American Maps (ADC, Arrow, Hagstom) out of business? (Please, no....)

[Michael in Philly]

A week or two ago, I visited American Maps' web site, and was redirected to Universal Maps, where there's a note "American Maps coming soon," with an 800 number to "check the status of your favorite American Maps products."

Fine, I figured they'd just been bought out.  (American Maps is or was the parent company of Hagstrom in the New York area, ADC in the Philadelphia-Atlanta corridor, particularly around Washington, Arrow in New England, and I don't know whom outside the Northeast.  Their products for the areas they covered were uniformly excellent in quality, and in many areas they had no competition, at least before Internet maps.)

I was in Washington this afternoon, and ADC's store downtown, which had been there (not always ADC-owned) since I started college in DC in '82 - and which was a great place to browse, especially foreign stuff that you wouldn't see anywhere else - is closed.

So now I'm a bit concerned....

Stopped at a Borders in suburban Baltimore on the way home, which I'd been to before and which carried lots of ADC's county maps for Maryland, and was surprised that ADC products had been almost entirely replaced* by Rand McNally's.  *I'm using the word replaced advisedly; I doubt that they sold everything out since I was last there - it really looks as if they were systematically pulled off the shelves in favor of Rand McNally's.

So out of curiosity and concern, I stopped into another Borders close to Philadelphia.  Similar apparent restocking.  But they still have ADC titles for areas of New Jersey Rand McNally doesn't do street maps for.  Which suggests that maybe Borders made a decision to switch from American Maps to Rand McNally where they have a choice.  You never used to see Rand McNally street guides and street maps at Borders.

Got home and started investigating.  A Google search on "map store" "washington" "closed" brought me to an item a couple of months ago about the Hagstrom store in Manhattan closing, mentioning that "their store" in Washington was likely to do likewise soon.  The head of Langenscheidt - American Maps' parent company - says there that they're unloading their map and atlas business, which has taken a hit from electronic maps.

So.....

Does anyone know anything?  I don't think GPSes or map sites can replace paper maps for their reference functions.  And as a historical record of changes in development or in roads, what happens in future - does the Library of Congress have to download the entire Google Maps data base every few years?  [and the computer's going wonky again....  So I'll shut up.]

[froggie]

ADC closed their store in DC last month.

As I understand it, American/ADC/etc etc were sold to Universal Map.

I'm thinking I may make a stop at ADC's (former?) corporate headquarters on my day off this week to see if I can get more info.

[PAHighways]

Their products for the areas they covered were uniformly excellent in quality, and in many areas they had no competition, at least before Internet maps.

I hope they had improved their atlas of Pennsylvania from the 1992 edition I have.  There are numerous errors in it, for example, Turnpike 66 is under construction as a free expressway and PA 380 is marked as PA 400 for its entire length.

[Michael in Philly]

Their products for the areas they covered were uniformly excellent in quality, and in many areas they had no competition, at least before Internet maps.

I hope they had improved their atlas of Pennsylvania from the 1992 edition I have.  There are numerous errors in it, for example, Turnpike 66 is under construction as a free expressway and PA 380 is marked as PA 400 for its entire length.

'92?  Don't know what publication that would be.  In Pennsylvania, ADC did street atlases and some folded street maps for counties from the Philadelphia area out to York and Harrisburg.  They've added some coverage to the north (Reading, Allentown, Wilkes-Barre....) recently, but the only thing I know of state-wide is a Pennsylvania road atlas that has only appeared within the last two or three years, and which I rather like.  Could you be thinking of another publisher?

[PAHighways]

The cover says "ADC The Map People" at the top and it is entitled Pennsylvania State Road Atlas.  There is also a  banner in the top right corner that says "NEW."

On the inside of the cover is "© 1992 ADC of Alexandria, Inc." and on the inside of the back cover is an ad for The Langenscheidt Publishing Group with Hagstrom, ADC, Trakker Map, Arrow Map, and Creative Sales/American Map mentioned as their various brands.

[Michael in Philly]

The cover says "ADC The Map People" at the top and it is entitled Pennsylvania State Road Atlas.  There is also a  banner in the top right corner that says "NEW."

