Glossy Pasadena Magazine Makes Debut

More than 27,000 copies of a glossy new magazine, Pasadena, were mailed last week to select addresses in upscale areas of Pasadena, South Pasadena, La Canada Flintridge, San Marino, Altadena and Sierra Madre.

The fledgling publication, which will be produced every other month, is the newest effort by 24-year-old James Lizardi and his sister, Lisa, 22.

The pair produced the 11,200-circulation South Pasadena magazine from September, 1989, to June. The new magazine replaces South Pasadena, which lost $50,000.

“It’s a family business,” said Lizardi, son of South Pasadena advertising veteran Ben Lizardi. “We have zero start-up capital. It’s real shoestring.”

Only five people work full time for the publication, he said. Investors shied away from it, saying the climate for magazines was not good, Lizardi said. But the young publisher decided that Pasadena, with its burgeoning Old Town, could support the upbeat, pro-Pasadena magazine.

“We’re not a newspaper,” Lizardi said. “We’re not going to be real controversial.” The Pasadena Weekly, a free newspaper and his most likely competitor, attracts different advertisers and takes on hot city issues, he said.

The magazine will be distributed free to people on the publication’s mailing list and will cost $2.95 on newsstands.

The premiere issue of Pasadena features articles on cooking expert Julia Child, a Pasadena native; jazz spots in Old Pasadena, and a Pasadena restaurant.

The 60-page magazine--12 pages larger than planned--has 84 local advertisers, Lizardi said. In addition, he has ordered an additional 2,000 issues printed after the initial newsstand copies are sold.

Although the first issue lost $60,000, Lizardi expects it to break even on the third issue and to become monthly in a year.