Calabasas calling: upscale magazine circulates beyond the limits of its namesake city.

Glossy, glitzy Calabasas magazine has a circulation of 70,000 copies.

That's pretty impressive, since the population of Calabasas is just over 20,000. The average income of the magazine's readership far outstrips that of the typical Calabasas citizen, too. So why call it that?

"We needed a word that best represented this upscale lifestyle that started in the Valley a few years back," said Publisher Richard Bleiweiss, referring to the San Fernando Valley. "How do you say 'Valley' without the negative connotations? For the last 10 years, people have referred to Calabasas as the Beverly Hills of the Valley."

The magazine's distribution stretches from Studio City north to Thousand Oaks in Ventura County. Unlike most celebrity-obsessed lifestyle magazines, however, Calabasas appears in mailboxes for free. Bleiweiss sends it only to addresses with an annual household income of at least $250,000 or a net worth of at least $2 million. He also puts it in country clubs, private jets and fancy hotels.

Controlled circulation is standard for trade publications, which target a profession or industry. In recent years the practice has extended to consumer publications, particularly home-related magazines in affluent ZIP codes.

"What he's doing is not unusual. A consumer magazine for upscale households--there are tons of those magazines," said Carl Landau, president of Niche Media, a magazine consultancy in Davis.

But Bleiweiss, who worked as art director of Penthouse for 14 years, claims the design and editorial excellence of his magazine separates it from the clutter of other free-mailers.

"We're picking this target demo and putting it in their hands in their home, and putting together an editorial package strong enough to get their attention," he said. "When I go to my advertisers, I can tell them this is going to potential customers."

In fact, advertising experts often question the value of direct-mail publications, based on the notion that readers who don't pay for it don't value it.

"A lot has been written about whether people actually read these magazines," said Landau. "In many cases, no one has requested it. So it's mailed to these upscale homes and it looks great, but does anyone care?"

Bleiweiss counters that some advertisers report an uptick in sales after Calabasas mails. Even though the first circulation audit of Calabasas is still pending, advertisers' experience proves the circulation model works, he said.

"I've run ads in magazines, national and local, and I have more response from Calabasas than any other magazine in my experience," confirmed Steve Polacheck, owner of Polacheck Jewelers, a chain with stores in Sherman Oaks, Calabasas and Thousand Oaks.

Bleiweiss divides rich people into two psychological types--old money and new money. Old money lives in mansions in Bel Air or Beverly Hills, secure in their economic superiority. New money tends to cluster in the San Fernando Valley and exhibit their new financial success.

"For retailers it's great--a demo that has money and wants to spend it," he explained.

Calabasas appeals to the status-conscious, new money types with a heavy focus on celebrity lifestyle. Bleiweiss claims the magazine features exclusive photographs of eight to 10 celebs per issue, in everything from cover shots to column items. He keeps the local angle because "we live in the backyard of the biggest celebrity-populated area in the world."

The magazine started two years ago with a circulation of 20,000 copies. To perpetuate its growth, Bleiweiss plans to expand it to other geographic territories. Already it has pushed onto newsstands in New York, and next year it will have national distribution in bookstore chains including Barnes & Noble and Borders.

Bleiweiss hopes to expand the magazine's concept into new regional markets with an upscale profile similar to the San Fernando Valley, so he plans on introducing a second title (still under wraps) that will convey the luxury lifestyle but lack any reference to geography.

Once several Calabasas clones get established around the country, the company will attempt to mix national and local advertising streams. Airlines, cosmetics, upscale autos and fashion ads will appear in all editions, and "then you go down the Rodeo Drives in each market and fill in the space with those ads," said Bleiweiss.

Other regional magazines have tried and failed to multiply and compete against the Vanity Fairs and InStyles of the world. But "there are many publishers who do what he does, namely take a formula and present the same editorial approach to various local markets," Landau said.

In the capital-intensive publishing industry, Calabasas' emphasis on growth has caused a financial conundrum. Bleiweiss started EJJ Publications, parent of Calabasas, with no outside investors. His partner Neil Adelman, a former publishing attorney and ad agency executive, wrote the first few checks. Since then, despite winning a slew of awards and expanding its circulation and advertiser lists, Calabasas has yet to provide a paycheck for either Bleiweiss or Adelman. Instead, every spare dollar has gone back into the business.

Moonlighting publisher

To support himself, the publisher owns another company, Bleiweiss Design, which rents out his services as an art director. Bleiweiss has worked for MotorTrend (owned by Primedia Inc.), Detour (defunct) and MovieLine (renamed Hollywood Life) magazines.

His highest profile gig is Emmy, the official magazine of the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences, where he has served as creative director for eight years. Since 2002, Emmy has won 16 Maggie Awards from the Westlake Village-based Western Publications Association in competition against other wade publications west of the Mississippi.

Emmy is a straight wade magazine that Bleiweiss has made look like a consumer magazine.

Once again, Bleiweiss tries to fill the pages with celebrities while retaining its core connection with the real TV industry. One feature, for example, looked at the in-home studios of TV composers and music directors.

"It's a wade magazine," Bleiweiss conceded, "but that doesn't mean it has to be a bad one."

BY JOEL RUSSELL

Staff Reporter