The company that recently bought the publishing assets of Norman Ridker’s BowTie Inc. plans to keep its pared-down operations in Irvine, where it will rent the pet specialist’s longtime home.
The sale includes pet-themed magazines Dog Fancy and Cat Fancy, among others, along with various websites and book publishing operations that were sold last week to newly formed I-5 Publishing LLC.
The deal was worth at least $10 million, according to reports.
The two partners in I-5 publishing were both vendors of BowTie. One is David Fry of Mechanicsburg, Penn.-based Fry Communications Inc., which prints some of BowTie’s publications. The other is Mark Harris, cofounder of Edison, N.J.-based publishing services provider National Publisher Services.
I-5 Publishing said it plans to cut about a third of BowTie’s work force and retain about 150 staffers at its headquarters at 3 Burroughs.
Ridker will serve in an advisory role to I-5 publishing, Fry said.
BowTie has faced financial setbacks over the last year or so. Its Thoroughbred Times title declared bankruptcy and shut down. The company also shifted its Bird Talk magazine from print to online-only to cut costs.
I-5 Publishing plans efforts to grow BowTie.
“We have some assets to invest in digital, but plan to expand both in print and digital,” Fry said.
It also will review the current lineup of 27 print publications ranging from monthly to annual frequencies, and 14 websites.
Ridker founded BowTie in 1974 and later opened offices in Los Angeles, Chicago and Kentucky. The company had an estimated 300 employees at its peak in 2008.
New Mix
Costa Mesa-based South Coast Collection will emphasize its retail shops with a new name in a bid to position itself as a “modern, urban marketplace,” according to spokesperson Allison Olmstead.
South Coast Collection will remain the overarching name of the center, which also includes design centers and wholesale showrooms.
The 30 or so specialty retail, food and beverage shops—which target “eco-conscious, eclectic shoppers”—will be called The OC Mix.
The name change is intended to “eliminate confusion” that the center is for wholesalers and trade buyers only, said Bryon Ward, partner at Newport Beach-based commercial real estate developer Burnham USA Equities Inc., which owns South Coast Collection.
The OC Mix added three new tenants last month: tea shop Seventh Tea Bar; smoothie and juice shop Birdie Juice Bar; and luxury clothing consigner Wardrobe Ltd.
The roster of larger tenants at South Coast Collection includes showrooms for TPT Home, Fixtures Living, La-Z-Boy and Stark Carpet. The Business Journal estimates the taxable sales for the 12 months through June of last year were $120 million.
Social Strategies
Among recent promotions involving social media:
• Irvine-based Mazda North American Operations promoted its 93rd birthday on Facebook by highlighting the company’s historical milestones and every car it’s produced.
• Irvine-based restaurant chain Mimi’s Café promoted a free soup giveaway on Facebook and Twitter earlier this month to customers who wore red in support of an American Heart Association women’s heart health initiative.
Bits and Pieces
The Irvine office of ad agency Draftfcb promoted Yolanda Cassity to executive vice president of its multicultural practice. … Newport Beach-based PR firm Private Club Marketing added cinematographers Ryan Southwell and John Stephens to its creative team. … The San Clemente Chamber of Commerce released a free mobile app featuring a calendar of events, hotels, restaurants, shops, weather, a surf report and other items.
