How sad it was for me, a subscriber since Issue #1, to hear that Mary Englebreit's Home Companion, will no longer be published. If you have yet to hear about Home Companion's demise, here is a note Mary left on it's website.
A Note From Mary:
Well, friends, by now most of you have heard that Home Companion magazine is not being published. It was a business decision by our licensed publishing partner based purely on the lack of advertising income, certainly not on circulation or subscriber numbers, both of which remained very strong thanks to all of you!
You may have heard of other home magazines closing - Cottage Living, Domino, O at Home, Home, and Country Home, among others. The sad fact is that home magazines are being hit harder than others because of the dismal housing industry - people aren't able to sell or buy homes, so fewer people are buying flooring, wallpaper, furniture, etc., so those companies don't feel they can afford to advertise. It's a vicious circle!
Since we were not a typical shelter magazine anyway, I hope we'll find a way to offer the exact right kind of ads so that we can revive our beautiful magazine eventually. It hurts me to see so many wonderful houses out there and meet so many great artists and not have a place to showcase them! We WILL find a way!
We WILL find a way - this miserable economy can't last forever. Anyway, even if times are tough, we still need to see magical things, right? We still need to know there are people out there producing fantastic things, creating warm and cozy places to live and providing us with the inspiration we need to keep going, for crying out loud! I mean, I love House Beautiful, but I can't make one magazine last all month - we need more! We need variety! We need Home Companion!
We sincerely appreciate all the emails and notes you've been sending to let us know how much you love the magazine. I am sorry that because of the sheer quantity we can't respond to each of them individually, but please know that we are holding on to all of them as testimonials to show to potential publishers what a great audience we have!
If things don't work out the way I hope, let me say thank you to all of you supporting us so faithfully for 11 wonderful years. And of course, I can't say enough about Barbara Martin and our amazing staff at MEHC - they're the ones who scouted, wrote, photographed, planned, traveled, glued, sewed, and designed so you and I could curl up in a chair for an hour and dream.
I'll miss them and you - let's not let too much time go by before we get together again!PS - PLEASE know that although my job definitely won't be the same without the magazine, I still have a LOT of other exciting projects coming up - books, cards, calendars, fabric, new gift lines, scrapbooking, crafts and more have me very busy. I can't wait to share them with you - stay tuned to this website to see all the new tricks I have up my sleeve!
I subscribed to Country Home which has also ceased publication. I am fearful that some of my other favorites will follow suit. I find it sad, as the media has reported, that so many no longer read home magazines simply because they can not afford to buy a new home or re do their existing home in today's economy. As a military family we moved often over 27 years and I was not able to really begin to put my stamp on a home until recently. But it was my favorite magazines that helped me dream and plan for a future house. How sad that some will never experience that joy or learn how sweet planning and waiting can be.
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Farewell ME's Home Companion and Country Home. Thank you for the hours of joy, the countless ideas and for helping me dream...
Love and Hugs,
Susie Q
