Country Home Closing [Archive] - Forums

RachelB

01-08-2009, 03:29 PM

Wow! In a way I am surprised that County Home is closing and then again I'm not. I used to really like that magazine. They did a great job 2004 - 2006, but I felt like it really went down hill from there. In fact, I have barely flipped through CH when it comes in the mail before I throw it in the Goodwill bin.

Thankfully, I have saved those past issues because there are a lot of houses, recipes and layout ideas that I like to revisit. Sad for Mary Emmerling and the gang. Guess this is a bad time to work for a magazine. Scary. NOW is when I feel like the world is crashing in around me.

My heart goes out to everyone who will be affected by the magazine closings. I hope that all of those talented people will be able to find even better jobs somewhere else.

Nikki

01-09-2009, 11:46 AM

Isn't Country Home published by Better Homes & Gardens? Oh gosh, I hope I don't get THAT as a replacement for my subscription :mad:

At this point, C&B is going to be the only good mag still standing!

Lisa S

01-09-2009, 02:33 PM

I've got to defend Better Homes and Gardens. They're magazine has gotten 80% better in the last year or so. I swear!

RoseMary

01-09-2009, 02:44 PM

I second that, Lisa! A few months agao, when my mom told me she was sending me a subscription to BH&G, I wasn't that happy about it~but it's so much better than it used to be:). I've been enjoying reading it.

I really am sorry to hear about Country Home. I'm starting to feel worried about a lot of magazines.

memmey

01-09-2009, 03:28 PM

Do we know this for sure. Did the info just come form the blog.
Let's ask Clev.

CohenCottage

01-09-2009, 04:27 PM

It's for real...I checked on news sites too...

memmey

01-09-2009, 04:59 PM

Oh my...:(

My neighbor just got laid off 2 days ago from her job at Schlumberger an Oil field company.
This whole situation in our country maybe a WHOLE lot worse than some have estimated.

Rex told me he and his wife are gonna be ok but I feel for all that are losing their jobs.
No one wants to be a doomsday sort but preparing ourselves for leaner days would probably be a good idea.

Are we all gardening this year? Why don't we get together on a garden thread and share some plans. I don't know how to "can" but I found my Mama's canning stuff in her pantry. Is that something I can learn from a thread. Rosemary don't you "can"?

Well goodbye to a very nice magazine. Cottage Living, Country Home what next?

RoseMary

01-09-2009, 05:04 PM

I think that the 'hard times' and gardening thread would be a very good idea. I did some gardening last year, but have so much more to learn. We certainly couldn't make it through the winter on what we grew:eek:. (We need DEB for the gardening thread. Where is she???)

I've never canned~only done water bath type canning for jams and pickles. I think maybe Lisa does canning? I know I need to learn. I have all the equipment.

memmey

01-09-2009, 05:22 PM

Rosemary I thought about looking Deb up in the white pages and calling her. Where is Deb?????? I hope nothing is wrong. She would surely just check in once in a while wouldn't she?

RoseMary

01-10-2009, 07:44 AM

I have been worried about her. It's not like her not to check in every once in a while. I hope she is okay.

Whidbey5

01-10-2009, 08:05 AM

Good morning! I agree the BH & G has improved as of late. I just got a subscription (grrrr-magazine fundraising sales for our middle school) and I was pleasantly surprised.

I've sure noticed some changes in some of my favorite mags. I've read Coastal Living for many years, and the last few issues hold nothing for me. Plus, the very center of each of the last few issues contains pages that are written and presented at magazine content, but at the top it says "Paid Advertisement." Yuck! I don't want text that has been written with the idea that I'll go buy something! And I'm wondering if things are so bad that "Paid Advertisement" pseudo-stories are funding magazines.

I've heard rumblings of Mary Engelbreit's Home Companion going under, but this is unsubstantiated. I did just get the Holiday Edition in the mail...three days ago.

Things are tough everywhere and I'm expecting they'll get tougher.

Shelley

Zuzu's Garden

01-10-2009, 08:19 AM

Ooooo. Sorry to hear about Country Home. :(

Doesn't someone here have Deb's home address? Goodness - we all miss her.

Memmey - Getting started with canning can be expensive if you don't already have the equipment, so hang on to your Mama's canning stuff! What a treasure! I have canned fruit and jellies. You can learn from a recipe book, shared info on a forum (why not share it here - we could ask Clev to start a new thread topic for us), or do what I did and run next door and have a neighbor who cans take a looksee to make sure you are on the right track.

I cannot grow a garden up here because the growing season is too short, but I'm going to pick wild raspberries w/ a friend from work next summer - they grow in abundance about 3 miles from here. Also, I found a website last summer for Pick-Your-Own Fruit/Vegetables (http://www.pickyourown.org/) with state listings of places you can go.