On the inside of the cover is "© 1992 ADC of Alexandria, Inc." and on the inside of the back cover is an ad for The Langenscheidt Publishing Group with Hagstrom, ADC, Trakker Map, Arrow Map, and Creative Sales/American Map mentioned as their various brands.

I stand corrected.  (I didn't think that Langenscheidt takeover had happened that long ago.  And I don't remember that publication existing that long ago.)  [Pause while I check mine out....]  Mine's copyright 2009 by Alexandria Drafting Company.  So..... where were these errors?  They have Pa. 66 as a toll road from New Stanton to US 22, and Pa. 380 running from I-579 to Pa. 286 west of Saltsburg.  I like that atlas (have the N.J. and Md./Del. as well; need to get N.Y., Va., N.C.) for the level of detail it shows in rural areas.  The DeLorme is pretty, but this one's easier to use for navigation.

[Alex]

American Map was indeed sold to UCrap earlier this year. Expect the map quality to go down and updated products to decrease in frequency. UCrap is owned by a Pennsylvania-based publishing company that sells puzzle books to a number of chains and franchises. They bought the map business just to hock their other products and have no real interest in creating a viable map product. This is why I have hinted on MDRoads' Facebook page and other places that ADC maps are going to die. Its a real bummer, because I grew up collecting and using their books.

For those who did not know, UCrap also bought out Mapsco earlier this year and all of their operations in Texas are now closed. There have been rumors of other map company buy-outs, and in the end it will likely be UCrap and Rmcn, though I would not be surprised if Rmcn eventually throws in the towel as well...

[vdeane]

Not to mention that I haven't seen the DeLorme data update in over 15 years, at least in NY.  NY's Hagstrom data is itself only slightly newer, but it at least has the Corning bypass.  It's a shame.  The only paper atlas of NY I can find that's current is Jimapco.  I also preferred American Maps's US atlas over Rand McNally, and from what I've read on the forums, Rand McNally doesn't seem to be very high quality.  Hopefully MapWorks will pick up some of the slack, but I doubt it.

[Michael in Philly]

Not to mention that I haven't seen the DeLorme data update in over 15 years, at least in NY.  NY's Hagstrom data is itself only slightly newer, but it at least has the Corning bypass.  It's a shame.  The only paper atlas of NY I can find that's current is Jimapco.  I also preferred American Maps's US atlas over Rand McNally, and from what I've read on the forums, Rand McNally doesn't seem to be very high quality.  Hopefully MapWorks will pick up some of the slack, but I doubt it.

DeLorme's been introducing a new format; I've seen it for Pennsylvania, Ohio, North Carolina and some other states, not yet for New York.

There seem to be about four generations of DeLorme atlases:
1)  The northern New England states that they've been doing forever
2)  Starting about 1986, they began to introduce other states, using the USGS 1:100,000 topos (typically reduced in scale to about 1:150,000) as a base map and adding their own recreational information.  That USGS mapping goes back to about 1980, and knowing that, I never quite trusted this generation of DeLormes to be up to date on roads.  Roughly (very roughly) a dozen states, New York being one of them, were covered by atlases of this generation before they introduced digital mapping in the mid-90s.
3)  In the mid-90s, they introduced digital mapping, both on CD-Rom and in paper atlases for the states they hadn't gotten to yet.  They quickly finished up the country in this series.
4)  Within the last, say, three years, they've been re-mapping second-generation states like Pennsylvania, in a format that resembles the one they always used in Maine, but with color added.  Haven't seen New York yet but I'd guess it's a matter of time.

[Stephane Dumas]

For those who did not know, UCrap also bought out Mapsco earlier this year and all of their operations in Texas are now closed. There have been rumors of other map company buy-outs, and in the end it will likely be UCrap and Rmcn, though I would not be surprised if Rmcn eventually throws in the towel as well...

RMcn throwing the towel....who'll buy RMcn?

[Michael in Philly]

That's not good....  [edit - this was for AARoads, post #6.  Seem to have not picked up the quote tag]

The Mapsco product line does now show up on Universal Maps' web site.

[Michael in Philly]

Not to mention that I haven't seen the DeLorme data update in over 15 years, at least in NY.  NY's Hagstrom data is itself only slightly newer, but it at least has the Corning bypass.  It's a shame.  The only paper atlas of NY I can find that's current is Jimapco.  I also preferred American Maps's US atlas over Rand McNally, and from what I've read on the forums, Rand McNally doesn't seem to be very high quality.  Hopefully MapWorks will pick up some of the slack, but I doubt it.

