Lear's

{{Short description|American women's magazine (1988–1994)}} {{Use mdy dates|date=March 2025}} {{Infobox magazine | title = Lear's | logo = | logo_size =  | image_file = Lear's Magazine May 1991 cover.jpg | image_size =  | image_alt = | image_caption = May 1991 issue of ''Lear's'' featuring Susan Sarandon | editor =  | editor_title =  | previous_editor = | staff_writer = | photographer = | category = Women's magazine | frequency = Monthly | format = | circulation = | publisher = | paid_circulation = | unpaid_circulation = | circulation_year = | total_circulation = | founder = Frances Lear | founded = 1988 | firstdate =  | finaldate = 1994  | finalnumber = | company = | country = United States | based = New York City | language = English | website =  | issn = | oclc = }} '''''Lear's''''' was a monthly women's magazine, intended for women over 45.<ref name=nyt11>{{cite news|title=Lear's Magazine Is Closed|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1994/03/11/business/lear-s-magazine-is-closed.html|accessdate=November 7, 2015|work=The New York Times|date=March 11, 1994}}</ref> It covered celebrity interviews, women's issues, and many progressive issues. Its slogan was "For The Woman Who Wasn't Born Yesterday".<ref name=kle>{{cite book|author1=Kathleen L. Endres|author2=Therese L. Lueck|title=Women's Periodicals in the United States: Consumer Magazines|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Sld1Jj0jM7cC&pg=PA192|accessdate=7 November 2015|year=1995|publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group|isbn=978-0-313-28631-5|page=192}}</ref> It was published from 1988 until early 1994. The magazine was based in New York City.<ref name="targ">{{cite news|author1=Denny Hatch|title=The Life and Death of Lear's|url=http://www.targetmarketingmag.com/article/life-death-lears/|accessdate=February 14, 2016|work=Target Marketing|date=June 30, 2015}}</ref>

==History== ''Lear's'' was founded by Frances Lear,<ref name=nyt94/> and was designed for readers similar to herself.<ref name="targ"/> Having received a divorce settlement reported at $100 million, Lear could afford to run the magazine the way she wished.<ref name=lat>{{cite news|author=Mryna Oliver|title=Frances Lear; Founder of Women's Magazine|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1996-10-01-mn-49369-story.html|access-date=November 7, 2015|work=Los Angeles Times|date=October 1, 1996}}</ref> The first issue appeared on February 23, 1988.<ref name=lat/>

''Lear's'' was published on a monthly basis.<ref name=nyt11/> Because the magazine carried very little fashion coverage, it did not have a natural advertising base, and potential advertisers had difficulty identifying exactly who the readers were. ''Lear's'' circulation was audited at 503,000 when it closed, with a median age of 45.3.

It was no industry secret that Sheldon Schorr was brought in to wind down the operation. Schorr stated at an industry conference, "''Lear's'' could have been successful if Ms. Lear provided a better marketing and advertising opportunity to the 35–54 women of America." He claimed that "the staff was bloated and Lear wasted more than a hundred thousand dollars every month." He then took less than thirty days to shut the publication down. Although there were publishers interested in taking over, Lear would not permit Schorr to make a deal because her name on cover made her "eternally vested".{{citation needed|date=August 2015}}

When ''Lear's'' closed in 1994,<ref name=kle/> the executive director Evelyn Renold said "A lot of us feel that we have done our very best work at this magazine. We put out a smart, stylish magazine for grown-up women, and I feel there is nothing quite like it out there now."<ref name=nyt94>{{cite news|author1=Deirdre Carmody|title=Why the Plug was Pulled at Lear's Magazine|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1994/03/14/business/the-media-business-why-the-plug-was-pulled-at-lear-s-magazine.html|accessdate=November 7, 2015|work=The New York Times|date=March 14, 1994}}</ref>

==References== {{Reflist}}

Category:Monthly magazines published in the United States Category:Defunct women's magazines published in the United States Category:Magazines established in 1988 Category:Magazines disestablished in 1994 Category:Magazines published in New York City