HELEN Magazine ends its run

LAFAYETTE, Ind. (WLFI) - When HELEN Magazine came on to the scene in May 2006, it offered women in Greater Lafayette a place to learn about other women and issues that mattered to them. But after more than 30 issues, editor Sharon Martin said the magazine is coming to an end.

"It was a very, very tough decision. It was both business and personal but the bottom line was we gave it six months to turn it around and in those 6 months we saw a very small blip on the graph but not enough to sustain it," she said.

As other publications folded, Martin said she tried to keep HELEN afloat. But ad sales steadily declined for two years.

"Last year we saw a $50,000 loss and that's huge for us. We are small, small business with a two-women shop and that was a lot of money to lose," she said.

While the magazine will no longer be printed, the non-profit HELEN Inc. will continue and undergo a restructuring.

"The great thing is that out of HELEN Magazine came HELEN Inc., a non-profit. The beauty of that is that we were able to bring women together and network and celebrate our successes and discuss our challenges and more things forward and make a difference in the community," she said.

Martin said she is going to take some time, listen to members and figure out the future of HELEN. But for now, it's time to figure out a new direction and bring more women into the fold.

"Although the magazine that shared those stories in print won't be published anymore we are still going to be able to do events and programs that bring women together," she said.

She said the goal of HELEN has always been to do some good and have a lot of fun.

"Over the last five years we have certainly done that. We've done a lot of good and we've had a lot of fun and for me that is the hard part about walking away. I don't want to miss out on the good that we have done but I'm certainly going to miss the fun," she said.

For more information click here  www.helenmagazine.com/ or contact HELEN at info@helenmagazine.com.