Is Town & Country Magazine In Trouble?

Fashion Week Daily is worried about the future of Town & Country magazine. Building on a Page Six report that Hearst has been looking for a new editor to replace Pamela Fiori, T&C's editor-in-chief, Fashion Week Daily speculates that Hearst might close the title entirely. It is true that Hearst has not spent significant money building the T&C website the way they have with other Hearst titles like Esquire and Marie Claire but a Hearst spokesperson told Fashion Week Daily that the website has never been a priority for this particular brand partly because "T&C's affluent audience spends less time online" than the audience for other titles. That seems like a potentially flimsy explanation especially when paired with another quote that the magazine is a subscription-driven magazine with "a very loyal fan base for the print product." Doesn't sound like a title in growth mode.

But there are many reasons that Town & Country can, and most likely will, stay afloat. First of all, the history and tradition. This is a magazine which began in 1846 and has been part of the lives of many generations. More than a magazine, Town & Country has served as a benchmark for the affluent. Its habit of showcasing wealthy and beautiful women has made social careers. Grabbing the cover has been sometimes seen as a socialite's mark of ascension. The magazine also has a significant history with philanthropy. Pamela Fiori was a founding co-chairperson of UNICEF's Snowflake Project. Much of the magazine's content has been not just about shopping and travel but also about the responsibilities of wealth including volunteering and donating as well as points of etiquette. Another good reason for Hearst not to give up on Town & Country would be its ancillary products. The brand has spawned a travel website and wedding magazine. It also publishes a series of books.

Times are tough for any magazine and luxury magazines are more expensive to produce than some other titles. Those lavish photoshoots in exotic locales really add up. Publishers Information Bureau recently reported first half advertising and paging figures which showed that Town&Country fell 43 percent to 429 pages. Rough numbers that landed it on Magazine Death Pool's recent list of magazines in danger (a list that also included Departures, Architectural Digest and W).