Mail on Sunday management has refused to comment on speculation that You magazine is to be withdrawn as a standalone title on the newsstand.
The newspaper could not be contacted to confirm or deny industry speculation that the magazine, which launched as a paid-for title in March this year, would revert to being a weekly supplement in the Sunday paper.
You, edited by Sue Peart, is sold every Tuesday, with a cover price of £1, but it has reportedly struggled to reach its initial sales target of 50,000. The title is believed to have sold just short of 40,000 copies in its first week and 28,000 in the second. According to one industry source, sales were down to just 15,000 in the last few weeks.
At its launch, a glossier cover and additional editorial pages were introduced, specifically for the newsstand edition. Columnist Liz Jones returned to the magazine and the title was moved to being printed on silk paper.
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The launch was seen as an attempt to cash in on the success of Emap's Grazia, bringing an up-market glossy title to a weekly female readership.
On the speculation that You would be withdrawn from the newsstand, Grazia editor Jane Bruton said: "I think it shows there's no guarantee that you can grow and maintain that audience. It's a really tough market and you've got to have the right product to appeal to people.
"I don't think it means the market's not there, but You magazine on the newsstands is a very different proposition to a weekly like Grazia in terms of lead time.
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You could never compete on newsiness."
Grazia has just received its first figures from the National Readership Survey, which revealed a debut ABC1 reader profile of 80 per cent.
"Those upscale ABC1 readers, the glossy readers, are genuinely in the market for something much more newsy," added Bruton.
"The fact we can react so quickly to news and events is just brilliant, whereas You has the same lead time as a monthly glossy."
Asked whether she was surprised other publishers had not entered the sector, Bruton said: "It's an expensive thing to do — £16m launch budget, a massive team of top editorial staff. I don't think it will be long until there's a rival, and that will be a good thing."
Grazia has an ABC figure of 169,970.
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