Bad news was in abundance on Tuesday, as the staff of Ellegirl learned the magazine would unexpectedly cease publication with the June/July 2006 issue — as first reported on WWD.com Tuesday afternoon. Hachette Filipacchi Media U.S. will now refocus the brand as a Web- and wireless-only enterprise, with partners Lagardere Active North America and Alloy, a teen marketing firm.
“It was such a great message for young girls,” said one former editor, lamenting its demise. Now that message will mainly be disseminated through ring tones and wallpaper mobile pages, instead of glossy pages — although a spokeswoman said there have been discussions about doing two teen-themed issues of Elle next year.
As of Tuesday, the fate of the magazine’s 60 or so editorial and business-side employees, including editor in chief Christina Kelly and publisher Deborah Burns, was still unclear.
In a statement, president and chief executive officer Jack Kliger said, “It is always unfortunate to have to close a magazine; but today the teen market is increasingly fragmented. To effectively reach these girls, we must invest in the media where they spend most of their time and where we see our greatest growth potential.”
However, “potential” was exactly the word on the lips of many media watchers surprised by Kliger and Hachette’s decision to shutter the magazine. While founding editor in chief Brandon Holley left to run Jane (like WWD, part of Condé Nast Publications) last August, overall, Ellegirl has been a much-needed success story for the often-overlooked-during-awards-season Hachette. The title made AdWeek’s top 10 “Hot List” in 2005. Through the April 2006 issue, ad pages are up 17.9 percent, to 238.06 pages, according to Media Industry Newsletter. Ellegirl was among the top 10 fastest-growing magazines by circulation last year. Newsstand sales, generally looked to as the best sign of a magazine’s health and growth with an audience, were up 21.7 percent in the second half of 2005, to 171,920 copies, following a 23.3 rise in newsstand sales for the first half of last year.
“I’m baffled,” said more than one editor asked about the sudden closure.
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Clues as to Hachette’s motive may lie in comments apparently made during Tuesday’s staff announcement. Said one Ellegirl editor, summing up the meeting: “[Kliger] said we couldn’t have done a better job, but they felt it was basically too similar to Elle proper at this point.”