Printer suing Indianapolis Woman publisher for $271K

A printing company in northeast Indiana is suing the publisher of Indianapolis Woman magazine for $271,196 in overdue printing costs.

Huntington-based Mignone Communications Inc. filed suit against Weiss Communications Inc. in Marion Superior Court, alleging the Indianapolis-based publisher has not paid several bills, some of which are three years old.

Mignone lists 12 invoices in its complaint ranging from Nov. 29, 2007, to Jan. 28, 2010. The costs include printing charges for Weiss Communications’ flagship publication, Indianapolis Woman, as well as St. Louis Woman, which it also publishes.

Mary Weiss, Weiss Communications president and publisher, said she had hoped to have the disagreement settled before it reached the courts.

“We have been negotiating with Mignone Communications for some time now, and we are still in the process of negotiating,” she said in a voice mail. “I was kind of taken aback that this has happened, but it is something we will deal with.”

Fred Pfenninger, an Indianapolis attorney representing Mignone, said Weiss told him during discussions that the business had been hurt lately by the departure of its general manager in St. Louis, who was in charge of sales and marketing, and the loss of a $500,000 advertising contract with the Indiana Department of Health.

Pfenninger said Weiss also relayed to him that she was attempting to sell the St. Louis publication. Mignone no longer is Weiss Communications' printer, he said.

“They’ve just had a couple of things happen to them that hurt them,” he said. “We’ll see what happens.”

Weiss Communications has published Indianapolis Woman for 17 years.  It  launched St. Louis Woman in 2003. Weiss said a potential buyer is interested in the magazine, but a deal has not been finalized.

“Indianapolis Woman is profitable,” said Weiss, noting the magazine has a circulation of 150,000. “With the economy, we just couldn’t sustain the expansion in St. Louis.”