• by Erik Sass , July 2, 2008

Quick & Simple magazine is no more after this July, according to Hearst Magazines, which said it will close the women's lifestyle, cooking, shelter and crafts title after its July 29 issue. As with other recent print magazine closures, the brand will survive online, with the Web site continuing to post new content.

The closing of Quick & Simple comes shortly after Hearst CEO Victor Ganzi stepped down due to conflicts with the board of trustees about the future of the company. Hearst disclosed few details about the nature of the conflicts, beyond saying the opposing sides could not be reconciled.

Like other magazine publishers, Hearst, a privately held company, faces a challenging transition from print-only to print and digital distribution, made more difficult by the recent economic slowdown. Many of its print publications are struggling. Its consumer magazines saw declines in ad pages during the first half of 2008, with Cosmopolitan down 15.5%, Esquire 9.3%, Marie Claire 5.9%, Redbook 7.6% and Seventeen 5.7%.

Strangely, Quick & Simple was not one of the magazines suffering big drops in ad pages; it had been growing. In the first half of 2008, ad pages were up 53.1%. But the company cited prohibitive costs, including paper and printing, for the weekly magazine.