Cargo to fold: it seemed like a good idea at the time

The shopping magazine for men, Cargo, is to cease publication with its May issue. Charles H. Townsend, the President and CEO of Condé Nast Publications said on Monday: "This was a difficult decision. Although initial readership and advertising response were encouraging, we now believe the market will not support our business expectations."

Cargo was launched in March of 2004 on a wave of enthusiasm engendered by the runaway success of Lucky magazine. Its initial ratebase was 300,000 and its current ratebase is 400,000 and the idea never really caught fire. Sceptics had said that men may like to shop (not) but wouldn't like to read about it. Apparently, the sceptics were right.

Subscribers will receive GQ magazine for the remainder of their subscriptions.

UPDATE: Some media buyers expressed surprise -- that the ad pages had been respectable, if not stellar. One of the speculations was that the increasing number of men's or "lad" books were already doing much of what Cargo was trying to claim for itself. To read more, from Media Post, go here.