Home magazine shuts down

Home magazine, which shares an owner with other magazine brands such as Elle, Car and Driver, Road and Track and Woman's Day, will cease publication after its October issue.

Jack Kliger, president and CEO for the magazine's parent company, Hachette Filipacchi Media U.S. (HFM U.S.), reported that the "current economic environment is difficult, and the mid-market home sector has been particularly hard hit. When the middle market recovers, we will consider future publication of HOME" as a single-subject guidebook available at newsstands. Kliger added, "It is difficult to close a magazine, particularly when it means that some of our colleagues' positions will be affected."

Home is described at the company's Web site as "the established authority for renovation and design enthusiasts and provides our nearly 3.5 million readers with a solid foundation of knowledge about products and price points that empowers them to make informed purchasing decisions."

Other shelter-related publications operated by HFM U.S. include Elle Decor, Metropolitan Home and a variety of focused guidebooks, and the company operates PointClickHome.com.

The Wall Street Journal reported that Home suffered a 47 percent decline in ad pages during the second quarter, according to the Publishers Information Bureau.

A decline in real estate-related advertising has hit home at other publications and newspapers, too, and some newspapers have cut back on editorial real estate content and staffing (see related Inman News article). 

Andy Sareyan, president of Meredith Corp.'s Better Homes and Gardens magazine, said that his company's magazine was not as vulnerable to the downturn because of its broader focus, which includes lifestyle, according to the article. "When people do less buying and selling of homes and less remodeling, there is less need for the advertising categories that support the businesses to spend their money," Sareyan told the Journal.

Real estate brokerage and franchise company Realogy last month launched a Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate franchise brand (see Inman News article) -- real estate brokerage operations had previously been operated by GMAC, which purchased the real estate brokerage operations from Meredith.

 

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