Condé Nast’s reorg is in and a number of magazines are getting chopped as the company consolidates properties in its food and bridal divisions. In a staff memo obtained by paidContent, Condé Nast CEO Chuck Townsend said that Gourmet magazine will cease monthly publication, along with Modern Bride, Elegant Bride, and four-year-old parenting lifestyle mag Cookie. As those mags are shuttered, Gourmet’s recipes, book publishing and TV features will be folded into Epicurious.com. In terms of print, foodies will still have Condé Nast’s Bon Appétit. On the wedding titles side, Brides magazine will actually benefit from the loss of its sister mags, as Condé Nast will increase its frequency to monthly publication. No word on how many staffers will be laid off.

Update: About 180 staffers who worked on the magazines will be let go, the Townsend told the NYT. Many will be gone by the end of the week. Additional layoffs remain likely at the rest of the company. Publishers are expected to submit their budget cuts within 10 days, which Townsend said should do it for at least this year. No other mags are expected to be closed, though a few unspecified titles are still considering whether to reduce their frequency.

Reports have been circulating in recent weeks suggesting that McKinsey had been calling for some individual Condé Nast publishers to slash costs by 25 percent. Townsend’s memo also left out any details about the fate of some of Condé Nast’s other titles, such as the men’s style mag Details or Teen Vogue, both of which were considered to be operating on thin ice, along with with Gourmet’s.

From CEO Charles Townsend:
Conversation: Announcing Changes within Condé Nast
Subject: Announcing Changes within Condé Nast

We have now completed an extensive review of our business – an important undertaking given the dramatic changes in the U.S. economy. The review has led us to a number of decisions designed to navigate the company through the economic downturn and to position us to take advantage of coming opportunities.

Condé Nast’s success comes from the ability of our publications to attract readers with a wide range of interests, as well as advertisers who value them. But in this economic climate it is important to narrow our focus to titles with the greatest prospects for long-term growth.

As a result of our review, Brides will increase its frequency to monthly to solidify its position as the most important brand in the bridal category, and Modern Bride and Elegant Bride will close.

Gourmet magazine will cease monthly publication, but we will remain committed to the brand, retaining Gourmet’s book publishing and television programming, and Gourmet recipes on Epicurious.com. We will concentrate our publishing activities in the epicurean category on Bon Appétit.

Finally, Cookie magazine will be discontinued, and resources that had been dedicated to its publishing will be invested elsewhere.

The editorial and business staffs of Modern Bride, Elegant Bride, Gourmet, and Cookie all have earned their magazines large and devoted followings. We have been proud to publish these titles, and we are grateful to the staffs for their hard work and dedication.

These changes, combined with cost and workforce reductions now underway throughout the company, will speed the recovery of our current businesses and enable us to pursue new ventures. In the coming weeks, we hope to announce initiatives to develop digital versions of our brands that will make use of new devices and distribution channels.

Condé Nast is now in its 100th year of creating the most respected and iconic brands in the publishing world. These changes will ensure that our unique publishing company will continue in its preeminent position for many years to come.

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