Thank you for your interest in Mary Engelbreit’s Home Companion. We sincerely appreciate your support over the last 11 years! We hope the note from Mary and subscriber information below address any questions you may have.
A Note From Mary
Well, friends, by now most of you have heard that Home Companion magazine is not being published. It was a business decision by our licensed publishing partner based purely on the lack of advertising income, certainly not on circulation or subscriber numbers, both of which remained very strong thanks to all of you!
You may have heard of other home magazines closing – Cottage Living, Domino, O at Home, Home, and Country Home, among others. The sad fact is that home magazines are being hit harder than others because of the dismal housing industry – people aren’t able to sell or buy homes, so fewer people are buying flooring, wallpaper, furniture, etc., so those companies don’t feel they can afford to advertise. It’s a vicious circle!
Since we were not a typical shelter magazine anyway, I hope we’ll find a way to offer the exact right kind of ads so that we can revive our beautiful magazine eventually. It hurts me to see so many wonderful houses out there and meet so many great artists and not have a place to showcase them! We WILL find a way!
We WILL find a way – this miserable economy can’t last forever. Anyway, even if times are tough, we still need to see magical things, right? We still need to know there are people out there producing fantastic things, creating warm and cozy places to live and providing us with the inspiration we need to keep going, for crying out loud! I mean, I love House Beautiful, but I can’t make one magazine last all month – we need more! We need variety! We need Home Companion!
We sincerely appreciate all the emails and notes you’ve been sending to let us know how much you love the magazine. I am sorry that because of the sheer quantity we can’t respond to each of them individually, but please know that we are holding on to all of them as testimonials to show to potential publishers what a great audience we have!
If things don’t work out the way I hope, let me say thank you to all of you supporting us so faithfully for 11 wonderful years. And of course, I can’t say enough about Barbara Martin and our amazing staff at MEHC – they’re the ones who scouted, wrote, photographed, planned, traveled, glued, sewed, and designed so you and I could curl up in a chair for an hour and dream.
I’ll miss them and you – let’s not let too much time go by before we get together again!
PS – PLEASE know that although my job definitely won’t be the same without the magazine, I still have a LOT of other exciting projects coming up – books, cards, calendars, fabric, new gift lines, scrapbooking, crafts and more have me very busy. I can’t wait to share them with you – stay tuned to this website to see all the new tricks I have up my sleeve!
Subscriber Information
We have created this page to help you with any questions or issues you may have about your subscription. Please see this press release for more details.
What will happen to my subscription or the gift subscriptions I’ve given?
If you have paid for a subscription for yourself or as a gift and the payment has been processed, it will be replaced with Martha Stewart Living. You should begin to receive it in February. If you have any questions about your subscriptions, an address change, or would like to cancel the subscription and receive a refund, please contact Martha Stewart Living at 1-800-999-6518. If you had subscribed but not yet paid for a subscription, it was not processed, and therefore did not transfer to Martha Stewart Living. We truly apologize for any inconvenience this causes.
Can I still contact Home Companion?
Home Companion’s customer service and editorial phone numbers and email addresses are no longer active, and all subscriber information, so please only contact Martha Stewart Living for questions about your subscription.
Will Home Companion ever be published again?
Mary Engelbreit does retain ownership of the Home Companion name and brand, so we do hope that at some point in the future we are able to secure a new publishing partner to continue to deliver Mary’s inspiring style!
What does this mean for Mary?
Just to nip any rumors in the bud, this definitely does NOT mean Mary is retiring! Since its inception, Mary Engelbreit’s Home Companion has operated as a separate business from Mary’s art licensing company, Mary Engelbreit Studios. She will continue her active schedule of illustrating greeting cards, calendars and books and her company will continue developing licensed products based on her illustrations. The publication of MEHC is near and dear to Mary Engelbreit Studios, but this change will not have a financial or operational impact on the company.
We hope you’ll keep up with us! Mary’s e-newsletter is definitely the best way to get the latest news on events, new products, ideas and free recipes, desktop backgrounds and more. You can sign up to receive the newsletter or update your subscription information on our website.
We also hope to have a brand new website and blog up and running in 2009 to keep you even more informed!
This past year our family was following the strictest budget ever. We had to relocate multiple times, requiring a severe downsizing – I had to part with my collection of Home Companion.
This month was the first time I could treat myself to Home Companion, but I couldn’t find it anywhere. I hoped to sign on & subscribe, even though I prefer buying at the store so all my pages are smooth, no wrinkles! While I understand Home Companion not being published, I’m truly, deeply disappointed. There is no other magazine that rivals yours.
As soon as your magazine makes its triumphant return, put my name at the top of the subscriber list. My family knows that “my magazine” means Mary Engelbreit!
Thank you for sharing your creativity – my Home already misses its Companion…
Sincerely,
Debbie
I’m just checking this site again in hopes that Home Companion is back in print,unfortunately it’s not. It is seriously my FAVORITE magazine,I really miss it!!! There is no substitute out there.I’ve fortunately kept some old issues,but would love to see more new ones. PLEASE bring it back asap.
Thank you.
Yesterday I spotted Country Home magazine in the grocery – if it can make a return, certainly there is hope for Home Companion to return. I so miss your magazine – over a year out – there simply isn’t a substitute for your eye on creativity and your features on the budding artists who inspire us. Please say there is hope!!!
I am still missing your magazine! It was such a wonderful way to escape our stark reality. I have been taking my old magazines by whatever month it is and reading them like they are new. Not the same, but I am so glad I kept all the issues! Still hoping you are able to start the magazine again!
