Wearables Magazine To Grow Print Circulation By 67%

TREVOSE, PA – June 24, 2015 – The Advertising Specialty Institute^® (ASI) today announced that Wearables® magazine will grow print circulation by 67% and spotlight embroidery when it debuts a new version of the award-winning publication.

Wearables is published 10 times a year by ASI and is the promotional product industry’s number-one source for distributors and decorators throughout the apparel market. The magazine received a Jesse H. Neal Award for outstanding business journalism this year.

By January, when the content and audience of ASI’s commercial embroidery magazine Stitches® is integrated into the new Wearables through a dedicated section, the print and digital circulation of Wearables will exceed 100,000.

“We’re thrilled to offer the entire apparel industry a publication that will directly address all its business needs in one comprehensive package,” said Timothy M. Andrews, president and chief executive officer of ASI. “Our 250,000 readers rely on ASI magazines to set the industry standard for reliability and credibility by consistently providing award-winning content online and in print, along with research and strategies business owners can use to grow their companies and improve their standing in the marketplace. The new Wearables will accomplish all that and more.”

Nicole Rollender, current editor of Stitches and ASI’s executive director of professional development, will become the new editor of Wearables. Under Rollender, Stitches was honored in April with two Jesse H. Neal awards. The American Society of Business Press Editors (ASBPE) named Stitches its Magazine of the Year in 2011, and runner-up for that distinction in 2013 and 2014.

Stitches’ website and e-newsletter, Stitches Business, will feature expanded embroidery coverage, including a new case studies section. And the Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter and Instagram pages for Stitches will expand embroidery-related content to inspire and educate readers and help them build apparel-decorating businesses.

The readership of the new Wearables will be comprised of 52% screen printers, 26% embroiderers and 11% distributors. Wearables will continue its 12-page “Screen-Printing Success” section for screen printers, covering the latest decoration trends and product announcements, along with a “Wearable Technology” section that profiles notables like Apple co-founder and ASI keynote speaker Steve Wozniak.

According to ASI research, the average industry wearables order size has increased for four straight years, and shirts alone were responsible for about $5 billion of distributor revenues in 2014.

Current Wearables Editor C.J. Mittica, who recently won a national Jesse H. Neal Award for outstanding writing and editing, will be promoted to executive editor of ASI’s Counselor magazine, spearheading Counselor PromoGram and working closely with Editor Andy Cohen on major cover stories and content that will further secure its position as the industry’s flagship magazine.

To learn more about ASI’s publications, contact ASI Editor-in-Chief Melinda Ligos at mligos@asicentral.com. For info on advertising, contact Ed Koehler, ASI’s VP of magazines and catalogs at ekoehler@asicentral.com.

About ASI
The Advertising Specialty Institute (ASI) is the largest media, marketing and education organization serving the promotional products industry, with a network of over 25,000 distributors and suppliers throughout North America. ASI leads the industry in technology solutions, providing cloud-based e-commerce, enterprise resource planning software (ERP) and customer relationship management software (CRM). ESP Web^® is the industry’s leading tool for sourcing hundreds of thousands of products. A family-owned business since 1962, ASI also provides online research, marketing, advertising opportunities, trade shows, education, award-winning magazines, newsletters, custom websites and catalogs to help members sell, market and promote their brands. Learn more at www.asicentral.com and on Google+, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube and the CEO’s blog.