I'm sure you have all been reading about the problems the AAW has been having with the distribution of the Journal. Well, all magazines have the same set of problems, give or take. Most magazines do not distribute the individual copies themselves, but, rather, hire what is call a fulfillment company to handle subscriptions and to distribute the magazine to the dealers.
The fulfillment company sends the shipments to the individual dealers who are supposed to put the magazines on the shelves on a specific date. This allows for enough time for the subscriptions to be processed and mailed out so the subscribers get their copies first. I know we have even delayed the news stand arrivals for a couple of weeks to permit this to happen in hopes of prevent these kinds of problems.
Unfortunately, some dealer(s) always has to put their magazines out ahead of time and then this starts a frenzy and people get upset because they didn't get their magazines. I suspect that this is what is happening now.
Regards,
Joe