SouthPark Magazine Sold To The Pilot

CHARLOTTE, N.C., March 25, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- The owners of Charlotte-based Business North Carolina magazine have agreed to purchase SouthPark Magazine from The Charlotte Observer Publishing Company in a transaction that closed Friday, March 22. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

The acquisition will add the Charlotte-area monthly to a group of magazines owned by the Southern Pines-based newspaper, The Pilot, which was named the best community newspaper in America in 2015, 2016 and 2017 by the National Newspaper Association.

The Pilot has gradually grown its magazine division to include five regional titles - PineStraw in the Sandhills, O.Henry and Seasons in Greensboro, Salt in Wilmington and Business North Carolina in Charlotte. The company also owns the First Flight Agency, the Moore County Telephone Directory and the 66-year-old Country Bookshop in downtown Southern Pines.

Founded in 1996, SouthPark Magazine distributes more than 30,000 copies a month in Charlotte's SouthPark, Myers Park, Eastover, Dilworth, Cotswold and Elizabeth neighborhoods.

"We envision a magazine with a soul. We want SouthPark Magazine to surprise its readers and to delight in bringing them the stories of Charlotte they never knew or have long since forgotten," said David Woronoff, president and publisher of The Pilot. "We look forward to making sure SouthPark develops an authentically Charlotte voice."

The perfect-bound magazine will take a broad view of the arts. Its pages will feature everything from architecture and interior design to the performance arts and literature to bartending and beer making.

"I believe this is a wonderful opportunity for SouthPark Magazine to realize its full potential with a team of magazine experts," said Sara Glines, regional publisher for McClatchy's Carolinas Region. "David and his team are wonderful partners and have great vision for their magazine and digital business. We have worked with them on other fronts in the past and I couldn't feel more confident that we are putting SouthPark Magazine in good hands." 

SouthPark's staff will move into Business North Carolina's offices on West Morehead Street, just a few blocks away from The Observer in downtown Charlotte.

"Business North Carolina is a statewide magazine. While it's headquartered in Charlotte, BNC is not solely of Charlotte," Woronoff said. "We're excited to acquire a magazine that will allow our organization to become more rooted in this community."

Contact: David Woronoff, Publisher, The Pilot
910-690-7012

SOURCE Business North Carolina magazine