Hallmark Cards magazine closed

[This post has been updated] Hallmark Cards is shutting down its 3-year-old Hallmark Magazine and associated website, according to a posting on MediaDaily News. The magazines launched in the fall of 2006 and by the current February/March issue (which will be its last) had grown circulation to 800,000. It had seen advertising increase by 30% in 2008 over 2007.

However, despite this, Donald J. Hall, the Hallmark CEO said the company "cannot justify continued investment in the magazine at a time when we must focus our efforts and resources only on those projects that will lead to long-term profitable revenue growth."

[Update: There is an interesting post from Samir "Mr Magazine" Husni about this closure of what is apparently a successful magazine. It adds weight to his argument that the ad-driven model of magazine publishing is dead.]