Happy mag hits trouble

Northern & Shell’s Happy magazine has hit trouble four months after its launch. The glossy women’s monthly, which focuses on shopping, is to merge its August and September editions.

Northern & Shell’s Happy magazine has hit trouble four months after its launch. The glossy women’s monthly, which focuses on shopping, is to merge its August and September editions.

A spokesman for Happy calls the move “a logical response” to problems in the retail sector, but the problems have prompted speculation that N&S may even ditch the magazine as it concentrates on launching OK! in the US.

Happy’s original print run was 300,000 and N&S, which promised an &£11m above-the-line spend in the magazine’s first year, predicted a circulation of 200,000 prior launch.

But an industry source says: “Rumour has it that circulation is 40,000. No magazine changes from monthly to bi-monthly because it wants to. It is clearly struggling.”

A spokesman for Happy says: “Happy has been well received by key brands and sales and subscriptions are healthy. Doubling up a summer issue is a logical response to a retail sector which is down. N&S remains wholly behind this launch.”