Another one bites the dust…
by habituallychic
11 . 09 . 09
Word just came today that Hachette will cease publishing Metropolitan Home magazine after the December 2009 issue. The good news is that this means that they are focusing their resources on Elle Decor. The bad news is that many people will be losing their jobs right before the holidays. I just saw Donna Warner and her editors while I was in High Point so clearly they didn’t know this was coming. It’s so frustrating because it feels like there is nothing left when I go to the newsstand. Clearly everyone loves home design and is clamoring for content so why can’t the publishers make their shelter magazines work?! We already told them that we would be willing to pay more per issue and for subscriptions since advertising is down but seems no one was listening. It’s really a shame. I hope for all our sakes that Elle Decor and House Beautiful can survive!
25 Comments
say it aint so! i know what you mean about magazine choices dwindling on the shelves. i find i keep picking up more and more european (and more expensive) design magazines as they are offering more choices. such a shame.
Why buy a magazine when we can get so much design advice and information for free on the internet? These days most folks don’t have the money to spare to pay more for a magazine. Then again, if they can’t afford the magazine, it’s doubtful they’ll afford the products within it.
How many does that leave?
And it seems to me that that makes Lonny ripe for advertisers and investors. I do like a hardcopy to thumb through though.
That is sad news…
Lonny looks good but I still like to have a cup of tea, curl up on my sofa and read my mags. Too bad.
This is awful! I love Met Home’s sophisticated pieces each month and will miss them sorely!
Oh no … I really enjoyed Met Home!
It is a crying shame that more and more magazines are folding … and like many … have been subscribing for an eternity to numerous interior mags!
I love to sit down and devour each issue when it arrives … sadly we will all be scrolling through the internet!
nooooo! I am running out of magazines:(
I went to Barnes and Noble this weekend to look at magazines and it was slim pickings!
I recently received a notice that Southern Accents Magazine is also going under. It was one of my favorites!
Say it isn’t so! That is/was one of my all time favorite magazines. I subscribed for years – only stopped when I had a baby and just didn’t have time to read it anymore. The ‘baby’ is 7 now and I am just back into reading mags. Well, maybe not since so much of the good ones are going. Thanks for the heads up though so I can get the Dec issue before it’s too late…
When will the carnage end? It seems that since there are so few titles left that they should have plenty of advertisers to go around. I just can’t figure this one out. You don’t see sports illustrated or GQ going under. What gives?
This is horrible news, we have all already complained of the loss of Southern Accents, Domino, Western Interiors and, egad, the legendary House and Garden. In regards to the second comment, while yes there is much information available online there is something extraordinary about viewing a project on paper versus the screen. No doubt about it. Many thanks go out to Metropolitan Home, thanks for many years of inspiration! It was Met Home where I first discovered my desire to work in design and it was a Vicente Wolf project in 97…
oh no! I do feel that although I love blogs (and have my own, so I do really support them!) there is nothing like having a cup of tea and thumbing through the pages… sigh.
the loss of these titles isn’t just a loss to the publishing industry, it severely impacts our industry as well- fewer options for publication means the public is exposed to less varied, thus less interesting designs- meaning they might not be as willing to make new purchases, or try new styles or even hire designers. much as i love retailers like pottery barn, i don’t want their catalogs being the average consumer’s only exposure to design- catalogs should follow trends, not set them, but without major publications illustrating sophisticated and varied design options, i fear that’s where we are headed.
and for the commenter who says there is so much content online, well, you do realize that outside of lonny, none of us are producing our own pictorials? fewer homes published in magazines means less content online too. magazine closings effect each and everyone of us.
NO! This stinks! I JUST renewed my subscription thinking how happy I was they were still publishing and how I so enjoy each issue. Frustration, sadness, disappointment along with other emotions are running through me as I think of how much we have lost in regards to some pretty amazing publications. There is no substitute for the real thing of flipping though a magazine, internet or not, it’s not the same.
Well said Maison21, I totally agree!
Well said Maison21, I totally agree!
This is extremely sad. Another one of my favorites, Southern Accents, printed their last issue Oct/Nov. I had been buying that magazine as far back as I can remember. I feel betrayed, just as I did when Victoria stopped printing several years ago. Fortunately they have returned.
I am with you — if Elle Decor closes down, I will return to my packed copies. Magazines are the only thing I save, and I hear the movers fussing about the heavy boxes, haha!
I love the feel of a book in my hand! I am not giving them up for the internet. Fortunately for me, I have a collection. How can you read the internet while flat on your back?
All of this saddens me and I am not certain that these companies are not using the financial condition of the country as an excuse to downsize.
To you publishing companies — close your internet site before depriving us of our precious pasttime!
Eeeeek! I just subscribed to Met Home after terminating my subscription to ELLE Decor. I couldn’t bare to look at another “tasteful” interior from one of Margaret Russell’s stable. And Met Home seemed to be taking more risks of late. Looks like we’re being corralled into home style hegemony!! Oh well, I guess it’s up to you, Heather, to take us into the new online world of shelter ‘zines..
I really hate to hear this. I too have gone to the bookstore and there really isn’t much to choose from anymore. I love online stuff (I love blogs,I’ve got my own blog for goodness sake) but I really love the feel of flipping through a glossy magazine. What better feeling is there than going to the mailbox and pulling out a new issue? So exciting. Bummer.
this is so sad. Lonny is a great concept but I can’t bear to try to read it online….I would rather read a blog.
Well, in one respect, Met Home was not the finest shelter magazine but its a shame the staff will lose jobs. If Hachette puts more energy into Elle Decor, which is definately needs, this months and lasts issue was the thinnest in memory, and the magazine seems to have started to decline in several ways as well, then that’s one positive. Having forgone AD long ago for its embalmed editorial scope, I usually depend on the old favorite World of Interiors, and even it seems to be heading down hill, its certainly not the magazine it once was! At least we have the internet.
The problem isn’t that people don’t want magazines. It’s that advertisers no longer have the money to pay for the high-priced ads, since consumers are cutting back on decor purchases. A magazine’s cover price doesn’t even come close to being profitable without advertising.
Here we go (again)…