I've got lots of time off over the next few months and have been planning - without being too specific yet - some road trips, with map-buying as a main activity.  Which suddenly seems more urgent.  Two New York State questions for you:  (1) does MapWorks have a retail store (for that matter, are there any other good map stores you can recommend) and (2) does Jimapco still have a store in Saratoga County - I was there once, probably in the early 90s.

[WillWeaverRVA]

Say it ain't so, I've got several years of ADC maps, and while they're certainly not perfect, they sure blow away Universal Crap...

[Michael in Philly]

Say it ain't so, I've got several years of ADC maps, and while they're certainly not perfect, they sure blow away Universal Crap...

Well, if it's any comfort, I think they're unlikely to bother remapping ADC's areas.  They'll just start labeling them as their own (if they even do that).  There are already products from a Canadian company called GM Johnson that are packaged as Universal Maps or American Maps, depending on the area and title.  (I've got an "American Maps" street atlas of the Cleveland area and a "Universal Maps' atlas of the Pittsburgh area, both bought in 2009 and both of which are actually GM Johnson products - with the same format - inside.)  I'd be more concerned about
(1) in the short term, less frequent updates (not that they were updating frequently everywhere anyway - one of my peeves about Hagstrom is that they already go five years or more between revisions, and that's been the case for a long time - but in the Washington area, they used to issue updates every year);
(2) American Map products using the ADC format were starting to appear in other places - in Erie a few months ago I got one for that area - I'd be concerned that that stops.
(3) in the long term, shutting down altogether.  

[FLRoads]

Here is an article announcing the closing of the transaction to buy out American Map...

http://www.seopressreleases.com/universal-map-group-llc-announces-closing-american-map-transaction/12721

The transaction was originally announced on August 19th with the stipulation that the American Map, Hagstrom and ADC trade names will be retained. With the buy-out of Mapsco this past spring and now this buy-out, it is not surprising that there will eventually only be two main public map companies in the market. Time will indeed tell...  

[Duke87]

This really shouldn't be surprising. GPS devices have become quite commonplace, so people don't have a much of a use for printed maps anymore, at least in their cars. The makers of Streetwise and other such maps will survive for now, as tourists don't go walking around with GPS devices, but their days are numbered as well. Everything is going digital now. Maps, books, news, everything.

This means that print media is ultimately to be reduced to a niche market (people who collect it). Map collecting is not uncommon, so it's plausible that some people may capitalize on that. But the brands we recognize today aren't going to be hanging around. More likely to survive are the government productions like the free official state road maps you find at rest stops - nobody's trying to make a profit off of those, anyway, so it doesn't matter so much if demand dwindles. USGS is not likely to stop producing their quadrangles anytime soon, either - although they are online, so print versions will become less and less common.

[PAHighways]

I stand corrected.  (I didn't think that Langenscheidt takeover had happened that long ago.  And I don't remember that publication existing that long ago.)  [Pause while I check mine out....]  Mine's copyright 2009 by Alexandria Drafting Company.  So..... where were these errors?  They have Pa. 66 as a toll road from New Stanton to US 22, and Pa. 380 running from I-579 to Pa. 286 west of Saltsburg.

I'd hope in 17 years they'd have fixed the errors!

Turnpike 66 was indicated as a free route during its construction.  PA 380 was marked as PA 400 from I-579 to PA 286 in Murrysville, and with shields in the Pittsburgh inset.  PA 380 is only designated as being between the two 286 junctions.

I won't mention the lack of ramps at the US 219/Johnstown Expressway interchange in the Johnstown inset nor the lack of interchanges on Turnpike 43 to name a few more.

[Michael in Philly]

This really shouldn't be surprising. GPS devices have become quite commonplace, so people don't have a much of a use for printed maps anymore, at least in their cars. The makers of Streetwise and other such maps will survive for now, as tourists don't go walking around with GPS devices, but their days are numbered as well. Everything is going digital now. Maps, books, news, everything.

