Rant or Not, Duhe Does it

 By Paul Pannone

An eWedNewz story involving Jim Duhe chastising his competitors, specifically, Condé Nast, struck a nerve among readers that immediately connected with what he said. Duhe’s experience with the Condé Nast culture dates back to the 1970′s when he worked for them.

According to Duhe the Condé Nast culture remains the same. “It boggles the mind that no matter how obvious a topic is they march to the beat of their own drum.” Duhe’s criticism of his competition did not raise reader eyebrows as inappropriate but did raise awareness in a wedding business that seems to have fallen off the track.Reader response includes:

Wendy Hartigan, owner of Affairs of The Heart. “Mr Duhe makes perfect sense! I have to say, most brides buy magazines to daydream and to tear out pages upon pages of unattainable pictures for their “wedding planner”. But, most don’t really forge ahead to seek those things out- they are “inspiration” for their DIY aspirations.. However, what the media doesn’t understand is just what Mr Duhe takes issue with- we can’t survive this business with all the misinformation bombarding brides every day. These emotional decisions, made on very tight budgets, confuse, disappoint and prey upon those who know the least and need the most- the bride. In turn, it leaves many hung out to dry- closing up businesses and struggling to stay alive. Maybe someone should start a movement to create a magazine that REALLY guides a bride through an intelligent and well- informed process without the hype, but with clear and attainable solutions for a perfect day. In the meantime hire a planner! They can alleviate many of the myths and lies and mistakes along the way,” according to Wendy.

eWedNewz has followed the Condé Nast story since they hired McKinsey & Co. to help streamline operations, consolidate redundancies and even shutdown losing portions of the business. Questionable business decisions that included the monthly publication of BRIDES after shutting down MODERN BRIDE in 2009 hasn’t fared well, according to ex-advertisers. Critics said from the start, “They think all that business from Modern Bride will simply shift over to Brides; they don’t realize ads got pulled off the shelf in half the time, where’s the advantage?”

Conde Nast’s new projected home for 2014 is One World Trade Center.

A recent announcement about a deal that will move operations to lower Manhattan could be a chance for the company to turn over a new leaf. According to DNAinfo.com the media giant will move its 18 magazines and 27 websites, with 3,000 employees in all, into lower Manhattan’s 1 World Trade Center’s 21st to 40th floors at the end of 2014 or beginning of 2015. The announcement ended months of speculation but fails to convince critics anything will change. “It doesn’t matter where they’re located, it is a part of their make up and how they approach business. They haven’t yet realized, they are no longer the market or are able to create style, trends and fashion. Like everyone else, they are a part of the market,” according to Jim Duhe.

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