Rodale Press Takes a Healthy Approach
When Bob Rodale was once asked what would happen to his health and fitness publications without him, he replied: “You’ll have to trust Ardie. I do.”
Rodale’s death in a Moscow traffic accident last September stunned the 1,000 employees at Rodale Press Inc., which he headed.
His wife, Ardath H. Rodale, who inherited the title chairman and chief executive of the privately held company, insists that her husband’s work will live on.
“We have a team going here,” she said during a recent interview. “We’re going to make sure that the dreams Bob had continue to grow.”
Three of her four children also work at Rodale, along with a son-in-law. A fifth child, son David, died in 1985.
The 62-year-old Rodale, who goes by the nickname “Ardie,” is certainly no stranger to the operations of Rodale Press, having been involved in the business for the past 30 years. As director of environmental resources, she was responsible for the design and decoration of Rodale’s tasteful offices.
Rodale prides herself in helping create what she calls a “caring” organization, with an obvious emphasis on health. Some have even called her “vice president for hugs.”
“We have a number of families that work here,” said the soft-spoken and outgoing Rodale. “But there’s also a feeling of company family. People bicycle together and walk together at lunch. It all helps to bring a closeness within the company.”
Rodale offers some unusual employee benefits: a free company gym, a walking track with exercise stations, subsidized gardens and “casual Fridays” to encourage people to bicycle to work at least once a week.
Smoking is banned. And company cafeterias offer some menus straight out of the health magazines the company publishes.
Rodale’s first magazine, Organic Farming and Gardening, came out in 1942 by J. I. Rodale, Bob Rodale’s father.
Prevention, which has a circulation of about 3 million, was started in 1950. The company bought Bicycling magazine in 1977, and Runner’s World in 1985. It started Men’s Health magazine in 1986 and bought Backpacker magazine in 1988, among others.
The company also puts out about half a dozen newsletters on health and fitness. Its book division has nearly 300 titles in print and operates four book clubs.
Analysts see a bright future for Rodale, especially as aging baby boomers grow more interested in health and environmental issues.
“For years, they were out of the mainstream of New York consumer magazine publishing. Their corporate culture is different. You don’t find the same kind of high-pressure, glitzy people,” said Martin S. Walker, an analyst with Periodical Studies Service Inc. of New York.
“They have an affluent audience right at the cusp of what’s happening among young people,” he said. “They’re a sleeping giant in the process of being revitalized. They’re going to make themselves known on Madison Avenue.”
Rodale says business has been good. Since the company is private, it doesn’t have to report earnings. But Robert Teufel, Rodale president, said gross revenue for 1990 jumped 15% over the previous year to $247 million.
“As opposed to the publishing industry in general, which tends to have some problems just now, our first quarter just ended showed us ahead of budget,” Teufel said. “That’s because of the very nature of our products. When times get tough, people garden more, they tend to bicycle more when energy costs are up. They run more. Our gardening magazine is doing especially well.
“And with all the costs of medical care, people are taking more responsibility for their own health.”
Some of the profits from Rodale Press are invested in the Rodale Institute, a global outreach program whose projects include a 305-acre research farm in Maxatawny, Pa., that develops new chemical-free gardening and farming methods. The institute also has a regenerative agriculture project under way in Senegal that deals with erosion control, composting and household gardens. Another project is due soon in Ecuador.