• Mediaweek, Wednesday, September 23, 2009 11:12 PM

Starting in October, retailer Ikea will start offering free cooking seminars as part of an ad deal cooked up by Meredith's Family Circle. The classes are part of a five-city tour called "Food University Presented by Family Circle." It kicks off in Seattle and features chefs demonstrating recipes from the magazine.

Ikea, sole sponsor of the tour, will increase its buy of ads pages in Family Circle as part of the deal. The furniture company has been supportive of the magazine industry lately. It increased its magazine spend in the Jan.-June 2009 period to $7.1 million, or 15% of its total media budget, up from 13% of its total media spend last year.

Family Circle has been an exception in an otherwise lousy ad climate for magazines. This year through October, its ad pages grew 14 % to 1,411, compared to an 11% decline in the women's service/lifestyle category.

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