Inc. magazine, long a mainstay of the close-knit Boston publishing world, is headed to the Big Apple.
The small business magazine was founded by Boston entreprenuer Bernard Goldhirsch 20 years ago when he could find no magazine to impart value on how to run his small publishing operation – which then counted a single sailing title in its fold.
He loved Inc. magazine and hung onto it even when other titles in his mini-empire such as High Technology and Business Monthly had been folded.
He finally sold Inc. to Gruner + Jahr USA two years ago for $200 million.
He had tried to interest Time Inc. in a deal where they oversaw the magazine similar to the way in which they manage the American Express Publishing operations for AmEx, but that deal fell apart because he wanted to have his children take over when they were old enough.
Most of the advertising and some of the business operations of Inc. were moved to New York before the sale, but editorial was always based in Boston.
The clearest sign that era would come to an end came when John Koten, a longtime New York-based editor who had left Worth earlier in the year, surfaced as the new Inc. editor.
He replaced the Boston-based George Gendron, who had been at the helm for 20 years.
The magazine is in a major advertising tailspin that is nearting the end of its second year.
Last year, its ad pages plunged 44 percent to 969.28 ad pages, down 45 percent from a year ago while ad revenue dropped 42.7 percent $71.8 million.
This year, through the first three quarters, ad pages dropped 21.8 percent to 549.4 ad pages while ad revenue dropped 11.4 percent to $46 million, down 51.9 percent.
At that rate, some publishing sources said that the magazine can’t possibly be making money.
Inc. publisher Lee Jones said the move “confirms the support Inc. has from the highest level of Gruner + Jahr and Bertelsmann.”
Six editorial staffers will remain in Boston. It’s full staff was slightly more than 20 people.
The move seems to officially signal the end of G + J’s plans to become a big player in the business and finance area as way of rounding out its reportoire to women’s titles such as Family Circle, Fitness and Parents.
David Carey had spent six months as the head of the business information unit which also included the slumping Fast Company, but he left to return to The New Yorker as a vice president.
Scott Crystal, who was most recently in the top business job also overseeing the slumping Fast Company, was axed several months ago when the position was eliminated.
One of the few encouraging signs: circulation was up 3.3 percent in the first half of 2002 to 680,394.