Inside Track: Delta's Sky mag lands in Twin Cities

Sky Magazine, the new in-flight publication for the combined Delta and Northwest airlines, debuts this month and it's not being published in Atlanta, where Delta has its headquarters. The magazine is the product of Minneapolis-based MSP Communications. In a boost to the state's publishing industry, the paper supplier is UPM-Blandin of Grand Rapids and the printer is Brown Printing of Waseca. With a press run of 605,000 copies per issue, that's not a bad economic stimulus.

Sky is counting on the support of advertisers who know that many of the passengers who read the magazine are affluent business travelers and people who influence others. The magazine's estimated audience of 5.2 million audience also is global in its makeup.

In addition to the seat-back pouch in front of flyers, Sky will be available for $3.99 at more than 2,500 newsstands -- a first for an in-flight magazine, according to its marketing department.

The premier copy features the very photogenic Heidi Klum on its cover.

Herd mentality Perhaps this confirms what many already thought, but a new report by a University of Minnesota anthropologist blames a "me too" attitude on Wall Street for the nation's current economic mess. Professor Karen Ho says "groupthink and overconfidence" are the overriding themes in the culture of the nation's largest financial players.

Ho also blames the prestigious sheepskins from the likes of Princeton and Yale for creating a mentality of superiority among the executives who steer the banks and make the investment decisions, even the boneheaded ones. "Banks are notoriously competitive and believe their own hype," Ho said. She notes that short-term gains have been the focus of Wall Street for the past 25 years at the expense of long-term investors.

Ho spent three years doing her research, including working for a bank. Her findings are contained in a book due out in July titled, "Liquidated: An Ethnography of Wall Street."

Now, in an unusual twist, a California-based gym franchise wants to start offering health plans to its members.

LA Boxing, with 57 gyms around the country, will start offering health plans from Assurant and Golden Rule, two market leaders in individual health insurance. Golden Rule is owned by Minnetonka-based UnitedHealth Group. Every franchise owner, employee, subcontractor and club member will be eligible for the low-cost plans.

LA Boxing doesn't have any outlets yet in Minnesota, but expects to by year's end.

Digital dogfight More than a third of consumers (35 percent) pick Richfield-based Best Buy as the place they shop most often for consumer electronics, a bump from 31 percent a year ago, according to a retail ratings report this week from BIGresearch. Wal-Mart ranked second with consumers for items such as TVs, MP3 players, notebook computers and mobile phones and third-place Minneapolis-based Target gained "substantial growth in consumer share."

For consumers who earn less than $50,000, Wal-Mart has a slight edge (less than 1 percent) over Best Buy, but among folks who earn more than that, Best Buy is the clear winner -- 46 percent to 12 percent.