Niche Media LLC, publishers of luxury magazines Gotham and LA Confidential, has added Philly Style to its holdings.
Like Niche’s other titles, the Philadelphia-geared glossy focuses on fashion and lifestyle for the wealthy. As with its former owner, DLG Media Holdings’ Dana Spain Smith, Philly Style will be distributed free to 70,000 readers. The readers will need to meet official Niche criteria, including $1 million in liquid assets, yearly income of more than $250k and owning a home worth more than $1 million.
“Philly Style was deeply rooted in the marketplace,” said Jason Binn, founder and CEO of Niche Media. “It had a brand and a great platform for us, and Philadelphia is a top-five wealth market, so it just made perfect sense for us to expand into this area.”
The acquisition was completed on February 5. In May, Philly Style will re-launch as an official Niche Media title, complete with oversize pages and a national luxury advertiser base.
All employees of Philly Style are being retained through the acquisition. The magazine’s reader database will likely be managed by Claritas, which is responsible for roughly half of Niche Media’s distribution.
Binn indicated that the purchase is just one more step in Niche’s growth plans. The company is also launching Michigan Avenue this year and already has 19 titles in 14 markets.
“This model is proven to work in resort communities like Aspen and the Hamptons, and it’s also proven to work in big cities,” said Binn. “We’re consistently exploring not just big city markets but also resort communities, and we’re also exploring international opportunities.”
