It’s been over two years since Jordan Bozzi was thrust into the publishing business following the death of his parents, Emily and Vince, due to complications from COVID-19 during the height of the pandemic.

Jordan Bozzi says it’s taken that long to learn the ropes of the business and for his team at Bozzi Media to put the company’s flagship publication, Spokane Coeur d’Alene Living, back on a track toward profitability.

Bozzi, 32, is the publisher and CEO of Spokane-based Northwest Direct Inc., which does business as Bozzi Media, headquartered on the sixth floor of the Holley Mason Building, at 157 S. Howard, downtown.

In addition to Spokane Coeur d’Alene Living, Bozzi Media publishes Nostalgia Magazine and operates an events-management arm, Delectable Catering & Events LLC.

When the Journal last reported on Bozzi Media in February 2021, Spokane Coeur d’Alene Living was on the brink of running out of operating funds.

“As the publisher thrown into this business without a moment’s notice, I barely had a clue on how to do anything,” Bozzi says.

Prior to taking the helm of Bozzi Media, Bozzi says he was doing some work for a contractor friend and considering going back to school.

“I wasn’t going anywhere,” he says. “My life had no direction.”

Now, he says he’s running business meetings and has learned skills in handling finances and making sales.

“We put out 26 Spokane Coeur d’Alene Living magazines since my parents passed away. We also still have Nostalgia Magazine up and going,” Bozzi says of his team. “Now I’m completely invested and won’t stop. Now it’s my career, and I will fight tooth and nail to keep my parents’ vision alive and make my own mark in the city.”

Spokane Coeur d’Alene Living currently has seven employees. With the exception of an account executive, “everybody who worked here in the first year is gone,” Bozzi says.

The publication shares some resources with Nostalgia Magazine, although Nostalgia has its own editing staff, he adds.

Jordan says the company has faced some obstacles and learned some hard lessons.

“We definitely took a hit the first year after mom and dad were gone,” he says. “We had some trouble with printing and distributors, and now we’re back on track with that.”

He says it’s been a slow process rebuilding the magazine. “We had to go into survival mode for the last 1 1/2 years. Now it’s paying off.”

In one difficult lesson, Bozzi thought the magazine wasn’t making much revenue off stand sales, so he decided to cut back on that, which he soon learned was a mistake. As he started culling nonpaying subscriptions from the mailing list, he realized the magazine needs to be on the newsstands to maintain visibility.

“We made the decision to go back to newsstands,” he says.

Coeur d’Alene Living, formerly a monthly publication, has gone to publishing every two months and is offering more advertising options to attract revenue from smaller businesses, he says.

Bozzi Media currently is printing about 10,000 copies of Spokane Coeur d’Alene Living per issue, which he says is on an upward trend, although down from its peak print run of about 20,000 before the pandemic, Bozzi says.

Bozzi Media’s Delectable Catering manages events at the Historic Flight Foundation hangar, at 5829 E. Rutter, at Felts Field; The Hidden Ballroom, at 39 W. Pacific; and La Rae’s on Second, at 811 W. Second.

Bozzi Media subsidiary 180 Bar & Bistro, formerly located at 180 S. Howard, closed during the pandemic.

“We had to let go of 180,” Bozzi says. “That was one of my dad’s dreams. Emotionally, that hurt.”

With that loss, the company then concentrated resources on Delectable Catering, now based at 107 S. Howard.

“We ended up moving to a bigger kitchen,” Bozzi says. “Now the catering business is stronger. We have a lot of events lined up for the rest of 2023.”

He hopes to rely on Delectable Catering to manage release parties for future issues of Spokane Coeur d’Alene Living, and possibly bring back Hot Summer Nights, which had been Bozzi Media’s big summer party before the pandemic.