“Working with Tom and his team at MMS is always an enjoyable, seamless experience. He understands the market better than most, and is always available to advise and guide. I credit much of Cereal’s distribution success to MMS and would recommend their services to any publisher!”
A little bit of history about us!
In 1998, Magazine Merchandising Services (MMS) was founded by Bill Stocker out of a passion for magazines and a desire to put back into the industry much of what had been lost over the recent years – the invaluable connection between Publisher and Retailer to drive magazine sales and raise brand awareness.
Over the years the team has grown with Tom Stocker joining his father in 2003 and then Katie, Tom’s wife, joining the team in 2014. We are now established as a leading provider of magazine services in the UK and overseas. We offer effective merchandising, retailer re-branding and exclusive poster promotions through to inspired window displays and creative in-store magazine solutions. We also directly supply hundreds of retailers in the UK and overseas and distribute many publications via the domestic and overseas wholesale networks.
Our work
We work closely with a number of high quality magazine publishers and national distributors, developing strong client partnerships geared for successful results. We provide magazines with the best possible opportunities through our excellent relationships with retailers across the UK and overseas, from the traditional newsagents, high street chains and travel outlets through to specialist retailers, bookshops, clothing boutiques and art galleries.
Our team
MMS is a family run business with a flexible, skilled and motivated team who work with our trusted partners to provide related services to our clients, saving them time and money and helping them to deliver projects on time, quickly and easily.
What people say about us.
“MMS, under the guiding hand of Tom Stocker, provide us with a magazine distribution service which is geared completely to our needs. Flexible enough to allow trials of new titles in small quantity, reactive enough to get re-stocks to us quickly and reliable enough for us not to have worry about any of the pesky details - the magazines always arrive well packaged, with clear documentation and, importantly, when they’re supposed to.
They have such a strong range of contemporary titles too, easily outstripping many of their counterparts in terms of originality, relevance and currency. There has been a huge resurgence in independent magazine production over the years since we first opened, and MMS has skilfully crested that wave.
This would all be for nothing if it wasn’t for the personal touch that sets MMS apart from many of their peers. The team are always responsive with emails, happy and willing to go the extra yard for us and do it all with a great sense of humour. Weirdly, they even pick up the phone when you call, which is something that we’ve all got a little unused to!
MMS then, a focussed and professional distributor that feels like a family business - long may that continue.”
Andy Gray, Colours May Vary (Leeds)
“We have worked with MMS for several years and was very keen to increase our London exposure for Wallpaper* through them. They are great collaborators and the impact has been excellent; with colleagues, readers and advertisers noting our improved visibility around town. If only we could clone them for every capital city!'“
Wallpaper* Magazine
“I’ve been dealing with MMS since the very beginning; they’ve proven to be very supportive and reliable partners, making it easy for me to constantly review and adjust my stock requirements and when a magazine looks good or is selling particularly well, they are able to supply me with extra stock within a day or two. Their attention to detail in all things including the mundane aspects of the business, such as paper work, makes them a pleasure to deal with.
On a few occasions I have suggested MMS as potential distributors to independent publishers whose circulation numbers have grown beyond the levels they could handle in-house; this has resulted in a win for all, as I’ve been able to get a reliable supply of magazines my customers want to buy, from an existing supplier – making life easier for everyone.”
Alex Smith - Owner of Ideas on Paper (Nottingham)
“We have worked with MMS since we opened our indie mag store in December 2014. From our very first contact with MMS Tom, Bill and everyone have been - and continue - to be more helpful than we might have hoped they would be. They are also well-organised which makes life so much easier for a small shop like ours. Whatever we do have to worry about, it’s definitely not the quality of MMS service and support.”