I pulled out my stack of favorite old magazines this morning (I never throw out my favorites)and cruised through my MEHCs. The breath of fresh air, unique decorating was as inspiring as the first time I read them. What drew me into subscribing is every issue had a feature of an artist and his/her work. This is a definte niche that no other magazine explores. I sure hope you come back. If you do, count me as a subscriber again. Keep the focus on unique decorating (you can skip the recipes as everyone does that piece)and DEFINITELY feature an artist and their work. Thanks for a great publication that I’m hoping you can re-introduce in the future. P.S., my nieces loved the paper dolls
Well, one great thing… Your old issues are just as good today as they were when they were published. I really miss the excitment of getting new ones in the mailbox (along with the bills). Miss you, miss you!
I know I am late in the game to be letting you know how much I miss HOME COMPANION magazine. I just retired this year and finally have time to create, but now my biggest inspiration is gone. Please make every effort you can (and I know you will) to bring it back. I do have back issues and several of your books that I can still look to for inspiration. We have a place in the country where I enjoy creating secret places outside for my family to enjoy. I need more ideas. Please come back as soon as you can.
Me too I agree with ” I could just CRY “
Can publish old pages of the old magazines on your web pages!!!???? please !!!!we are having a hardtime without you and really miss thumbing through your magazine no longer. ~ karen h. phx az.
For the past 6 months I have been looking for your magazine on the shelves, I’ve asked multple store clerks and no one seemed to know what had happened, even at barnes and noble. It gave me such an awful feeling…then a friend suggested I look online. and here I found the explanation…I am very saddened. I move around to much to maintain a subscription and I always loved the feeling I would get when I would see a copy of the Home Companion Peeking out at me from the store shelves…my heart would start to beat a little faster and I just knew that when I curled up with the issue Mary would be there with page after page of oohs and ahhs and loads of inspiration. As much as I will miss this (and pray for a resurrection) I am gladdened to find this web site…I can’t wait to explore it!!!
Wow. A few days ago I looked for ME’s Home Companion at the grocery store. No luck, so I went to Target. No luck, so I planned to go to Barne’s and Noble tomorrow. In the meantime I decided to get online and subscribe again but instead read the bad news. How did this get by me? Exactly one year ago this week my Dad was diagnosed with a malignant brain tumor. The year is a blur of hospitals, radiation and chemo visits. By the grace of God he is doing well and we are emerging from the fog. I can get back to mosaics and creating and was excited about the inspiration Mary always provided with her artist profiles. This is so sad. Mary, could you occasionally profile an artist or studio on your web site? And bring back the magazine, please!
ALL OF THE ABOVE!!!!!!!!!! HOPE YOU CAN PUBLISH AGAIN SOON.
Mary, I miss your magazine, it was so authentic and artsy and I treasured every issue. Absolutely my favorite magazine and I dearly miss it and the short story at the very back – sweet joy tear jerkers everytime – loved them.
I could just cry!! It was such a favorite of mine for years.
Please bring the magazine back. I miss it too. Nothing else like it.
I so miss the magazine, there was not another like it. I miss most of all the artist’s homes and studios, they inspired me so often. The best thing was that the homes featured were of people’s real homes, not some trendy idea that a designer had arranged. Now I only have apartment therapy blog to search through for artist’s homes. Because the homes shown in the magazine were authentic and expressed individual creativity, you can look at old issues and still enjoy them, real homes never go out of style. Please bring back the magazine or create a blog just for artist’s homes and studios. Mary, your magazine was an original in a sea of ‘Trendy”
Hello, I am so distressed. Christmas came and went and as I thumbed through my vintage Mary Magazines and all her Christmas books to refresh myself for the season I sorely missed the new ideas the magazine would have offered me. I look forward to the magazine in the future and if not PLEASE more glorious books!
I really miss Home Companion and I sure hope it will be back soon. It was my favorite. Have a Great New Year
Shirley
I sure missed having ME! I have every issure but the 1st one – my neighbour introduced me to your wonderfull magazine and I was hooked in a second!- I had my crazy routine – When I received it in the mail I would not “peek” until I had time to sit and relax and enjoy – I always found time during the day to do that – I would read it cover to cover – I still have all of them in my “art room” tho refer to as they are so inspiring and never out date – Hope to see it back again!
Last spring, when I didn’t receive any more Home Companions in the mail, I checked the newsstand, then went online, only to discover the publisher had pulled the plug. I immediately contacted the publisher telling them what a mistake they had made! Home Companion was absolutely unique! The whole issue was always full of whimsy and inspiration. No other magazine has ever pulled me into its pages the way yours did. I skip over the ads in most magazines, but did read the ads in HC – most of them were unique and creative also. I can only echo what others above have said, that we need more inspiration in these times, not less, and that no other magazine has ever had the same qualities as yours. Its disappearance leaves a huge hole! Thank goodness for my packrat tendencies – have been cleaning out other mags recently, but am hanging on to all HC issues I have. I will be there as a new subcriber when it’s brought back and will gift it to friends and family as well. We have been blessed by your creative spirit, Mary, and your ability to help spark that creativity in all of us. Thank you!!
Wow…..I am slow I guess..I just found out ..no more of my Favorite magazine of all times !!
I will always remember the feel of the mail box
opening and seeing the newest issue…my blood would race…
I still have and will never throw…my first issues ,covered with Mary’s Art…If and when
Home Companion starts anew… I will be there
check in the mail !! Thank you for helping me
through my years of raising children..Because
when Mommy got her Home companion issue it was
a great day !!!
Sincerly ~
Melinda Fisher
Minnesota
I have had a sub. for many years. I have to tell you, I and my daughter are extremely sadden over the ending of many years of hours of true enjoyment. It’s a good thing that I did not give away any of my copies…..