A new US launch had been expected for some time, but the company said earlier expansion plans had to be put on hold following the 9/11 terrorist attacks and depressed the state of the advertising market.
Time Out Chicago will launch in September 2004 with private investment from Joe Mansueto, who is also founder and chairman of investment information firm Morningstar. Mansueto had been one of the bidders trying to acquire the Chicago magazine.
The Chicago market is one of the most fiercely competitive in the US in terms of listings, with an established market that includes the free weekly The Chicago Reader.
Time Out hopes to confound sceptics as it did when Time Out launched in New York amid predictions that the magazine would fail. Instead it has gone on to become a must-read for New York's hippest crowd.
So successful was its New York title that it forced its biggest competitor, The Village Voice, to become a free publication two years after it first appeared.
The Chicago launch is being overseen by Cyndi Stivers, president and editorial director of Time Out New York, who said Chicago was chosen as it closely mirrors New York in terms of the number of venues and the number of events.
"We help our readers get the most out of their city without wasting their time or money,'' she added. "I think there are plenty of people in Chicago who are ready for that," Stivers told the New York Times.
One of the biggest challenges will be convincing those who pick up titles like The Chicago Reader for free to part with $2.99 for Time Out Chicago.
According to Tony Elliott, chairman of the Time Out Group, further expansion could follow the launch in Chicago but he insisted that the first priority was for the new launch to be a success.
"My first ambition for any of these magazines is they become self-funding and I think we try to make sure our ambitions are reasonable. We would never have thought of doing Chicago if New York wasn't stable," he said.
Elliot indicated that cities like Singapore, Hong Kong and Sao Paulo could be next on the list for expansion after Chicago.
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