But in October 2003, Sabot sold the business to AIM, which is based in El Segundo, Calif., near Los Angeles.

The magazines’ nine staff members have known about the relocation since November, but it won’t happen until April or May. Weaver says she and Design Director Bill McKenney will move to California.

Richmond-based Managing Editor Carla Davis, Senior Contributor Alan Pell Crawford and Contributing Editor Mary Margaret Chappell — a restaurant critic for Style Weekly — are among the employees who plan to stay here.

“As much as I love the magazine, I feel like it would be a good time to try something new,” says Davis, who signed on with the company three years ago after leaving Richmond Magazine. She’s still considering options, she says.

Weaver, who says she’s been called “the magazine doctor,” joined the company under its new ownership to help Vegetarian Times relaunch in November 2004. The magazine has reduced its circulation from 250,000 to 210,000, increased its size and paper quality, upped and simplified its recipes, and added hard news with nitty-gritty content about environmental concerns.

Weaver is looking forward to the move and the warm weather, she said last week in the midst of Richmond snowfalls. “It’s 80 out there.”

She plans to continue some relationships with the editorial and production staff she worked with in Richmond and Washington, D.C. Chappell and Crawford, for example, will continue freelancing for the magazines. “We’re taking the business with us,” she says, “but we’re keeping our roots.”

The magazines will continue to follow Richmond-area food developments and Southern cuisine, Weaver says. This won’t be hard because “at this point in time,” Weaver says, “everything is everywhere. It’s changed the way we eat.” — Jason Roop