Press wholesaler Lehepunkt to end Monday delivery of print newspapers to stores

  • 2022-07-28
  • BNS/TBT Staff

TALLINN - The sale of four print newspapers at points of sale will on Mondays will end from August as press wholesaler Lehepunkt has decided to end supply on Mondays for economic reasons, however, the change does not concern the home delivery of newspapers.

The change only concerns the retail sale of the print newspapers of Ohtuleht, Eesti Paevaleht, Postimees and Louna-Eesti Postimees, which are the only publications that are also issued on Mondays in Estonia.

"Considering today's labor costs, expenditures on fuel and impact on the environment, keeping Monday as a day of delivery is no longer sustainable. This decision was not easy for us but we had to find the best solution economically that would affect readers the least," said Kristo Heinmaa, executive director at Lehepunkt, which is owned by Norwegian company Reitan Convenience AS.

Statistics show that sales numbers for print newspapers are lowest at points of sale on Mondays. There is a severalfold difference with other days of the week, however, in order to deliver the newspapers to points of sale, Lehepunkt's vehicles travel 5,000 kilometers every night.

"Discontinuing delivery on Mondays ensures continued high quality of service on other days of the week, thus, starting from August, the latest print editions arrive at sales points across Estonia on five mornings a week," Heinmaa said.

The executive director of Lehepunkt said that the change in delivery days does not affect subscribers to Ohtuleht, Eesti Paevaleht, Postimees and Louna-Eesti Postimees, only the availability of said newspapers at points of sale on Mondays.

Skipping supply on Mondays is not an extraordinary step, based on other states' experience.

"It was rather that the current supply on six days a week is unique and an extraordinary luxury. In Latvia and Lithuania, for instance, print newspapers are delivered to sales points on just four days a week," Heinmaa noted.

In Sweden, Norway and Denmark, the wholesale of newspapers is divided between various service providers who ensure delivery on different days and routes.

There are some 1,400 points of sale for newspapers and magazines in Estonia and Lehepunkt's product range includes in total over 1,000 publications in nine languages.