Fort Collins publisher buys Maui lifestyle magazine

FORT COLLINS — Fort Collins-based Flagship Publishing Inc., which produces Colorado Life magazine, has added another publication to its stable with the purchase of Maui No Ka Oi magazine in Hawaii.

The Maui publication is the fourth in the group of lifestyle magazines that, in addition to Colorado Life, includes Nebraska Life and Utah Life.

The deal closed Oct. 1. Terms were not disclosed.

Christopher and Angela Amundson began their company in 2005 in their home state with the purchase of Nebraska Life. They moved their home to Colorado and started Colorado Life in 2012 and added another startup, Utah Life, in 2018. All are subscription-based publications.

They do not plan to change the name of Maui No Ka Oi.

“The magazine is well-respected in Maui,” Christopher Amundson said.

Maui No Ka Oi means “Maui is the best,” he said, a reference to what can be heard all over Maui as residents rate their island against the other Hawaiian islands.

“We Nebraskans don’t boast unless it’s about football, but people here feel Maui is the best,” he said.

Amundson told BizWest that he and Angela first met Diane Haynes Woodburn, principal of Haynes Publishing, the former owner of the Maui magazine, about 10 years ago when they encouraged her to join a magazine association. “We found our operations were quite similar. Through the years, we built a friendship and as she prepared for retirement, she thought of us,” he said.

The Maui magazine has about 5,000 paid subscribers and 20,000 in-room distribution at hotels on the island and on the mainland. Flagship has about 60,000 paid subscribers combined at its other three publications.

“Everything has a subscription model these days, including even razors,” Amundson said. “Newspapers and magazines founded the subscription model. Subscribers are loyal, they pay for the content and provide base revenue for operations,” he said. Flagship also sells advertising into its magazines.

“Magazine and newspaper publishers have lost their way. We need to remember why we do what we do — it’s for the subscribers who are willing to pay for what they receive,” he said.

Maui No Ka Oi publishes about 100 to 120 pages each issue. Colorado Life is smaller in size at about 76 pages on average per issue.

Amundson said Flagship will retain some and hire additional staff members at Maui on both the sales and news sides of the operation. He said that the Colorado operation at 5131 S. College Ave. in Fort Collins is also hiring staff members. Flagship will maintain the Colorado office as its headquarters.

Editor’s note: Christopher and Angela Amundson are not related to the writer of this report.

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