VALENCIA, Calif. (BRAIN) — H3 Publications owner Dave House has closed down industry titles Decline and Road after a 13-year run. The staff of six employees at H3's headquarters in Southern California were let go Tuesday morning, sources said.
Calls and an email to House seeking comment were not returned this week.
Both Decline and Road had recently transitioned to a digital-only format, with the November/December issues as their last print editions. Both titles published three digital-only editions, including their annual Buyer's Guides. The March 2017 issues were their last.
House's roots in industry publishing date back to 1980, when he began selling ad space for SuperBMX magazine. He later served as publisher of Mountain Biking magazine before co-founding H3 in 2003, launching Road, TwentyBMX and gravity-fueled mountain bike title Decline.
House was inducted into the Mountain Bike Hall of Fame in 2012.
Road editor Andrew Juiliano told BRAIN he appreciated the opportunity that House and his wife, Christine, H3's office manager, gave him at the company, where he worked for three years.
"It was my first full-time editorial job. I freelanced before that, but they gave me a chance to work in the bike industry and the magazine industry, and those are two things I'm real passionate about. That's something I'll forever be grateful to them for," he said.