• by Gaetano Pollice , March 2, 2009

In January, we reported that domino, in addition to a handful of other magazines, would refrain from publishing another "green" issue this year. Now, just one month shy of its fourth birthday, the shelter title will no longer publish any issues. Twisting the knife even further, its Web site will also cease to be.

Condé Nast announced its decision to end Domino with the March 2009 issue just two weeks after assigning Glamour publishing director Bill Wackermann to the title in early January. At the time, the company stated that Domino's "circulation growth has significantly exceeded the company's original plans." Well, so much for that. "In hindsight, in continued evaluation, perhaps we would have asked to take the last two weeks back," a Condé Nast spokesperson explained to The New York Times. The spokesperson went on to blame the economy for Domino's woes.

No matter how you slice it, the magazine simply couldn't turn a profit. According to Media Industry Newsletter, ad pages for the February 2009 issue sank 51.35 percent from last year's February issue, totaling just 22 pages. All despite a reported rate base of 800,000 - twice that of Domino's original rate base - and a 6 percent increase on newsstands last year.

In this case, popularity and profitability just didn't go hand-in-hand. As Domino bid adieu in a farewell letter on its Web site - "We started with a real idea that style is for everyone," say the editors, who simultaneously shilled for $7,000 "Gustavian-esque" armoires in the February issue, but whatever - distraught readers took to the Domino Facebook fan page to say their goodbyes, as well as to suggest alternate business plans.

"I started a group called 'I will pay triple my subscription price to save Domino magazine,' " wrote a Domino reader from Austin, Texas. "Will this help? I hope so."