Teen mag Sugar closes

Teen magazine Sugar is to close as focus shifts to its digital sister brand Sucarscape.com.

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Publisher Hachette Filipacchi says the decision was made in response to the “fundamental shift” in the teen magazine market, as teenagers increasingly spend time on the web and mobiles, expecting free content rather than paying for print.

Efforts will be made to redeploy the Sugar print editorial and advertising teams and staff will be encouraged to apply for vacancies within the company.

The final edition of Sugar will be the March issue, published on 23 February. A beauty special will be published on 13 April.

Editorial staff were informed of the closure this morning.

Publisher Rita Lewis says: “While, as publishers, we recognise reluctantly that Sugar magazine is no longer a viable business, we are pleased to be able to continue to invest in Sugarscape.com, which delivers a healthy return, underpinning our decision to focus on the digital platform.”

Since 2000 the teen magazine market has declined by 75%, shrinking from a peak in 1997 selling 2.8m copies a month on average to 494,000 in 2009, according to Hachette Filipacchi.

Sugarscape.com was launched in 2007 and now has 430,000 unique users – a 53% increase on the past year.

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