After more than a century, one of America’s oldest magazines, House and Garden, is being folded.
Conde Nast has announced the December issue will be the magazine’s last.
The news took the American magazine world by surprise. Ad pages in H&G during the first nine months this year were down – but only by about one per cent over the same period last year. Hardly a big decline.
But the pressure on magazines that don’t lead their field is growing. Conde Nast president Charles Townsend admitted: “This was a difficult decision.”
The decision was hastened by the departure of publisher Joe Lagani who left to join a digital publishing company. That prompted Conde Nast to take a new look at H&G.
Although its investment over the years has been substantial, Conde Nast does not believe that it is any longer a viable business investment.
Conde Nast still puts out Architectural Digest, and a new “shelter” magazine called Domino aimed at a younger audience.
The company has not been hesitant in folding titles it no long thinks are potentially profitable. Last summer, it folded Jane magazine.
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