Thursday, October 27, 2011

Homemakers magazine being closed by owner Transcon after 45 years

November issue
After 45 years of publication, Homemakers magazine is being closed by its owners, Transcontinental Media. The 2011 holiday issue of the magazine will be its last. The magazine has had Jess Ross, formerly executive editor, as acting editor since the previous editor, Kathy Ullyott was let go in August. The French-language counterpart Madame magazine was closed in February.
According to the most recent (Fall 2011) PMB data, the magazine has over 1.4 million readers per issue as it comes to an end. There was no word on what would be happening to the staff of the magazine (we'd be glad to hear; click on comment, below).
The company said in a release that the profile of the Homemakers readership, was very similar to other women's magazines that it produces, including Canadian Living, ELLE Canada, Style at Home, More and Canadian Gardening. The magazine in recent years followed an "eat well/live well" positioning to distinguish it from Canadian Living.
"While this positioning has resonated well with readers, market conditions have made it increasingly challenging to maintain the current business model", explained Pierre Marcoux, senior vice president, business and consumer solutions group at Transcontinental Media. "After studying several scenarios, we have decided to focus our efforts on developing our core multiplatform brands while pursuing new, innovative publishing initiatives.”
Lynn Chambers, group publisher, said “It has been a tremendous privilege to work with the Homemakers team and I share with them a sense of pride that the quality of content in Homemakers has never been higher than it is today. Given the market changes, we have made the very difficult decision to stop publishing Homemakers and we would like to take this opportunity to thank our very loyal readers and advertisers over the years."
Homemakers began its life as Homemaker's Digest, published by Comac Communications Limited starting in 1966. At first, it was given away in stores, but later it became a controlled circulation powerhouse with as many as 1.2 million copies going into households with women with children under 18 living at home. Under the editorship of Jane Gale Hughes, the magazine became well-known for its relatively hard-hitting editorial, focussing on food, some fashion and lifestyle but also on national issues (and later, international issues under the editorship of Sally Armstrong). Under Hughes's editorship, for instance, the magazine created a successful national campaign to promote daylight use of headlights on cars for safety.
A group of young advertising executives split off from the company and went head-to-head with Homemaker's by creating a digest publication called Recipes Only for several years, before the two were re-merged under the ownership of Telemedia; in turn, Telemedia was purchased by Transcontinental Inc. which explains why there were overlapping mandates between titles such as Homemakers (which lost its apostrophe a few years ago) and Canadian Living. Transcontinental converted Homemakers into wholly paid, with a circulation most recently of 287,000 and also redesigned it in a super-digest format.

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14 Comments:

Anonymous Courtney said...

I'm sorry to see a magazine that has been in publication for so long be closed.

8:41 am  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

It is indeed very sad to see Homemakers close. The strong and dedicated creative team there did some great work there over the years, (despite the fiscal challenges). Onward and upward!

4:56 pm  
Anonymous Bev said...

I am really disapointed that Homemakers is being 'closed'. I have been away for months and did wonder where my 2012 magazines were but now I know--the"Fresh Juice" just arrived in my mailbox and I am VERY disappointed that it is so large--I have enjoyed the small and excellent previous Homemeker magazine.I will decide after reading a few whether I renew my subscription.
Bev

2:44 pm  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Ijust received 'Fresh Juice' - it's not a magazine, it's a shameful advertising vehicle for Loblaws that isn't anywhere near as good as Sobey's FREE magazine with food and recipes. To add insult to injury I have to keep receiving this advertising garbage because someone actually thinks it can replace the kind of excellent stories and journalism that women with a brain actually want to read. Fresh Juice can join all the other girly, foody junk that's out there. I want Homemakers back, and I want my money back for my subscription. I don't want Fresh Juice. But it will appear in my mailbox reminding me of the great loss of a REAL magazine.

8:25 am  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I agree with the previous blogger. Even the cover of Fresh Juice looks like the type of promo magazine I throw out when they turn up in my mail. I especially liked being able to carry Homemakers easily in my purse for trips on the bus or attending appointments.

1:35 pm  
Anonymous Eileen - Winnipeg said...

I felt like I lost a friend when I read the attachment with "Fresh Juice" (which I haven't even bothered looking at)saying Homemakers was no more. How sad - great magazine over the years, great variety of topics / interests. I loved the size and always saved them to read when flying - just the right size and right length to read cover to cover. I plan to try to get a refund cause health food stuff and recipes doesn't cut it for me.

9:49 pm  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I am so sad and disappointed to hear about the loss of Homemakers Magazine. I have been reading it for over 30 years, cover to cover. I loved the size format and the stories were truly inspiring. What a shame they have replaced it with a large format magazine, not even close to the caliber of homemakers. A very sad day for me to learn of this :(

1:18 pm  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I agree with all of the previous comments. I took home a December 2011 copy of Homemakers from the doctor's office last week to remind me of the thoroughly relevant content and exciting format of the magazine I always loved the most. This is a tragedy!!--L. Greenwood

1:13 pm  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

what a shame. It was a great magazine filled with intelligent and inspiring articles. I loved the Christmas /Holiday issues that focused on charity, kind acts and memories of people who had been on the receiving end of kindness. Will never forget those articles or the aricles about women in other countries. Our household got free copy 30 or so years ago and I kept that.copy for the longest time and have read the magazine ever since, a huge thank you to all those who worked there and made such a superb magazine happen. The magazine changed formats recently and I think the old format was better.

5:13 pm  
Anonymous Barb Bombardir said...

I would like to also air my disappointment of the discontinuation of Homemakers magazine. I have been reading since getting my first purchase in the early 80's at a Church thrift store when I was a young mother without a lot of money. I continued to pick these up whenever they came in, and when I was able to actually become a subscriber, enjoy receiving my own copies in the mail!
I'm now a grandmother, and have always found the content in Homemakers to be informative and interesting at every stage along the way.
I will truly miss this magazine, and like the other posters do not wish to receive a magazine called Fresh Juice. It doesn't measure up in any way, and does not interest me in the least!

12:51 am  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

i would agree with all previous posts and unlike Homemakers which I read cover to cover , I found that Fresh Juice did not appeal to me --no interesting atrticles and like others it seemed like a big ad.

12:51 pm  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

My best and favorite recipes are from this magazine. I am amazed that it is gone. The articles were always so relevant and Canadian. I was going to buy a subscription for my daughter. It truly is the only magazine I really looked for besides Canadian Living.

6:59 pm  
Anonymous Christine said...

I just realized that I haven't received a Homemakers Magazine for many months despite having a current subscription. I googled Homemakers to discover that the magazine I loved for years is no more. I didn't clue in that "Fresh Juice" was it's replacement. I took a quick flip through it the first time & quickly figured out it was garbage with tons of ads. I have so many tried & true recipes I will keep forever, compliments of Homemakers. The articles specifically about women were inspiring.
I'm so sad to learn there is no more Homemakers.

1:54 am  
Anonymous Diane said...

I just found out that the magazine has been terminated. I am looking for a recipe for Taylor's dark fruitcake,made with Taylor's Port. I have contacted Taylor in Portugal and they have no recollection of it. Everytime I gave some of this cake away,people asked for the recipe. I have been ill and just returned to a level of health that has brought me back to baking this Christmas and so have lost this recipe. Please contact at ladydi@wavedirect.net, thank you

2:30 pm  

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