Big shakeup at Martha Stewart magazines

What a rough week for Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia.

The magazine publisher said yesterday that it will get rid of the newsstand edition of Everyday Food and may also eliminate Whole Living if a buyer for the publication cannot be found.

In addition, MSLO is laying off 12 percent of its workforce, or about 70 people.

As if that weren’t enough, the MSLO headquarters in West Chester, N.Y., have also been flooded in the wake of Hurricane Sandy.

The news came in advance of today’s quarterly earnings call.

Everyday Food, a digest-sized publication, will now be sent to Martha Stewart Living customers as a supplement, and it will print just five times a year instead of 10.

Whole Living, meanwhile, is on the block. If it is not sold by year’s end, its content will also be folded into Martha Stewart Living, effectively eliminating two of MSLO’s four magazines. Martha Stewart Weddings will continue to publish as a standalone.

Lisa Gersh, president and chief executive officer of MSLO, told The New York Times that the changes are due in part to a decline in magazine ad dollars and single-copy sales.
 

Tags: everyday food, hurricane sandy, magazines, martha stewart, martha stewart living, martha stewart living omnimedia, Martha Stewart Weddings, mslo, West Chester, whole living