MANAGEMENT SHIFT: The two chiefs who took over urban music monthly Vibe have now both left the company after less than a year in charge. The magazine said Friday that chief executive officer Eric Gertler would leave to start his own online venture. Gertler took the ceo post when investment firm The Wicks Group acquired Vibe last July, and Ari Horowitz became president. Horowitz and Gertler also managed Black Book Media, publisher of style monthly Black Book. But sources close to the magazine said staffer discontent with both Horowitz and Gertler began the moment they joined the company. Horowitz was pushed out of Vibe in March. Former Meredith executive Bob Mate will step in as chairman, overseeing the day-to-day operations until a new ceo is named. A Vibe spokeswoman said the title would lay off a total of eight people on both the editorial and business sides, but sources close to the magazine said the number could be as high as 25. Vibe and Vibe Vixen group publisher Len Burnett and editor in chief Danyel Smith are still with the magazine. — S.D.S.
LUXURY LOG-ON: Tally up more defectors from magazines to a Web startup, this time one with a luxury bent. Melissa Biggs Bradley, who spent 12 years at Town & Country and launched its travel spin-off before leaving last July, is close to launching Indagare.com, a subscription-driven luxury travel site. Described on the teaser site as having been launched "out of [Bradley's] frustration" with the limitations of travel planning resources, Bradley's offering will be "a club for passionate, like-minded travelers, so you can trade opinions and share discoveries." A full launch is expected at the end of May, Bradley told WWD. Bradley said she had secured funding last fall through venture capital and other investors in New York and London and on the West Coast. She eventually took with her two Town & Country Travel staffers, Eliza Harris and Simone Girner, both of whom previously worked at Departures. (Heidi Mitchell is now the editor of Town & Country Travel.) The site will include their work, as articles by freelancers and "tastemakers" on cities they know well — for example, Vivienne Tam on Shanghai. There will also be user-generated and wiki content.
LUXURY LOG-ON: Tally up more defectors from magazines to a Web startup, this time one with a luxury bent. Melissa Biggs Bradley, who spent 12 years at Town & Country and launched its travel spin-off before leaving last July, is close to launching Indagare.com, a subscription-driven luxury travel site. Described on the teaser site as having been launched "out of [Bradley's] frustration" with the limitations of travel planning resources, Bradley's offering will be "a club for passionate, like-minded travelers, so you can trade opinions and share discoveries." A full launch is expected at the end of May, Bradley told WWD. Bradley said she had secured funding last fall through venture capital and other investors in New York and London and on the West Coast. She eventually took with her two Town & Country Travel staffers, Eliza Harris and Simone Girner, both of whom previously worked at Departures. (Heidi Mitchell is now the editor of Town & Country Travel.) The site will include their work, as articles by freelancers and "tastemakers" on cities they know well — for example, Vivienne Tam on Shanghai. There will also be user-generated and wiki content.
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