Why wendesday?

[bloviatrix]

Do you know what the origin is of wendesday being the day devoted to food sections in newspapers across the country?

[russ parsons]

In the old days, that was the biggest shopping day (along with Thursday ... at one point, about half the papers in the country, including the Times, had food sections on Thursday). That's when the grocery stores wanted it and that's when we did it. Of course, as women entered the workforce, the shopping days changed. Now it's Sundays. And they advertise in the A section.

This is not trivial. If you want to know why there's nothing in your local food section, count the grocery store ads. When I started at the Times 15 years ago, it was common for us to have 50-page food sections, 3/4 of which were full page ads. During the holidays, we'd often hit 100 pages and go twice a week! Today, there are two full-page grocery ads in the section. It is a tribute to the LA Times that they devote so much space and expense to the Food Section even when we're no longer pulling in the big-buck advertising.

[hillbill]

Do you know what the origin is of wendesday being the day devoted to food sections in newspapers across the country?

I remember that all the supermarkets once changed their weekly sale specials one particular day of the week, was it perhaps on Wednesdays when all the flyers were distributed? I know that they used to all be one day of the week and now the three major chains where I live change their specials respectively on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, and distribute their flyers respectively on Wednesday, Friday, and Sunday. It's very odd, I assume that they must have some competitive logic to this but it seems like it would be better to all do it on one day.

(Didn't new movies also traditionally premiere on Wednesdays? That's what I remember from my youth.)

Edited October 16, 2003 by hillbill (log)

[russ parsons]

The supermarkets are basically sheep, running from side to side afraid that if they don't do what everyone else is doing, the other guys might get an advantage. Not that I blame them. There is no way I'd want to be involved in a 1% profit margin business, no matter what the gross is. Any mistake and you're in the tank. What I found ironic was that we changed our section day from Thursday to Wednesday at their request, after much discussion. Two years later, they were out of the section anyway.

[bloviatrix]

Of course, as women entered the workforce, the shopping days changed. Now it's Sundays. And they advertise in the A section.

Supermarkets advertise in the A section? That is a totally foreign concept to me. I can't imagine I'll ever see that in my NY Times.

I know somewhere else you mentioned that you don't do targeted market research on the people who read your food section, but do have any idea of what the gender breakdown of your readership is? I would assume more men are reading these pages than ever before. And in your experience, what articles appeal to men vs. women?

[russ parsons]

I don't think you'll see much supermarket advertising in the New York Times to begin with. The market there is too fragmented with too many small players who can't afford the space. In Los Angeles, there are really only three major chains in a 5-county region of more than 8 million people. This creates a different sort of market. I have a very strong feeling that if a grocery chain came to the New York Times and said they would sign a year-long contract at the going rate for a full-page ad in the A section, you'd have about a dozen ad execs getting whiplash trying to hand their pens over first.

I don't know what that breakdown is. The last "through-the-book" study I know about was done more than 10 years ago. At that point, I think we were about 60-40 for women.

There certainly are no hard-and-fast divisions between what men read and what women read. I think it's probably on the percentage of 55-45 at most. That said, I think men tend to be marginally more interested in reading about wine, dining out, gadgets, things you can order by mail and wacky kitchen experiments. Which is not to say that a significant number of women aren't interested in reading about those things.

I think women are marginally more interested in reading about food as it relates to personal stories, practical cooking (as opposed to show-off, special occasion), and, to a certain extent, short-cut cooking since unfortunately, they are the ones who usually have to make dinner when they get home from work (not in my house, though).

[Mayhaw Man]

Here in New Orleans the food section comes out on Thursday. Has been forever as far as I know. Marcelle Bienvenue (the woman who has helped Emeril cowrite a couple of his books) writes what is usually a very good column on some nuance of Louisiana food. Generally, while small, it is a pretty good read, as far as food sections go.

As far a reviewers go, for years we had Gene Bourg, a gentleman and someone who totally understood the slightly "stuck in a time warp scene" in New Orleans dining. His work now sometimes appears in Gourmet, Food and Wine, etc. He left about 7 or 8 years ago and the paper has not been able to keep anyone for very long. Which is probably good, because it seemed that they didn't get it. I mean, how many times does someone need to review Commander's Palace and Uglesich's?

The paper also stopped doing grocery store ads as part of the newsprint sections of the paper long ago. I think this had more to do with the advertisers wishes that their ads not run region wide than it did with any editorial/advertising dept. decision. All Grocery ads now run as inserts (billions of them on Sunday and Thursday) that can be changed out according to where the paper is going to be thrown/sold.

[russ parsons]

I like Marcelle Bienvenue's writing a lot. And not just because she probably has the best hometown byline in the country! Can you imagine a better name for a food writer in Louisiana?

[Mayhaw Man]

Yeah I agree. Plus she lives in a rural area outside of New Orleans (actually closer to Lafayette) and has a running cast of old guys who bring her produce and stuff, her long suffering husband Rock (there's another great name) and a bottomless pit of old line, true South Louisiana recipes just like Mom used to make (literally).

Marcelle Bienvenue's Column for Today