After 35 years, Paige Rense Noland will retire as editor of Architectural Digest, Condé Nast announced today. The 81-year-old had been the magazine’s editor since 1975.
In the last few years, she tried to make the iconic magazine more consumer (and advertiser) friendly, plopping stars like Brad Pitt, Jennifer Aniston, Gerard Butler — even Michael Jackson — on its cover.
And with good reason. Newsstand sales have fallen from an average of more than 100,000 copies per issue in 2007 to 70,000 during the second half of 2009.
And Architectural Digest suffered a 50 percent slide in advertising pages last year – or roughly $70 million in estimated revenue — a decline steeper than any other Condé Nast title.
More to read:
Even Architectural Digest Does a Jackson Issue
How Condé Nast Lost $1 Billion
