Indianapolis Woman sold, entire staff released

The local publisher of Indianapolis Woman has sold the rights to the magazine to a private investment group, putting the entire staff out of work.

Weiss Communications Inc., which has published the magazine for 18 years, announced on Tuesday that 14 employees lost their jobs as part of the asset sale to an unnamed investment group in Indiana.

Terms of the transaction were not divulged.

The company said in a press release that the investment group is working to sell the magazine to a permanent publisher as soon as possible.

The May issue, to be released April 30, will be the last published by Weiss Communications, said John Weiss Jr., vice president of operations, in an e-mail Tuesday morning to IBJ.

“It is unfortunate that we were unable to sustain this single publication,” he said, “but I believe there is a future for Indianapolis Woman.”

The magazine has a circulation of 45,000 and has been profitable, Weiss said, but an “ill-timed” expansion into the St. Louis market took its toll on the local publication.

Weiss Communications launched St. Louis Woman in 2006 and ceased publication in February 2010.

“This cost a great deal of money and created a distraction for our Indianapolis publication,” Weiss said. “We believe the St. Louis distraction affected our ability to transition Indianapolis Woman through a tough economy and changing advertising culture.”

In its press release, Weiss Communications said it worked hard to sustain enough print advertising to continue publishing the magazine, but ultimately chose to “turn the reins over to another group more capable of capturing the growth opportunities.”

Weiss’ grandmother, Mary Weiss, is president and publisher of Weiss Communications.

The publisher has had financial difficulties in the past. In December 2010, IBJ reported that a printing company in northeast Indiana was suing Weiss Communications for $271,196 in overdue printing costs.