Time Inc., the publisher of Southern Accents, announced on Thursday that the September/October issue would be the last issue for the 32-year-old publication.  According to Publishers Information Bureau, Southern Accents’ ad pages declined 37%, to 176 pages, in the first six months of this year.

Southern Accents is the latest shelter magazine to face the guillotine.  Earlier this year, Conde Nast closed Domino; others to face the ax in the last two years were House and Garden, O at Home, Blueprint, InStyle Home, Cottage Living, and Country Home.

While the economy is much at fault for the lack of advertisers for our beloved shelter mags, could it also be that the emergence of social media is too taking its toll?  With advertisers opportunities to stretch their dollars farther by utilizing online tools and the online ability to microtarget, could it be that shelter magazines’ only possibility for survival is to also move more substantial efforts online?

We will miss Southern Accents.  As someone who has spent a great deal of her life in the South, it appears to be one of the only luxury design magazines that exemplifies and embraces the beautiful design, ease, and elegance of southern living.