This means that print media is ultimately to be reduced to a niche market (people who collect it). Map collecting is not uncommon, so it's plausible that some people may capitalize on that. But the brands we recognize today aren't going to be hanging around. More likely to survive are the government productions like the free official state road maps you find at rest stops - nobody's trying to make a profit off of those, anyway, so it doesn't matter so much if demand dwindles. USGS is not likely to stop producing their quadrangles anytime soon, either - although they are online, so print versions will become less and less common.

Oh, I don't know.  Television was supposed to kill radio, newspapers and movies....  Things even out; mapmakers, newspapers, and so on - who, let's assume, don't want to go out of business - find ways to have complementary digital and print products; old-fashioned consumers like me continue to prefer print and use digital as a supplement....  At least, I hope so.

[Duke87]

TV didn't kill radio, newspapers, or movies because it didn't make them obsolete.
For one thing, TV and Radio are somewhat different markets. You don't play music on TV. You can't watch TV while you're driving your car, or doing anything else that demands your visual attention.
Similarly, you don't "read" TV, and it's difficult to watch it any place where you can't readily hook one up. On the train, in the bathroom, at the coffee shop, etc.
And no TV could provide the "big screen" experience of movies. Nor could it permit you to (legally) see brand new films, even with VHS and later DVD.

Digitalization, however, is a different animal, because while computers are also their own thing, they are perfectly capable of emulating other media in a way which is arguably superior to the original. A GPS contains, within a device that is smaller and lighter than a street atlas of one county, a street atlas of the entire country along with the ability to give directions and find businesses of all sorts - things which no print map could ever dream of doing. A PDA device can contain not only the ability to read news online with much less bulk than a newspaper, but also a myriad of other abilities (email, phone, maps, games, etc.), allowing the user to do these things basically anywhere. A digital reader can contain hundreds of books in the space and weight of less than one. And so on.

[Michael in Philly]

TV didn't kill radio, newspapers, or movies because it didn't make them obsolete.
For one thing, TV and Radio are somewhat different markets. You don't play music on TV. You can't watch TV while you're driving your car, or doing anything else that demands your visual attention.
Similarly, you don't "read" TV, and it's difficult to watch it any place where you can't readily hook one up. On the train, in the bathroom, at the coffee shop, etc.
And no TV could provide the "big screen" experience of movies. Nor could it permit you to (legally) see brand new films, even with VHS and later DVD.

Digitalization, however, is a different animal, because while computers are also their own thing, they are perfectly capable of emulating other media in a way which is arguably superior to the original. A GPS contains, within a device that is smaller and lighter than a street atlas of one county, a street atlas of the entire country along with the ability to give directions and find businesses of all sorts - things which no print map could ever dream of doing. A PDA device can contain not only the ability to read news online with much less bulk than a newspaper, but also a myriad of other abilities (email, phone, maps, games, etc.), allowing the user to do these things basically anywhere. A digital reader can contain hundreds of books in the space and weight of less than one. And so on.

It was being confidently predicted in the early 50s that TV would kill movies (why go out and pay, when you could be entertained at home? - your argument about not being able to see new films on TV doesn't take into account that people were assuming that new films would stop being made) and radio (TV has pictures too!) and that TV newscasts would kill newspapers.  (You don't have to wait until tomorrow for the news now!)

It didn't happen because (1) people still liked the big-screen experience, it turned out; (2) radio adapted by not trying to provide the sort of entertainment that TV was now doing but instead becamse to a considerable degree a music medium; and (3) a TV newscast could not get through, in the time allowed, one percent of what a newspaper had.

All of what you say about GPS's may be true but...can you unfold it and get an overview of the area?  Or hang it on a wall?  Can you pull it out 20 years later to see how the area has changed?
And forgive me if I don't throw out all my books....

[vdeane]

Yeah, it's impossible to explore with GPS.  If paper maps really do die out to GPS, we're going to have a lot of lost people every time roads are added or removed.  And the Garmin my Dad bought can't even navigate a stack interchange properly - it considers half of the ramps as branching off of other ramps, so to go from US 22 west to I-81 south in Harrisburg it says "take I-81 north" until you're right on top of the ramp for I-81 south!  It also thought the c/d lanes on I-270 north of DC were the main highway.

