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Five years after its launch, Elle Girl is shutting down, the first magazine casualty in the once white-hot teen market that has now cooled down considerably.
Hachette Filipacchi Media CEO Jack Kliger told staffers yesterday that following the June/July issue the magazine's print version will be discontinued.
He said the magazine would be continued in digital form on the ellegirl.com Web site and via wireless content.
Christina Kelly, who took over as editor-in-chief last August when founding editor Brandon Holley bolted to become editor of Jane, is not staying with the company.
About 30 staffers are expected to be out of a job, although the company said it would attempt to place as many as possible elsewhere in the company.
When Teen People was launched by Time Inc. in 1997, it seemed to have tapped into a new genre, putting celebrities into the hands of teen girls, who previously had existed on a diet of grooming tips and relationship advice.
Teen People even snared a National Magazine Award for General Excellence, and Elle Girl itself was just tapped as the No. 3 magazine on the AdWeek Hot List for smaller magazines.
Its circulation and advertising were up last year, but so were its costs as the company slashed the cover price to $1.99 and upped its frequency to 10 issues, from eight.
"I was completely blindsided by the news," said Kelly. Asked what she plans to do next, she said, "I have no earthly idea."
But the entire category has suffered as some teens turn to increasingly digital formats while others migrate to the celebrity magazines, which are also beginning to experience their own glut.
"When teen girls are not on the Web, they are on their cells," said Kliger. He said that the company will keep the Web site and "work on Ellegirl ringtones, wallpaper mobile pages and projects in the mobile blogging area."
Copyright 2004 NYP Holdings, Inc. All rights reserved.