Zu

LindaLK

01-10-2009, 09:02 AM

Good Morning Ladies, :)

Another large publication gone under. Is this a sign of what is to come? If large publictions aren`t making it, then you know there is a problem.
Money and jobs are tight right now. I can tell you that here in my area, people are having their hours cut, there are lay~offs, and jobs are scarce. I myself have been beating the pavement and can`t get work.

I am either over~qualified. Under qualified, or they don`t want to compensate me for what I am worth. Many just aren`t hiring. It is very discouraging to say the least.

I may have to try other options other than being a nursery school teacher. Many parents are pulling their children, and having family members or friends watch their little ones. Enrollment is way down.

I don`t know about where you all live but, there are more and more foreclosure signs going up. Very sad. Have a good day everyone.

Hugs,
Linda :)

Tulip

01-10-2009, 01:17 PM

http://www.thisyounghouse.com/2009/01/goodbye-country-home/

On a side note, thanks for bringing this blog to my attention. What a great design and information site!

CohenCottage

01-10-2009, 09:04 PM

It's one of my favorite blogs!! I'm all over a gardening section of the forum, and we are planning our square foot garden right now!! www.squarefootgardening.com is the best...

cheapdiva

01-11-2009, 05:50 PM

WHAT??!! I'm paid up until 2012 - seriously! What's next? next thing you know, someone will say ER is going off the air!

chyna

01-12-2009, 10:47 AM

Are you being funny? Just asking because ER is ending this year isn't it? Swear there was mention of series ending or something along those lines and that is why all the old charactres are making special appearances. I lost interest in that show awhile ago. You can only promise "a very special" episode so many times before I'm crying wolf. :eek:

Rhonda

01-12-2009, 01:57 PM

I heard that about Country Home a few days ago, too. I received my new "Country Home" in the mail today and feel so sad about it and Cottage Living going away. Those are my 2 favorite magazines that I subscribe to....this is so incredibly sad to me.

Chyna - I'm with you about ER. I quit watching it a season or two ago. The bizarre episodes that skipped around were incredibly frustrating to me. Plus, it had gotten to where it made me so nervous to watch it. I think I must be getting old!! LOL!

chyna

01-12-2009, 03:41 PM

Could be because I haven't connected to any of the new characters. No Carter, no Ross. OK John Stamos' character is hot but that is just a ploy to get us slobbering girls to come back. :p They've got to the point where each episode seemed like a rehash of a previous episode a year or so beforehand.

ChapterTwo

01-15-2009, 10:14 AM

I'm so confused...I know that CL is closing down, along with CH and Mary Engelbreit's Home Companion...but I just received the February issue of Country Living. So I guess THAT issue is their swan song? I had just renewed, so I'm good 'til December '09. HA!
With our kind of magazines dropping like flies, I hope they don't issue me a subscription to Car and Driver, or something like that! :eek:

I think the saddest part is that when the current issues were being written/edited, it's pretty obvious that those working on them were oblivious as to what was ahead.

chyna

01-15-2009, 10:34 AM

I don't think Country Living is folding, just Cottage Living, Country Home and ME Home doesn't have a publisher. I just signed up for a subscription to C&B, hope I'm not the kiss of death for them! :eek: Though I had nothing to do with CH. ;)

ChapterTwo

01-15-2009, 11:41 AM

We need a scorecard to keep track of the magazines that are closing. Tnx, Chyna!

chyna

01-15-2009, 02:20 PM

No problem. I'm considering subscribing to that magazine so I'm just hoping you are confused or I'm going to start thinking I'm the grim reaper of publications!:eek:

ChapterTwo

01-22-2009, 01:58 PM

Today I picked up the February issue of Country Home Magazine...I guess this is the final issue? It's a good one, too, (weren't they ALL?) from what I saw during my quick whirl through the pages. It took so many years for all these wonderful shelter magazines to come into being, and then to become established. What a shame that they're going, one by one...:(

shabbychick

01-25-2009, 12:35 PM

I know that Country Home and Cottage Living have folded, and now I'm trying to find out about Creative Home. I loved that magazine; they had pictures that showed exactly what I was trying to achieve in my home. I can't find it on the BH&G website at all. Does anyone know if it has gone belly up as well? I'm almost afraid to subscribe to anymore magazines now for fear they'll go down (with my money). I was paid up pretty far ahead with both Country Home and Cottage Living and also with Creative Home. I hate to think how much money I'm losing. And like others of you, I'm not interested in BH&G or the other one they offered me, Sunset. I might be willing to sub to Coastal Living, but who knows how long that will last now? It's very sad. Like others of you, my favorite day of the month was the Saturday after my magazines arrived and I could sit down with them for a nice read. I've still got Country Living and Martha Stewart, I guess, and I do learn a lot from Martha, but still, I really miss that cottage focus.:(

