The Bend Magazine

What The Bend Magazine does

The Bend Magazine is a privately held regional lifestyle publication founded in 2014 and headquartered in Corpus Christi, Texas, serving the Coastal Bend region of Texas including Port Aransas, Portland, and Rockport. The core product is a monthly print magazine complemented by a website, email newsletters (The Weekly Drop, From Our Partners, Digital Issue Release), an online events calendar, and searchable local business directories for doctors, attorneys, restaurants, and general businesses. The technology stack is a standard digital content management system extended with the CitySpark event submission and promotion platform, with no proprietary AI or ML components disclosed.

The publication operates a sales-led go-to-market targeting local SMBs across food and beverage, healthcare, legal, retail, arts, and services, with revenue generated from annual and multi-year print subscriptions, print and digital advertising, sponsored editorial content, business directory listings, and ticketed events. Its flagship franchise is The Local's List, an annual readers' choice awards program covering 171 categories that drew 209,434 community votes in 2026 and culminates in The Local's List Party at the Art Museum of South Texas. Sub-brands include HER, an annual feature honoring regional women leaders, and TB Business, a local business-focused editorial vertical.

Distribution combines direct mail subscriptions to consumer mailboxes, physical copies placed at over 30 premium regional venues (hotels, restaurants, museums, retail), and digital reach through the website and newsletters. The magazine is operated as part of Hilltop Media Group, the parent providing publishing infrastructure, and maintains a charitable partnership with the Coastal Bend Community Foundation through the annual party event.

Name

The Bend Magazine

Legal name

The Bend Magazine

Website

https://thebendmag.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2014

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

The Bend Magazine is a privately held monthly lifestyle publication serving the Coastal Bend region of Texas, delivering local dining, events, arts, and business coverage via print, digital, directories, and the Local's List readers' choice awards franchise.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Regional Lifestyle Magazine Publishing

NAICS

Periodical Publishers (513120), Periodical Publishers (51312)

SIC

Periodicals: Publishing Or Publishing & Printing (2721)

akta.pro primary industry

Consumer Lifestyle & Fashion Magazines (MPAJAEAA)

akta.pro secondary industries

Arts, Culture & Literary Magazines (MPAJAEAN), Home, Garden & DIY Magazines (MPAJAEAG)

Keywords

• Lifestyle magazine publishing
• Local advertising sales
• Readers choice awards
• Community event coverage
• Digital newsletter media

Headquarters

HQ city

Corpus Christi

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Magazine Subscriptions: Annual and multi-year print magazine subscriptions delivered monthly to subscriber mailboxes
2. Advertising: Local businesses advertise in the print magazine, on the website, and through sponsored content features
3. Event Tickets: The Local's List Party generates revenue through general admission and VIP ticket sales, with proceeds benefiting the Coastal Bend Community Foundation
4. Sponsored Content: Promotional content sections featuring local businesses and services (e.g., Budget Blinds, Camp Aranzazu, Dr. Vijay sponsored content)

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

The Bend Magazine publishes a monthly local lifestyle magazine covering dining, arts, culture, community events, history, home & garden, and life & style content for the Coastal Bend region of Texas, distributed in print and digital formats. The publication offers 1-year and 2-year print subscriptions delivered by mail, digital issue access for subscribers, email newsletters, searchable local business directories, and an annual readers' choice awards program and party event that recognize the best local businesses, restaurants, and services.

Product overview

The Bend Magazine is a local lifestyle magazine operating as a single, unified publication covering the Coastal Bend region of Texas. The core product is the monthly print and digital magazine featuring local events, dining reviews, arts & culture coverage, community profiles, and home & garden content. The magazine is supplemented by digital offerings including email newsletters (The Weekly Drop, From Our Partners, Digital Issue Release), a subscription mail-delivery service, online business directories (Doctors, Attorneys, Businesses, Restaurants), an events calendar, and annual feature programs including The Local's List Readers' Choice Awards and the HER (Honoring, Empowering, and Raising Up Remarkable Women) feature.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• The Local's List: Annual readers' choice awards program covering local businesses, restaurants, and services in the Coastal Bend region with category voting and celebration events.
• HER
• TB Business

