Independent Ready Made swallowed by Meredith

Meredith Corporation, the Better Homes & Gardens publishing behemoth, has purchased the boutique Berkeley, California-based magazine Ready Made, according to a report in Media Bistro.

Ready Made describes the magazine (which went from quarterly to 6-times a year in 2004) as being "for people who like to make stuff, who see the flicker of invention in everyday objects -- the perfectly round yolk in the mundane egg." It has enjoyed a success out of all proportion to its resources.

Meredith says it will increase the magazine's circulation to 200,000 and keep most of the magazine's operations in the Bay area, headed by co-founders Grace Hawthorne and Shoshanna Berger. As much as it seems a shame for another independent to be absorbed, Ready Made is a good fit with Meredith, which publishes more than 150 special interest publications and nearly 350 special interest one-offs and books related to gardening, crafting and modelling.

That's in addition to its 24 huge consumer subscription magazines: BH&G, Family Circle, Ladies' Home Journal, Fitness, Country Home, Traditional Home, More (which is to launch a Canadian edition next year), Midwest Living, Parents, Child and American Baby.