Miami based Loft Magazine shuts it's doors..

[V. Barbarino]

Loved the Loft parties.... :'(

[barstar diana]

for real, bad one?

[coach]

Originally Posted by Mr

Loved the Loft parties....

I agree. Some of the best. And Nikki is always great. That's really too bad.

[macboy]

Sad to hear. Nikki is was always great to the CJ peeps.

The fact that Loft even survived as long as it did is a testament to is staff. There is only so much room for celebrity fluff magazines in one city, and so many have gone under much quicker in the few years I've been here. Ocean Drive has yet to find a true competitor. The New Times did an article on this subject about 6 months ago, I believe.

I remember reading somewhere in their marketing that Loft was targeted to the affluent Hispanic male. So what can we glean from that?

[Bling]

wow i am very sad to hear this. the loft magazine parties were always classy :'(

nikki always treated me right. good luck nikki in ur future ventures.

[pod]

Don't worry kids, she's coming out on top somewhere real soon now

[nikkki]

Thanks for the support guys!

Sad, but true..... for now LOFT will be shutting its doors.... :'( It's really been a tough and emotional week for our staff...but as the proverb states "All Good Things Must Come To An End"

I have moved on to the industry I love so much... ENTERTAINMENT & FILM! More to come on my new job in a couple of weeks when I begin. For now I will take two weeks to just CHILL which I have not done in a while....

I have to thank the CJ's (Dan V., Saleen, Bling, Coach, Sara D....amongst others) for ALWAYS supporting me, and the LOFT team! :-*

[Electric Eel]

Originally Posted by nikkki

Thanks for the support guys!

Sad, but true..... for now LOFT will be shutting its doors.... :'( It's really been a tough and emotional week for our staff...but as the proverb states "All Good Things Must Come To An End"

I have moved on to the industry I love so much... ENTERTAINMENT & FILM! More to come on my new job in a couple of weeks when I begin. For now I will take two weeks to just CHILL which I have not done in a while....

I have to thank the CJ's (Dan V., Saleen, Bling, Coach, Sara D....amongst others) for ALWAYS supporting me, and the LOFT team! :-*

It was great meeting you last night! Good luck with everything!

[nikkki]

Thank you! ;D Great meeting you too!

Today...on the front page of the Business Section in the Miami Herald:



MEDIA


Publisher of Poder, Loft magazines folds

Venezuelan investors pull the plug on Miami Beach's Zoom Media Group.

BY CHRISTINA HOAG

choag@herald.com


POWER OUT:

Zoom Media Group's Poder, above, and Loft struggled to stay afloat.

Zoom Media Group, the splashy Miami Beach-based publisher of Poder and Loft magazines, abruptly folded this week after its principal shareholder cut off further investment in the company.

''We were shut down, and we were all terminated,'' said Rosa Alonso, group publisher. ``We're shocked and saddened.''

The 5-year-old company's roughly 25 employees, mostly in editorial and advertising sales positions, were told Wednesday they were fired.

''We don't know if the company is being dissolved, sold or what,'' Alonso said.

The sudden decision by Venezuela's Manduca Media, which bought approximately 60 percent of Zoom Media and assumed management control two years ago, stunned observers.

''It was quite surprising,'' said Carlos Pelay, president of Media Economics Group of Fort Lauderdale, which tracks the Hispanic magazine market.

Andrés Mata Osorio, a principal of Manduca, which also owns one of Venezuela's major daily newspapers El Universal of Caracas, did not return an e-mail seeking comment on Friday.

Led by its ebullient and charismatic editor-in-chief, Isaac Lee, Zoom was known as a high-flying publisher. It held flashy nightclub parties plus journalist roundtable meals with guests ranging from Miami Police Chief John Timoney to Univisión anchor and author Jorge Ramos.

It attracted Latin America's corporate elite to its annual Business Forums by featuring headliner speakers such as Colombian President Alvaro Uribe and former U.S. Secretary of State Madeline Albright.

The magazines were also known for no-expense-spared journalism, flying reporters across the globe for stories ranging from new Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa to Afghanistan.

HONORS AND AWARDS

In 2002, Poder won the Freedom of the Press and best cartoonist prizes from the Interamerican Press Association and last month Loft picked up a Charlie award from the Florida Magazine Association for design and a bronze for writing.

Behind the high profile, though, the magazines struggled to stay afloat financially and went through several management turnovers and rounds of financing. Employees said it was on track to finally turn a profit early next year.

''The value of that company is the incredible human capital there and the products,'' said Alberto Peisach, president of Vision Asset Management of Hallandale, which owns 15 percent of Zoom. ``It was just mismanaged.''

Peisach said Manduca Media had not consulted or informed him about the shutdown. ''They made a huge mistake,'' he said. ``I'm very sad this is going on.''

Several major media companies, international and national, had offered to buy Zoom in the past several years but Manduca had not been willing to sell, Peisach said.

In Mexico, Editorial Televisa earlier this year teamed up with Poder's Mexican edition and recently took the magazine biweekly.

OPTIMISTIC OUTLOOK

Lee said he remains optimistic the magazines can be salvaged. ''There are media tycoons that understand the value of a good editorial team and owning a space in the Hispanic market,'' he said. ``The important thing is the people. Talent is mobile.''

The brainchild of Lee and several other Colombian 20-something journalists, Zoom Media set up shop in 2000 armed with $4 million in startup funds from Wall Street venture capitalists and private investors.

Its original mission: to chronicle the Latin American Internet explosion with the magazine punto-com, which means dot-com in Spanish.

A year after the boom busted, the company broadened the magazine's focus to Latin American business and politics and changed its name to Poder, ''Power'' in Spanish.

Spying the mushrooming U.S. Hispanic market, the magazine added Englishlanguage versions for Miami and a national U.S. edition.

Circulation stood at 80,000 in the United States and 45,000 in Mexico, Colombia and Venezuela, according to the magazine's website.

In 2002, Zoom launched Loft as a Latin American glossy men's magazine with fashion spreads and features ranging from sex to santería.

[djjoncowan]

LOFT was an amazing publication. LOFT magazine and especially nikki have always been wonderful to me. thanks for everything guys! chin up nikki, the future is nothing but bright for you.