• by Erik Sass  @eriksass1, November 4, 2009

Close on the heels of the announcement of a new round of layoffs, Time Inc. is also closing Fortune Small Business. A spinoff of Fortune magazine, FSB was published by Time Inc.'s Content Solutions custom-publishing division on behalf of American Express. The magazine will cease publication after its December issue.

The news was first reported by Fishbowl NY.

Although FSB's circulation remained stable -- it was sent for free to 1 million Amex cardholders -- it took big hits in ad pages in the last couple of years. According to the Publishers Information Bureau, the mag's ad pages fell 14% from 316 in the first three quarters of 2008, to 271 during the same period in 2009.

The news of the closing comes just days after Vivek Shah, the president of Time Inc.'s Fortune/Money Group, is leaving the company to pursue a new digital venture. Shah headed up the company's successful CNNMoney.com operation before taking over the Fortune/ Money Group in summer 2007. One of his first moves upon assuming overall control in 2007 was shuttering Business 2.0, another Time Inc. business title that fell on hard times.

Time Inc. also recently announced plans to cut 400-500 positions, including 280 by the end of January 2010, according to a separate report in The New York Times.

Altogether the layoffs, buyouts, and associated cost cuts are expected to save about $100 million per year. Last year, Time Inc. cut 600 positions as part of a cost-cutting initiative that saved about $150 million per year. So far, the latest round of layoffs has sliced dozens of positions at Sports Illustrated, Time and People, with many more expected at other publications.

The combination of Internet competition and a broader economic downturn has played havoc with American business magazines. This year saw the closing of Portfolio, an ambitious new business title launched by Conde Nast, and McGraw Hill's sale of BusinessWeek to Bloomberg LP at a bargain-basement price. In February, Forbes jettisoned plans for Mountain Time, a lifestyle magazine targeting executives on the slopes of ski resorts.