Local Couple Keeps Tabs on Parenting Title

Elena, Ron Epstein L.A. Parent was purchased by a Woodland Hills publishing company this month, making the parent magazine a locally owned title after several years of out-of-state ownership. Epstein Custom Media acquired the magazine Dec. 1 from Dominion Enterprises of Norfolk, Va. Dominion also publishes several print and web trade publications for the travel, recreation and automotive industries. L.A. Parent marks the first publication to be published by Epstein, which is owned by Ron and Elena Epstein, a couple who met in journalism school and have seasoned careers in medical journal publishing and public relations, respectively. The Burbank-based L.A. Parent, which has circulated for 32 years, is distributed for free at libraries, grocery stores and doctors’ offices throughout the greater San Fernando Valley and Los Angeles. About 75,000 copies are printed each month, and an estimated 85 percent of those are picked up by consumers. The Epsteins, who starting reading the magazine when their daughters were small, had always talked about eventually owning a publication so the purchase just made sense, they said. “When the opportunity came to buy it, we jumped at it,” said Ron Epstein, 44. “The niche is parenting and we love being parents. It kind of felt like our calling.” The couple plan to boost the magazine’s online presence and publish a special print issue this March focused on children with special needs. Elena Epstein, 43, said that the magazine helped her a lot when she was raising their daughters, now both in high school. “That magazine was on my kitchen counter for 10, 12 years, every single month,” she said. “It was always such an amazing resource for me as a mom. We want to be a resource for parents.” Christina Elston, editor of the magazine, said the staff is pleased to have a local publisher again. “A local magazine like L.A. Parent really thrives when it’s locally owned by people in the community who care about the product,” she said.