They Said A Magazine For Grandparents Would Not Work

SAINT PETERSBURG, Fla., Sept. 23, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- A first time grandparent is – on average -48 years old. As the Baby Boomers have aged into this life stage their financial power has peaked. There are now 80 million grandparents in the United States. 7.2 million children are living in multi-generational households with a grandparent present and 4.5 million of those are lead by a grandparent. One magazine, GRAND, has been serving the needs of this market for 10 years.

"In 2004, the concept of a grandparent-focused magazine was run by Mr. Magazine. He said it wouldn't fly," said Christine Crosby, CEO and founder of GRAND Media. "We introduced a magazine with a philosophy of no ageist advertising, and a mission of providing inspiration and information to grandparents. We launched with Billy Crystal on the cover and have enjoyed amazing interviews with celebrity grandparent interviews for 10 years."

Cover stories included celebrities Harrison Ford, Julie Andrews, Tina Turner, and Bill Cosby, and evolved to include authors and experts like Dr. Phil, Steven Covey and Nora Roberts – all experiencing the grandparenting lifestage.  This grew to stories with political figures like Colin Powell, Joe Biden and Al Gore, and activists like Virginia McKenna and Sylvia Earle. 

"Economic conditions forced us to move to a digital magazine in 2008. What a gift! As the magazine industry changed, we have been perfectly positioned with GRAND. You can get our magazine on your desktop, your tablet or phone, " said Crosby. " At the time, we had to bolster our subscriber base for digital distribution. We reached out to like-minded partners who made us successful. We have terrific partners like American Humane Society, Red Hat Society, Prevent Child Abuse America and General Federated Women's Club, who all send GRAND to their membership. Plus we jumped into content creation very early on with GRAND Magazine Radio."  

Crosby, 69, is no stranger to jumping into new environments. She is a mom, grandmom and great-grandmom. She founded Florida's Delta Business Systems, Inc. Magazine's 29^th Fastest Growing Privately Held Company.  Following the sale of that company, she founded Family Journal Publications – serving the parenting marketplace in Florida. She grew that company to a sale to Tribune Company and then retired for seven years.

"I became a grandmother and looked around for the magazine that would be my guide. As women, we grow up with magazines for every stage of our lives. For grandparents there was nothing. I saw opportunity!" says Crosby. "We expanded our original vision to include grandparents, grand families – grandparents raising their grandchildren, and grandparent rights.  Families have changed. Readers expect us to provide expert assistance as they navigate the world of grandparenting. Lori Bitter, an expert on Boomer consumers joined our team as Publisher in 2010 to help meet that expectation."

GRAND Media now includes the GRAND Magazine, grandmagazine.com,  GRANDinsights – a research service, GRAND Magazine radio, Grand Network (content focused sites), and the annual Grandparents America Expo.

Contact: 
Lori Bitter 
1-415-652-9884 
[email protected]

Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20140923/147781

SOURCE GRAND Media