SkyMall magazine, the adedictive in-flight shopping catalog that people loved to hate had to file for bankruptcy this past January.
But wait! Scott Jordan, CEO of ScotteVest (and former SkyMall advertiser), is in negotiations to revive the SkyMall brand according to laughingsquid.com using a new core business model: “We’re going to include items in the magazine that people actually want to buy,” he says.
Jim Louderback, a former editor in chief of PC Magazine, will co-manage the relaunch. He plans to transform the new SkyMall: “We’d not only include listings for, say, noise-canceling headphones, but also an article explaining how the technology actually works,” he said. “We’re going to make it an entertaining experience, a curated shopping journey targeted at real travelers and their interests.”
Don’t fret, some of off-beat products will still be in the magazine. “We want the readers to continue to have the experience of the unexpected, of wonder, of delight,” Louderback says, “so you’ll be seeing stuff like the next pet rock, the new fake Google Glass-type gag, whatever,” but it’ll be a small part of the magazine, sort of comic relief along with the real items.
