Periodical Distribution

contact information www.thenewsgroup.com

Introduction

With more than 100 years of experience in the magazine and book wholesale business, The News Group is North America’s largest magazine and book wholesaler. We are also a leading merchandising services provider, rapidly growing these services for retailers and manufacturers in the United States and Canada. With a leading market share in both the United States and Canada, and with Select Media serving specialty retailers in Puerto Rico and all 50 states, The News Group is the true leader in periodicals marketing and distribution.

The News Group-US

The News Group, including The News Group LP in the United States and Select Media, distributes magazines, books and other products to customers across the United States. With industry-leading distribution and logistics operations, The News Group US utilizes 120 service centers and 41 distribution centers, making more than 65,000 deliveries to over 50,000 customers each week. Our local operating managers take pride in delivering excellent service based on our local market knowledge. The News Group’s broad reach and large infrastructure across North America provide complete supply chain management, including outbound and reverse logistics for more than two billion periodical copies per year.

The News Group offering to retailers includes in-store merchandising solutions for periodicals and other products that ensure sales maximization, and compliance with retail planograms and promotions. Centralized category management systems utilize a proprietary data warehouse and related software that forecasts title sales for each retail location. Advanced data-mining software allows customized category management for each individual store or retail chain. The News Group’s ability to grow sales through utilization of its advanced, proprietary data management tools and space allocation systems has earned it significant new business in 2009.

In the United States, some major customers serviced by The News Group include Albertson’s, CVS, Kroger, Meijer, Publix, Safeway, Target, Walgreens and Walmart. In 2009, The News Group was awarded a large number of new AAFES, CVS, Hudson News, Paradies, Publix, Walgreens, Walmart and other important retail locations in a tumultuous year in the periodical distribution business. This growth resulted in The News Group achieving a leading market share in the US periodical distribution market.

Books continue to grow as a percentage of The News Group’s total business. As one of North America’s largest book distributors with a share of more than 25% in its core book markets, The News Group continues to bring innovative book marketing and merchandising concepts to its retail partners.

The News Group-Canada

The News Group-Canada has been a leader in the Canadian magazine and book wholesale industry since it began operations in Hamilton, ON on November 26, 1907. The News Group-Canada has earned a leading market share in magazines and our core retail book markets. The News Group-Canada services the periodical needs of its key customers – including Loblaws, Shoppers Drug Mart, Chapters-Indigo-Coles, Safeway, London Drugs, 7-Eleven, Metro and the Overwaitea Food Group.

In 2008 and 2009, we installed new order assembly systems in our two largest joint venture distribution centres (DC) in Calgary and Toronto. In 2010, our Vancouver area DC, which is based in Richmond, BC, will receive the latest version of these high-tech order assembly systems. These new systems allow us to dramatically improve our picking quality for magazines and books, and enable our logistics systems to grow in handling new products. In our Atlantic Canada distribution centre, we have been testing new technology that will facilitate return handling for book and magazine products by utilizing high-speed digital imaging systems, which will store electronic images of all returned products and synchronize files throughout our supply chain. Our new order assembly and return handling systems complement our infrastructure of five distribution centres and 20 service centres strategically located across the country.

In addition to upgrading our logistics network, we were pleased to receive the Supplier of the Year award from one of our important retail customer groups, the London, ON Korean Businessman’s Association.

Both directly, and through our joint ventures operating in Ontario and the Prairies, The News Group-Canada supplies more than 7,000 retail stores in all of Canada’s 10 provinces and three territories, making us the country’s only fully national periodical wholesaler.