Project Décor, a quasi-shoppable Pinterest that allows users to design rooms and also shop for furnishings, was founded in 2012 by three well-known entrepreneurs and angel investors. Their plan, according to sources, is to redesign Décor under the Domino umbrella, while continuing as a social media and shoppable digital catalog. The new venture would not be in the business of holding merchandise or processing transactions. Efforts to jump-start Domino (which was originally launched in 2005, as a sort of combination magazine/catalog) shifted into high gear in the last couple of months and are set to continue in coming weeks as the new venture is shopped around to advertisers and vendors, writes WWD. No confirmation from Condé or Project Décor.

WWD

MPA Asks for Help in Fighting Postal Rate Hike

http://ipdahome.org/newsstand/?cat=296

MPA reports that, in partnership with the Affordable Mail Alliance, it is “executing a highly focused and aggressive national and grass roots campaign” to try to convince the USPS Board of Governors that a decision to approve an exigent rate increase (which could cost magazines $300M annually) would be “counterproductive for consumers, commercial mailers and the Postal Service itself.” MPA’s summary includes links to the AMA’s full letter to the BOG, and its press release on the issue. MPA has also posted a call for assistance from publishers in the fight, asking them to push the AMA’s messages out via their social media accounts and internal communications, and to tweet/retweet MPA’s tweets on the issue (@mapmagmedia). 

MPA (summary)

MPA (how publishers can help)