ShabbyChick

annielinz

01-25-2009, 01:12 PM

I'm so bummed. I got a note card in the mail saying I'd be getting Sunset in place of my CL. I didn't think I had that many issues remaining. However I had just renewed Country Home and so far no note to tell me what I'll be getting.
Well I got my Sunset yesterday, I mean its an OK magazine, but its no CL or CH. I'm receiving it thru Nov 09, so maybe they put my CH on that too...ugh.

My magazines were my little escape :(

Gigi

01-25-2009, 01:34 PM

Remember I mentioned I received a bill for my CL magazine??? Well yesterday I received a Southern Living sub- for 10.00-- special price...:p

shabbychick

02-15-2009, 07:58 AM

I don't know if anyone's already posted this information, but if anyone's interested, I found Karen Weir-Jimerson's new blog. It's at catcrossingfarm.blogspot.com.

Lisa S

02-15-2009, 09:59 AM

Thanks for the information. I enjoy everything she writes and was wondering where I'd find her again.

shabbychick

02-21-2009, 03:11 PM

So here's something weird. I was told that my last issue of Country Home would be the last, but I saw an April issue of Country Home at the store today. I wonder if they're going to squeeze out one or two more issues for newsstands before they stop entirely.

Lisa S

02-21-2009, 03:16 PM

I hope so!

annielinz

02-21-2009, 03:17 PM

Shabby, I got my last subscription(April's) today in the mail:( with a note telling me the rest of my subscription I paid for will go towards Ladies Home Journal. I'm just going to get cozy and read thru it. I'm just so bummed.

shabbychick

02-21-2009, 07:35 PM

I went to the mailbox this afternoon, and there was my last issue of Country Home, too. At least the editor got to put in a farewell message. How sad. They were going to send me BH&G, but I've asked for a refund instead. I got an issue of Sunset today, too, which I didn't want. I'm not sure what that's supposed to be for.

Lisa S

02-22-2009, 08:20 AM

Me too... I've always loved Cottage Home and that last issue was one of their best. Darn it.

Danske

02-25-2009, 07:36 PM

I'll miss Country Home magazine, too! I have to figure out what I'm going to be getting instead, especially since I'm paid up to March 2012 - slightly maddening...

Maximumsmom

02-26-2009, 08:05 PM

Oh No! Now Hallmark magazine is folding too! And I just subscribed.... Soon no one will subscribe to magazines because they fold and then they "generously" finish off your subscription with a crummy magazine you never would have ordered. As for Hallmark they don't even publish another magazine so who knows what will happen.

chyna

02-27-2009, 08:35 AM

I don't know about all of them getting you crummy substitutes. ME Home Companion is getting me Martha Stewart Living. :) I can't say that about the rest I've got bumped over to though. Now when I renew a subscription and sign up for a new I do get that feeling of should I really do this? It is getting scary to subscribe to anything!

Nikki

02-27-2009, 10:44 AM

I loved this last issue of Country Home. It may be one of the best issues I've ever read :o I absolutely adored Christina Strutt's English cottage.....

Meryl Schoenbaum

02-28-2009, 11:19 PM

For those of you who have enjoyed Country Home, we'd like to suggest that you take a look at Romantic Homes, C&B's much-loved sister magazine, which is very similar in content and quality to Country Home.

Romantic Homes is sold nationwide and in Canada at most of the same locations as CH and C&B: Target, Wal-Mart, Borders, Barnes & Noble, drugstore chains and department stores as well as by subscription.

The magazine is filled with gorgeous full-room shots featuring a wide variety of styles to inspire you; behind-the-scenes looks at shops, boutiques and tea salons; and expert decorating advice from the staff and contributors.

We think you'll fall in love with it! :)

annielinz

03-01-2009, 08:13 AM

Meryl, I do get Romantic home too(yes I am a magazine junkie) and it is a beautiful magazine. I do enjoy most of the pics and articles. There are times tho that some of the pic's are so sweet my teeth hurt!:D Country Home was just such a nice balance. With that said, I have saved every Romanic Home magazine I've received because every publication has something I enjoyed.

cheapdiva

03-01-2009, 10:30 AM

Meryl -

First - what's with the gorgeous men you use as your avitar? I LOVE it (especially George!).

