Frugal Café Blog Zone

Posted By Vicki McClure Davidson on October 5, 2009

Condé Nast's Gourmet Magazine, Modern Bride, Cookie, Elegant Bride are shutting down because of poor economy

Brace yourselves… this is merely the beginning… more high-end industries, following in the footsteps of Gourmet magazine, will start going belly-up as fewer people have the disposable income to support them.

It’s sad, but inevitable, during this floundering economy.

From CNN Money: Gourmet magazine dies after 70 years:

Downturn and ad drought claim longstanding Gourmet magazine. Publisher Condé Nast announces 3 other closures: Cookie and bridal magazines Elegant Bride and Modern Bride.
By Jessica Dickler | October 5, 2009

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) — Foodies got some sour news Monday.

Gourmet, which has amassed a devoted following over nearly 70 years of publication, will be shut down, publisher Condé Nast said.

The magazine, introduced in 1940, is expected to close by the end of the year.

“I feel like Linus and somebody has yanked away my security blanket,” said Stuart Clifford, 55, who has been a subscriber for 32 years.

For Clifford, the November issue, which may also be its last, holds particular sentimental value. “My brother and I would always grab the November issue and find the featured meal and make a big deal about cooking it. That was our Thanksgiving (meal) year after year after year,” he said.

Even though many fans enjoyed flipping through the glossy pages, popular food shows on television and online sites eroded the magazine’s advertising revenue.

“The magazine industry is in a difficult position generally speaking, it’s losing revenue to online advertising and it’s a tough business right now,” said Richard Dorfman, managing director of Richard Alan Inc., a financial advisory and investment company focusing on the media industry.

Gourmet, which has nearly 1 million subscribers, fell victim to a decline in ad sales and followed a companywide review of magazines.

“The review has led us to a number of decisions designed to navigate the company through the economic downturn and to position us to take advantage of coming opportunities,” Condé Nast CEO Chuck Townsend wrote in an e-mail to employees.

In addition to shuttering Gourmet, Condé Nast said it was also killing parenting magazine Cookie and two wedding magazines, Elegant Bride and Modern Bride.

“In this economic climate it is important to narrow our focus to titles with the greatest prospects for long-term growth,” Townsend wrote.

Roughly 180 people were affected by the news of the four titles closing, according to Condé Nast spokeswoman Maurie Perl.

According to Townsend, Condé Nast will continue to use the Gourmet brand in book publishing and television programming, and Gourmet recipes will still appear on Epicurious.com. The publisher’s other epicurean title, Bon Appétit, will remain intact.

From BuzzMachine, Gourmet, 86ed:

Shocking news this morning that Gourmet, the Talmud of food, is closing – less shocking that Condé Nast is also folding Cookie, Modern Bride, and Elegant Bride, all apparently a case of the other Monolo dropping after McKinsey dug into Condé’s closets.

(Disclosures: I worked in Condé for bits of a dozen years as a corporate online guy. I was privileged to be there when Epicurious was started around Gourmet and the surviving Bon Appetit. When the company bought Modern Bride, I twice worked on its digital presence and strategy. Oh, well.)

When Condé folded Portfolio, I said it didn’t yet presage the death of magazines, only of magazine launches. Well, that “yet” has arrived and now magazines are going to start dropping like newspapers – faster, even, for there’s more direct competition among the slicks.

We will see at least one business magazine go after BusinessWeek is sold. One or even all three of the general-interest news magazines is toast. There’ll be death among women’s magazines. Men’s magazines are already sinking. Showbiz magazines will have more and trouble competing with online (I fear for my baby, Entertainment Weekly). Watch for blood in the trade publishing business as blogs beat B-to-B magazines in service and efficiency.

Magazines as a medium won’t die and when ads come back – or at least stop falling – the survivors will get a gulp of oxygen (AdAge reports that magazine revenue fell 6.9% last year). But it still won’t be pretty.

On the other hand, profits for Dollar Tree, the 99-Cent Only Stores, and similar low-cost stores are still increasing and going strong. Buying used cookbooks (or finding some at the dollar stores) will likely be a more affordable alternative for thousands upon thousands of financially strapped families who are faced with job layoffs and diminished earnings as this economic recession continues.

Tough times demand greater frugality.

Related reading:
Frugal Café: The Stability of the Dollar Stores and the Importance of Grabbing Super-Bargains When You See Them and 99-Cent Only Store Imagination
Current.com: Gourmet Magazine, Others Being Shut Down
Fashion Matters: Gourmet magazine closing, along with Cookie, Modern Bride and Elegant Bride
PostStar.com: Gourmet magazine bites the dust
MediaMemo: Here Are the Condé Nast Cuts: Modern Bride, Elegant Bride, Gourmet, Cookie Closing
Wall Street Pit: Condé Nast to Shut Down Gourmet Magazine After 68 Yrs in Circulation

Categories: Business & Economy, Food, Drink, Media & Communication, Social and Political Climate
Tags: 99-Cent Only Store, Bon Appétit, Condé Nast, Cookie, cooking magazine, Dollar Tree, economic free-fall, Elegant Bride, Gourmet, Modern Bride, recession