Just in time for the holidays, Salon is going to open a store next month to sell a catalog of merchandise curated specially for its readers.

The store won't be selling Salon-branded gear like mugs and tote bags. Rather, it will feature a variety of items—like household accessories and gadgets—that the company thinks will appeal to its readers.

The addition of the store is part of a wider strategy at Salon to expand its business model, develop new revenue streams, and position itself for long-term sustainability. The Telegraph newspaper in England started doing e-commerce about two years ago, including opening a similar store called Telegraph Shop, and it now earns about a quarter of its revenue from the enterprise, says Richard Gingras, CEO of the Salon Media Group.

"Salon is a great brand," Gingras told BayNewser. "It has a crisp personality. It's not just a content brand. It's a lifestyle brand. There's a sense of values that's represented in Salon audience. That gives us an opportunity to go beyond content."

More, after the jump.

The store will launch around Thanksgiving and will initially carry 50 to 100 items. Gingras said Salon's editors won't manage it. Instead, the company is working with people with backgrounds in merchandising to select the items and operate the store and will make transparent to the community who's in charge. In fact, Gingras said, the identity of the curator will be part of the value proposition. "We're not just putting up anything that people think they can sell to the Salon audience. It's what we think the Salon audience might be interested in."

Gingras said Salon will evolve the e-commerce section over time.

"I don't know what to expect from it for Salon," he said. "This is something we're going to try and experiment with and learn and grow and evolve."

Gingras said he didn't know how replicable the e-commmerce model is for all media sites. "I don't think any brand can pull this off," he said, "but I do think Salon has a good opportunity here."