Ad slump leads Gourmet, 3 other magazines to close

[isilzha]

Ad slump leads Gourmet, 3 other magazines to close
By ANDREW VANACORE, AP Business Writer – 57 mins ago

NEW YORK – Conde Nast Publications is closing Gourmet, the nation's oldest food magazine, and three other titles as the high-end publisher tries to weather a devastating advertising slump.

In addition to Gourmet, which had a circulation of 980,000 last year, the publisher is closing Modern Bride, Elegant Bride and Cookie, a parenting magazine. Earlier in the year it killed publication of Portfolio, a business magazine, and Domino, a lifestyle title.

"We're all stunned, sad," Gourmet's editor, Ruth Reichl, posted on Twitter.
Conde Nast had no comment. But in a memo to staff Monday, Conde Nast CEO Charles Townsend said the closures were required "to navigate the company through the economic downturn and to position us to take advantage of coming opportunities."

Consultants from McKinsey & Co. have been helping the publisher, known for elegant publications and high costs, identify ways to cut its expenses. Despite Gourmet's large audience, the magazine has suffered one of the worst ad declines of any popular title. Its number of ad pages was down 50 percent in the second quarter from the year before, according to the Publishers Information Bureau.

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[Food Network Fan]

WOW. That's a shocker.

[BerryBaby]

They just ran the story on the news....SO SAD!

I just re-subscibed, guess those $$'s are gone.

This week we received the copy with the caramel apple on the cover. Wonder if that is the last one? I always looked forward to their December issue.

At least I still have Bon Appetit...wonder for how long?

[Food Network Fan]

I just subscribed to Food and Wine from a fund raiser for my son's school.

[BerryBaby]

That's a really good magazine but definitely much more expensive. I use to get it and really liked it until the subscription rate skyrocketed. Guess they have to do that to stay in business. Advertising isn't what it use to be.

[Food Network Fan]

It was a good deal thru the school offer. Maybe they do that to get you hooked?

[isilzha]

I just signed up for a year of National Geographic, a year is like $15 or so.

[ibcheft]

I get Bon Appetite have for years, use to get Gourmet but the two were so much alike and Bon Appetite is better.

[Pluff Mudder]

I had just signed up for Gourmet about two weeks ago. Guess I can kiss does dollars good-bye. Makes you wonder tho why they were still taking subscriptions if they knew they were going to pull the plug.

[Food Network Fan]

I looked to see if they had Gourmet when I signed up for Food and Wine. They do this innisbrook sales group with my son's school and sell wrapping paper magazines and candy. You get a voucher to select from whatever they have enrolled in the packages. Food and Wine seemed like the only one I would be interested in, and I really only did it because I wanted to buy something from my kid. I guess I am like many people and the internet keeps me from subscribing to newspapers and magazines. It's just too easy to find anything you want to read online. I would think that high end magazines would do better, I like the photographs in the better quality magazines. And you can sit them out for guests without looking like a tabloid freak, how much Jon and Kate can people read about anyway?