Southern Living

What Southern Living does

Southern Living is a privately held American lifestyle media brand founded in February 1966, currently operated as a subsidiary of People Inc., itself an operating business of IAC. The brand publishes Southern Living Magazine and southernliving.com, delivering editorial content across five primary verticals: food and recipes, home design and decor, gardening, travel within the Southern United States, and Southern culture. The company employs 101-250 people, with editorial operations centered in Birmingham, Alabama. Its proprietary Southern Living Test Kitchen has tested over 100,000 recipes, creating a differentiated content asset that anchors the brand's authority in Southern cuisine.

The business generates revenue through five distinct streams: magazine subscriptions (print and digital), direct cookbook sales (over 30 million sold historically), advertising across digital and print platforms, brand licensing (most notably an exclusive partnership with Dillard's for the Southern Living Home Collection and product extensions), and sweepstakes programs. Distribution channels include the southernliving.com website, print subscriptions via magazines.com, Dillard's retail storefronts, live events such as the annual Idea Houses program, and a multi-platform social and podcast presence (Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Snapchat, Biscuits & Jam, Ask Grumpy). The brand reports 252 million annual readers across all platforms.

Strategic positioning centers on editorial authority and community engagement rather than technology differentiation. The company invests in recurring editorial franchises (South's Best Awards, Idea Houses), industry-recognized award-winning content (Webby, Signal, FOLIO, ASME, IACP), and partnerships that extend brand reach (Jones Valley Teaching Farm for community impact, Dillard's for retail licensing). As a subsidiary within People Inc.'s diversified media portfolio, Southern Living benefits from shared corporate infrastructure while maintaining its regional editorial identity and 58-year brand heritage.

Name

Southern Living

Legal name

Southern Living

Website

https://southernliving.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1966

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

101–250 employees

Short description

Southern Living is a 58-year-old American lifestyle media brand covering Southern food, homes, gardens, and travel through a print magazine, digital platform, podcasts, and licensed retail products. It serves 252 million annual readers and operates as a subsidiary of People Inc. (IAC).

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Lifestyle Media Publishing

NAICS

Periodical Publishers (513120), Periodical Publishers (51312)

SIC

Periodicals: Publishing Or Publishing & Printing (2721)

akta.pro primary industry

Food, Cooking & Beverage Magazines (MPAJAEAF)

akta.pro secondary industry

Home, Garden & DIY Magazines (MPAJAEAG)

Keywords

• Lifestyle magazine publishing
• Southern food recipes
• Home decor content
• Gardening travel guides
• Digital media publishing

Headquarters

HQ city

Boone

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Digital Commerce or Content

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Supply Chain

Revenue model

1. Magazine Subscriptions: Print and digital magazine subscriptions sold through the Southern Living website and third-party platforms like magazines.com, with telephone and email customer support.
2. Cookbook Sales: Sale of Southern Living branded cookbooks, with over 30 million cookbooks sold historically.
3. Licensing and Brand Partnerships: Licensing of the Southern Living brand to retailers such as Dillard's for exclusive products including the Southern Living Home Collection, Christmas cookbook fundraiser for Ronald McDonald House Charities, and Mahjong Tile Box Set collaboration.
4. Advertising: Revenue generated from advertising across digital and print platforms, with a media kit available for advertisers.
5. Sweepstakes Entries: Sweepstakes programs that engage readers and generate revenue.

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels12 records

Core offering

Southern Living is a multi-platform lifestyle media brand that publishes a monthly print magazine and a daily-updated website covering Southern food, homes, gardens, travel, and culture. It also produces podcasts (Biscuits & Jam, Ask Grumpy), branded cookbooks, and licensed product collections (Home Collection at Dillard's, Plant Collection), monetized through subscriptions, advertising, licensing, and direct product sales.

