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Wednesday, February 3, 2010

One of these things is not like the other

At the beginning of the wave of good magazines going under, a little gem called Cottage Living was the first to go. I was among the many who mourned its demise, and also to receive what publishers Time Inc. thought was a suitable replacement: Southern Living. FAIL.

cottage_living   slocthighres

No offense to the legions of SL subscribers, but a mag that “celebrates the best of life in the South” and where every cover features food instead of charming decor does not fill the void. I would think a better fit would be another sister publication, Coastal Living. Or even Real Simple, both of which have more in common with Cottage Living. And PS, last time I checked, Connecticut was not considered to be in the South. Except maybe if you are in Canada.

Among the most recent publications to hit the skids was Metropolitan Home, one of the last bastions of contemporary design in the shelter mag world. I had hopes that Hachette Filipacchi Media would replace it with its lovely sister pub, Elle Decor:

methome mar09   ED0110-Cover-320x400

Silly me. I received a postcard yesterday welcoming me to my replacement subscription:

methome mar09 February-17-2010_current_issue

Woman’s Day?

FAIL. FAIL. FAIL.

11 comments:

Julia @ Hooked on Houses said...

You've got to be kidding me. They're replacing Met Home with Woman's Day?! I'm sure all the male subscribers really appreciated that. Sheesh.

And I agree--Coastal Living (or Real Simple) would've been much better subs for Cottage Living (RIP).

cheatymoon said...

Eeeek.

cheatymoon said...

Also? that's still in print?

Raina Cox said...

That's so WEIRD. I just received my Met Home replacement notice and it's Elle Decor. Since I already subscribe to ED, the fine print at the bottom of the postcard says I get my ED subscription extended by the number of MH issues I had left. Which I'm fine with.

I would be SO PISSED if I was getting Woman's Day. You should call and complain.

Robin said...

Raina, apparently you won the lottery and I did not.

I was planning on calling tomorrow. Today I have laryngitis and I sound like Barry White. Although if "Barry" called they might understand sooner why I wouldn't want Woman's Day.

essbesee said...

Woman's Day! Is that like Better Home & Gardens? Are they both still in print? And Southern Living makes my butt itch and I'm Southern. Love Elle Decor and Real Simple. Call and complain.

Robin said...

Update: I called the publisher and they were happy to switch me to Elle Decor. In fact, the woman I talked to didn't understand why they would have sent Woman's Day either: "that's not at all similar to Met Home". That's right sister!

Kohli said...

That is nuts! who reads that rubbish? Probably no one and they needed to make some numbers. I was devastated when my Domino was replaced with Glamour... WHAT! Why would that be a good substitute? And what are we all meant to do when there are not decent publications left. My best friend is pregnant and having a horrible time trying to find a decent baby/child inspirational magazine. Apparently if you are not getting married you are SOL in the publication world. Cheers!

Anonymous said...

I actually would rather have BHG.

Fifi Flowers said...

I know what you mean... Domino to Glamour... TERRIBLE exchange!!!

Tonia Lee Smith said...

I know what you mean, I went to the bookstore yesterday to check the magazine racks. It's was pretty sad in the home and garden section. You know what's happening don't you. See we are all reading the blogs now.