• by John Capone , May 17, 2010

The New York Times asked around, looking for Gourmet's ad rev and readership and found both had largely vaporized. Bon Apetit, which Gourmet readers received to complete their subscriptions, saw only modest readership gains.

Robin Steinberg, senior vice president and director for print investment and activation at MediaVest Worldwide told the Times that Gourmet's ad dollars have not migrated to other pubs, and speculates "they are all competing with dollars being allocated to online epicurean Web sites and soon-to-be iPhone and iPad applications.” With those $10 million dollar campaigns, he may have a point.

And even as Condé claims it has big things in store for the Gourmet brand and Bon Apetit, Leslie Tucker, director for print negotiation at the Richards Group, says, "“It seems like they haven’t done much at all. I really feel like they missed an opportunity."

And while lower-end titles like Everday With Rachel Ray are doing well, their publishers claim it has nothing to do with Gourmet's shutter. The Times is still left with the question of where those readers disappeared to.

One publishing company says it has the answer though.

The Edible publications (niche regional titles focused on sustainability) cheekily suggest that the readers have come to them.