And I agree with Annie about RH sometimes being too sweet!
Thrilled to have you joining us on the board instead of just "lurking" - makes me feel like the magazine is really "listening" to it's readers, members, etc.

Meryl Schoenbaum

03-03-2009, 12:22 AM

Thank you so much for your feedback, Annielinz and Cheapdiva. That's exactly the type of discussion that we envisioned for this particular forum (Magazine Chat).

We encourage you to leave comments regarding the magazine in this thread as often as possible, as that puts us directly in touch with our readers. Rest assured that the editors are very interested in your likes and dislikes. I would just ask that you be as specific as possible regarding your opinions; for example, it would be helpful for us to know exactly what you've seen in Romantic Homes that is "too sweet" for your taste. That will go a long way in helping us take your preferences into account during our decision making.

And since your comments were regarding Romantic Homes, I have some exciting news to share: A forum for our sister magazine just went live today! For those of you who also enjoy that magazine, I hope you'll take a few minutes to post your comments at the new forum:

http://www.romantichomes.com/forums/

Annielinz and Cheapdiva, you may want to bring your previous posts over there so the RH editors can take note of them.

Thanks to all for making this such a happy, lively place to come for a visit! :)

(Oh, and Cheapdiva, thanks for taking notice of "my boys" George Clooney and Hugh Laurie in my avatars. George is really my first love, and I sometimes feel like I'm cheating on him in my current fling with Hugh.) :p

Zuzu's Garden

03-03-2009, 06:44 AM

I haven't seen a RH in some time, because I too thought it was too "sweet". Perhaps I should take another look. I do enjoy Elizabeth Maxon's style (http://elizabethhousestlouis.blogspot.com/) (she is a photo stylist and contributing editor to RH).

Meryl - I noticed that the new RH forum has a topic called Trade You - Swap items and services with the community. Is this something we could also have at the C&B forum?

annielinz

03-03-2009, 07:57 AM

Meryl, I will peruse some previous issues so I can be more specific regarding Romantic Homes. The new issue arrived at my home last night and I quickly went thru it.

Thank you for the heads-up on the new Forums over at Romantic Homes, I did register over there and look forward to participating.

chyna

03-03-2009, 11:05 AM

I like the sweetness of the Romantic Homes. The sugar-y the better. :) sometimes a girl has got to have something just so sweet it makes your teeth hurt. :D

cheapdiva

03-23-2009, 02:39 PM

Meryl- (and everyone else)

So far most of the posting there is "spam" - can you all control the "trolls" that do that? I know over at CL, Rex would nip this in the bud. Thanks!

I don't know about the rest of you but I can generally only handle one of these (wonderful) sites. I have tried the others - and just don't care for the formatting for one thing. Memmey and I both ventured to Country Home and it was a snoozer. Isn't there a way that all of your "sister" publications could be under one banner? I know you all want to promote your own magazines, but if was on one site for all of your publications and saw something mentioned about one of the magazines I don't get, I'd be more likely to check that magazine out. But maybe that's just me.

And I am glad to know you all ARE listening (or reading!). This group will be happy to be specific about what we like and what we don't like. :p This is one tough group - or at least very opinionated!!

chyna

03-23-2009, 03:32 PM

I reported the spammers this morning. we'll see how long it takes for them to remove them. Don't know about you but I was always reporting those idiots to Rex, got to be a game to see how goofy I could be in my message to him. :p

annielinz

03-23-2009, 03:33 PM

Cheapdiva, I tried to report all of those posts this weekend by daier1r, I guess the admin folks didn't see it.

I have gone over to the Romantic Homes site and registered but its pretty dead over there. They need to enlist some of the bloggers that have been featured in their magazine to promote the site on their blogs.

I agree putting sister magazines on one site would generate more traffic for all.

ChapterTwo

03-23-2009, 07:31 PM

I reported the spammer early this morning, too! Strength in numbers, gals...:D

shabbychick

03-23-2009, 08:46 PM

I agree that one forum for all the sister magazines would be nice if they're similar enough in nature to attract the same clientele. So far, that seems to be the case, as we've been able to converse intelligently about Country Home, Cottage Living, Romantic Homes, and Cottages and Bungalows on this website without anyone feeling like the topics are completely not to their taste. I generally don't have time for a lot of different forums, either.

Spammers. Ugh. If there's one thing that will sour a site fast for me, it's having to scroll through spam posts to get to the good stuff.

annielinz

03-24-2009, 03:10 PM

Go to the forum site that Meryl recommended and see if you can get the latest subscription info.

http://www.romantichomes.com/forums/

Nope, just went there and it only takes you to a subscription page, nothing about the current issue

I did check around and they've had lots of spammers there too.