I've got lots of time off over the next few months and have been planning - without being too specific yet - some road trips, with map-buying as a main activity.  Which suddenly seems more urgent.  Two New York State questions for you:  (1) does MapWorks have a retail store (for that matter, are there any other good map stores you can recommend) and (2) does Jimapco still have a store in Saratoga County - I was there once, probably in the early 90s.

I don't know of a MapWorks store other than online, but they're available in local Borders, Barns and Noble, office supply stores, and grocery stores.  Don't know about that Jimapco store in Saratoga County, but you can order both online.
www.mapworksinc.com

[Roadgeek Adam]

MapWorks is based in Monroe County. Jimapco and MapWorks I think are some of the best cartographer/publishers around. Mainly due to their attention to detail. I think both have worked hard on making sure they make good maps. (I've gotten a few MapWorks maps for free via some counties )

[Michael in Philly]

MapWorks is based in Monroe County. Jimapco and MapWorks I think are some of the best cartographer/publishers around. Mainly due to their attention to detail. I think both have worked hard on making sure they make good maps. (I've gotten a few MapWorks maps for free via some counties )

There's a AAA office in the area of New Jersey I grew up in (eastbound side of US 22 in Springfield, to be specific), where you can help yourself to maps, TourBooks, etc., rather than having to ask for them (you still check out with your membership card, so they can track what you're taking).  Stopped in there they last time I was up to see my parents and just grabbed everything for New York and New England (I'll work my way around the country every visit :-) ).  When I got them home, I discovered that their maps of Buffalo, Rochester and the Finger Lakes (also New Haven and Hartford) are in fact MapWorks products with a AAA label.

[Michael in Philly]

Yeah, it's impossible to explore with GPS.  If paper maps really do die out to GPS, we're going to have a lot of lost people every time roads are added or removed.  And the Garmin my Dad bought can't even navigate a stack interchange properly - it considers half of the ramps as branching off of other ramps, so to go from US 22 west to I-81 south in Harrisburg it says "take I-81 north" until you're right on top of the ramp for I-81 south!  It also thought the c/d lanes on I-270 north of DC were the main highway.

I've got lots of time off over the next few months and have been planning - without being too specific yet - some road trips, with map-buying as a main activity.  Which suddenly seems more urgent.  Two New York State questions for you:  (1) does MapWorks have a retail store (for that matter, are there any other good map stores you can recommend) and (2) does Jimapco still have a store in Saratoga County - I was there once, probably in the early 90s.

I don't know of a MapWorks store other than online, but they're available in local Borders, Barns and Noble, office supply stores, and grocery stores.  Don't know about that Jimapco store in Saratoga County, but you can order both online.
www.mapworksinc.com

I can tell some amusing stories about helping people in Philadelphia get back on course after being led astray by Internet directions....

Personally, my sense of direction and geography is good enough that I can look at a map before I go (if I need one at all; in familiar areas, I don't).  Keep the map at my side in the car and glance at it occasionally (at red lights, of course) for reassurance.  Don't need a computerized voice telling me every turn.  I don't have a GPS, and am not interested in getting one.  Google maps is fine to play with, and it is helpful when you're looking for something specific.  (Last time I planned a road trip, I found it useful to blow up to a large scale the neighborhoods around the hotels I was looking, to see what's nearby in the way of food places and so forth.)

[Alex]

MapWorks is based in Monroe County. Jimapco and MapWorks I think are some of the best cartographer/publishers around. Mainly due to their attention to detail. I think both have worked hard on making sure they make good maps. (I've gotten a few MapWorks maps for free via some counties )

There's a AAA office in the area of New Jersey I grew up in (eastbound side of US 22 in Springfield, to be specific), where you can help yourself to maps, TourBooks, etc., rather than having to ask for them (you still check out with your membership card, so they can track what you're taking).  Stopped in there they last time I was up to see my parents and just grabbed everything for New York and New England (I'll work my way around the country every visit :-) ).  When I got them home, I discovered that their maps of Buffalo, Rochester and the Finger Lakes (also New Haven and Hartford) are in fact MapWorks products with a AAA label.

AAA does some of their own titles, but generally outsources for many local titles or maps outside of their cartography department. They purchase bases and have AAA covers and details on those maps that are otherwise not-standard AAA cartography.