Product overview

Southern Living operates as a multi-platform lifestyle media brand offering a unified portfolio of print magazine, digital content, licensed products, and experiential programs. The core offering consists of Southern Living Magazine and SouthernLiving.com, which deliver recipes, home decor, gardening, travel, and cultural content. The product portfolio extends to licensed merchandise through The Southern Living Home Collection at Dillard's and The Southern Living Plant Collection, while editorial programs like the annual South's Best Awards and Idea Houses program reinforce brand authority. Digital media products include podcasts (Ask Grumpy, Biscuits & Jam) and charitable initiatives like the Ronald McDonald House Charities cookbook fundraiser. The company also offers subscription services and sweepstakes promotions.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Southern Living Plant Collection: A plant collection featuring Southern-friendly plants marketed under the Southern Living brand.
• Southern Living Home Collection at Dillard's
• Southern Living Mahjong Tile Box Set

Products and services

• Southern Living Magazine Monthly print lifestyle magazine covering Southern food, homes, gardens, travel, and culture, available by subscription with telephone and email support.
• SouthernLiving.com Website Digital content platform publishing daily news, recipes, home decor ideas, gardening tips, travel guides, and lifestyle content for the Southern United States audience.
• Biscuits & Jam Podcast Weekly podcast about food, music, and Southern culture hosted by Editor-in-Chief Sid Evans; 2022 Signal Awards Bronze Medalist.
• Ask Grumpy Podcast Gardening podcast addressing plant and garden questions from Southern gardeners.
• Southern Living Home Collection at Dillard's Licensed collection of home goods, entertaining accessories, and lifestyle products sold exclusively through Dillard's department stores.
• Southern Living Plant Collection Licensed plant collection featuring Southern-friendly plants marketed under the Southern Living brand, featured on southernlivingplants.com.
• Southern Living Mahjong Tile Box Set Licensed game night accessory product sold at Dillard's as part of the Southern Living Home Collection line.
• Ronald McDonald House Charities Christmas Cookbook Annual Dillard's holiday fundraiser cookbook with Southern Living content; 31st annual edition with proceeds benefiting RMHC chapters; has raised over $16.1 million since 1994.

Quantifiable outcome

• 252 million annual readers across all platforms
• +2 more outcomes

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature1 record

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• Jones Valley Teaching FarmcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 June 2022Established in June 2022, this partnership empowers disadvantaged youth through food education. Southern Living supports the farm with volunteer help from staff, introduces students to opportunities in food media (recipe development, photography, and food styling), and amplifies the organization's mission across its channels.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Garden & Gun: Garden & Gun is a Southern-focused lifestyle magazine covering food, travel, gardens, and culture — overlapping directly with Southern Living's Southern lifestyle positioning and editorial verticals, with similar premium regional brand positioning.
• Coastal Living: Coastal Living is a sister publication under People Inc. (formerly Time Inc.) focused on coastal lifestyle, homes, and travel, sharing the same parent, similar editorial model, and overlapping audience with Southern Living's home and travel content.
• Real Simple: Real Simple is another People Inc. lifestyle brand covering home, food, and organizing, with overlapping editorial verticals (recipes, home design, entertaining) and similar audience demographics to Southern Living.
• Country Living: Country Living is a Hearst-published lifestyle magazine covering country-style homes, food, and crafts, with strong overlap in regional lifestyle content, home design, and rural entertaining audiences.
• Taste of the South: Taste of the South is a regional Southern food magazine focused exclusively on Southern cuisine and recipes, directly competing with Southern Living's food content vertical in the same geographic territory.
• Cooking Light: Cooking Light is a former People Inc. lifestyle food publication with overlapping healthy Southern recipes, food editorial, and audience overlap with Southern Living's Test Kitchen and recipe content.

Broad incumbents

• Better Homes & Gardens: Better Homes & Gardens is a legacy mainstream lifestyle magazine covering food, home, and garden with national reach and decades of brand equity — a direct competitor for advertising spend and audience attention across all of Southern Living's core verticals.
• Martha Stewart Living: Martha Stewart Living is an established lifestyle brand covering food, home, entertaining, and crafts with strong brand extension into licensed products — comparable to Southern Living's diversified lifestyle and licensing strategy.
• Food & Wine: Food & Wine is a leading food and culinary lifestyle publication with recipes, cooking techniques, and travel coverage — directly competing for the food enthusiast audience that drives Southern Living's Test Kitchen content.
• HGTV Magazine: HGTV Magazine is a home-focused lifestyle publication tied to the HGTV cable brand, covering design, renovation, and gardening — competing directly with Southern Living's home and garden content vertical.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/SouthernLiving
• Instagraminstagram.com/southernlivingmag
• TikToktiktok.com/@southern_living
• Xx.com/southern_living

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles21 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Southern Living