It’s been a long and prosperous career, but Scott Steele has decided to resign from Sumner Communications and The Merchandiser Group Magazines, after 20 years of publishing. This may come as surprising news to the people who were avid readers of his industry publication The Merchandiser Group Magazines, but in August it went to print without Steele’s name within the masthead.
Steele’s decision to depart the business has left an enormous space to fill in Sumner Communications, and 1000′s of clients will undoubtedly miss him, as will many of his followers who make up the leaders in the wholesale and retail sector. Mr. Steele saw the popularity of magazines rise and maintain a following through multiple recessions, The World Trade Center Attack, and even the worst economic crisis to hit since the great depression. Coverage of the industry was extensive, with The Merchandiser Group Magazines servicing the East Coast, Western, and Midwest Merchandisers.
What will we find inside, without Steele?
When asked about recent developments, Jason Prescott, CEO of JP Communications INC (TopTenWholesale.com and Manufacturer.com) stated “I was very surprised to hear the rumors that Mr. Steele had tendered his resignation. Scott was a mentor to me, a good friend, and a respected colleague. I can only imagine that the magazine climate at Sumner Communications isn’t a hot commodity right now, and Steele just made a choice that was best for his career. Publishing magazines while Internet advertising is hotter than ever, certainly isn’t a place where most would want to venture right now.”
This is a valid point to consider, as traditional media, including print formats like magazines, are undergoing a transitional period right now. It’s been getting more and more difficult for these long-standing methods of marketing and advertising to compete with the very realistic future of Internet marketing. The fact that there simply isn’t as much devotion to printed content is becoming clear to anyone who follows any of a number of statistics on what kind of market share online ads are getting.
Still, one thing that doesn’t – and perhaps never will – change in the wholesale and retail industry is relationships. These are the personal, one on one connections that truly drive sales in a relatively small and tightly-knit community. In spite of all the incredible changes and advances brought forth by globalization and international coverage, the ability to communicate with another member of the business, and share ideas has always been the key to success. Mr. Steele had a lot of relationships, and while Steele was a Publisher of high integrity and great enthusiasm, it will be very interesting to watch the resulting issues that go to print in the coming months, and to see the effect Steele’s loss has had on Sumner Communications. As a veteran in the wholesale business, Sumner has been through situations like this before, just as all organizations have, but it surely couldn’t have hit at a more crucial time. We’ll all be watching, and waiting to see what develops.