Products and services

• The Bend Magazine (Print and Digital Monthly Publication) A monthly lifestyle magazine covering the Coastal Bend region of Texas with articles on local dining, arts, culture, community, home & garden, history, and life & style, delivered in print and digital formats to consumers and advertisers across Corpus Christi, Port Aransas, Portland, and Rockport.
• Print Magazine Subscription Service Mail-delivery subscription service offering 1-year and 2-year print magazine subscriptions delivered monthly to subscriber mailboxes.
• Email Newsletter Subscription (The Weekly Drop) Email-based newsletter product delivering weekly curated local news, events, dining, and Coastal Bend experiences to subscribers, with additional newsletters for partner promotions and digital issue release notifications.
• Local Business Directories Searchable online business directories for local professionals including Doctors, Attorneys, Businesses, and Restaurants, with category filtering and map integration to help Coastal Bend residents find trusted local services.
• The Local's List Readers' Choice Awards Annual readers' choice awards program featuring 171 categories covering the best local businesses, restaurants, and services in the Coastal Bend, with 209,434 community votes collected in the 2026 cycle, producing recognized winners across categories such as Best Food Truck, Best Restaurant, Best Doctor, and Best Attorney.
• The Local's List Party Annual Event Ticketed annual celebration event held at the Art Museum of South Texas featuring General Admission and VIP ticket tiers, unlimited food and drink samples from participating Local's List winners, interactive booths, giveaways, live entertainment, and exclusive VIP lounge access, with a portion of proceeds benefiting the Coastal Bend Community Foundation.
• Coastal Bend Events Calendar Community events calendar powered by CitySpark that lists local happenings, concerts, festivals, and activities across the Coastal Bend and allows event organizers to submit and promote events.

Quantifiable outcome

• 209,434 votes collected in Local's List 2026 readers' choice awards

Named customers9 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature2 records

Partnerships

Four partnerships are on record, tiered minor and core.

• Coastal Bend Community FoundationminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 31 July 2026A portion of the proceeds from The Local's List Party 2026 event benefits the Coastal Bend Community Foundation, a nonprofit organization serving the region
• Art Museum of South TexascoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerThe Art Museum of South Texas serves as the venue host for The Local's List Party 2026, the magazine's flagship annual celebration event
• Hilltop Media GroupcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerHilltop Media Group is the parent company of The Bend Magazine, providing publishing and media infrastructure
• Jackie VensonminorGTM or Marketing PartnerTexas blues musician Jackie Venson performed at The Exchange Grand Opening event featured in the magazine's events coverage

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Austin Monthly: City-level lifestyle magazine for Austin, Texas, featuring dining, arts, culture, and local business coverage with print + digital + 'Best of Austin' awards program. Same playbook as The Bend applied to a different Texas metro.
• Houstonia Magazine: City-level lifestyle magazine covering dining, events, and community in Houston. Closest format and business model peer to The Bend: monthly print + digital + annual 'Best of' readers' choice poll + local SMB advertising targeting a single Texas metro.
• Seattle Met: Seattle-area city lifestyle magazine with print, digital, dining guides, and 'Best of Seattle' readers' poll. Strong format and business model analog, though operating in a larger metro.
• Locale Magazine: Network of hyperlocal lifestyle magazines covering dining, events, and community in multiple U.S. cities with print + digital + 'Best Of' reader polls. Closest direct peer in business model — a multi-market operator of city lifestyle magazines anchored on readers' choice awards.
• Sacramento Magazine: Regional lifestyle magazine covering dining, arts, home, and community in the Sacramento region. Comparable mid-size city magazine with monthly print + digital + SMB advertising and 'Best Of' style editorial.
• San Antonio Magazine: San Antonio-focused regional lifestyle magazine with print, digital, dining coverage, and SMB advertising. Direct peer applying the same city-magazine model to another Texas market.
• 605 Magazine: South Dakota-based regional lifestyle magazine covering dining, events, arts, and community in the Sioux Falls region. Comparable in scale and format (small team, regional print, SMB advertising, local 'best of' content).

Broad incumbents

• Texas Monthly: Texas-focused regional lifestyle magazine covering dining, events, and culture statewide. Comparable to The Bend in format (monthly print + digital) and editorial scope (lifestyle, dining, community), though operating at a much larger Texas-wide scale rather than a single coastal subregion.
• Modern Luxury: Multi-market operator of regional luxury lifestyle magazines across major U.S. cities. A broader incumbent applying the city-magazine model at scale with deeper advertiser relationships; relevant as both a competitive analog and a potential acquirer of multi-market lifestyle media assets.

Others

• CitySpark: Event submission and promotion platform that The Bend already uses for its events calendar. Not a competitor but an enabling technology partner used by many regional lifestyle magazines to power community event listings.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/TheBendMag
• Facebookfacebook.com/thebendmag
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/the-bend-magazine

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about The Bend Magazine