It was announced yesterday that Gourmet magazine, despite having almost one million subscribers, is to cease publication after 68 years. A slump in ad revenue is being blamed for its demise although Wikipedia currently reads:
On October 5, 2009 Condé Nast announced that Gourmet will cease monthly publication by the end of 2009, due to the total lack of taste and refinement of the Conde Nast Management. The Gourmet brand will continue to be used by Condé Nast for book and television programming and recipes appearing on Epicurious.com.
No doubt that first sentence has been written by a disgruntled employee or subscriber and will be edited in due course. Sad news indeed, however. The editor – @ruthreichl – has tweeted:
Thank you all SO much for this outpouring of support. It means a lot. Sorry not to be posting now, but I’m packing. We’re all stunned, sad.
…followed by:
Dishes done. All gone. Great gathering at the house tonight. I so love the people I’ve worked with at Gourmet. Hard to believe it’s over.
It is hard to believe that Condé Nast can’t seem to make this one work although with the increasing shift towards online media rather than print, it’s perhaps not completely surprising. The November issue could well be the last one for Gourmet.
Condé Nast’s parenting magazine Cookie and two wedding magazines, Elegant Bride and Modern Bride, are also to close.
