Their editorial approaches differed, too: a recent Bon Appétit cover line promised “America’s Best Hot Dogs,” while Gourmet ran an article on how restaurant critics would spend $1,000 in their hometowns. Though its sales dropped, Gourmet’s dropped much more sharply in that period, compared with the first six months of 2008. Bon Appétit had higher newsstand sales in the first six months of this year, according to the Audit Bureau of Circulations. Gourmet was smaller than Bon Appétit, with a circulation of about 980,000 versus Bon Appétit’s 1.35 million. This summer, Condé Nast brought in the corporate consulting firm McKinsey & Company to “help in looking at every one of these businesses clinically, not emotionally,” Mr. With a 43 percent drop, Gourmet was among the hardest hit. With the decline in luxury advertising, the company lost about 8,000 ad pages through the October issues, compared with the same period in 2008, according to Media Industry Newsletter. “This economy is a completely different bag.” Townsend, Condé Nast’s chief executive, said in an interview. “In the economics of the ’80s, ’90s and early 2000s, this would be a business decision balanced by the cultural reticence to part with iconic brands,” Charles H. It was an unexpected decision from Condé Nast, which said it closed the magazine because it was losing too much money. In choosing Bon Appétit over Gourmet, Condé Nast reflected a bigger shift both inside and outside the company: influence, and spending power, now lies with the middle class.Īdvertising support for luxurious magazines like Gourmet has dwindled, while grocery store advertisers have continued to buy pages at more accessible, celebrity-driven magazines like Every Day With Rachael Ray, which specializes in 30-minute meals, and Food Network Magazine. For Gourmet’s legion of fans, the loss particularly stings it is the end to a long relationship between readers and the magazine’s depiction of food as exploration. About 180 people will lose their jobs as a result of the four closings. The company will continue with the more recipe-focused food magazine Bon Appétit.Ĭondé Nast also announced it would shut three other magazines: the parenting magazine Cookie and the wedding publications Elegant Bride and Modern Bride. Reichl, formerly a restaurant critic at The New York Times, will most likely leave Condé Nast, though it is not entirely clear, a Condé Nast spokeswoman, Maurie Perl, said. Under the stewardship of Ruth Reichl, one of the star editors at Condé Nast, Gourmet poured money into sumptuous photography, test kitchens and exotic travel pieces, resulting in a beautifully produced magazine that lived, and sold, the high life. Gourmet was to food what Vogue is to fashion, a magazine with a rich history and a perch high in the publishing firmament. Gourmet magazine, which has celebrated cooking and travel in its lavish pages since 1941, will cease publication with the November issue, its owner, Condé Nast, announced on Monday. It’s Rachael Ray’s world now we’re all just cooking in it.
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