What happens when a retail giant who controls 20 percent of magazine newsstand sales drops 1,000 titles from its racks? Untamed terror!

Wal-Mart this week announced the major trimming, dropping the heaviest anvil on Meredith Corp., ousting circulation stunners Better Homes & Gardens and Ladies Home Journal, as well as Fitness. Fellow heavyweight Town & Country, from Hearst, will also disappear, as will Hachette's Home and Metropolitan Home.

The overarching trend, however, is to kick spin-offs to the curb. In Style's kid sister In Style Home won't be stocked, nor will Sports Illustrated for Kids. That, and any magazine aimed at the wealthy, sophisticated, or cultured goes into the trash heap: The New Yorker, W, Saveur, The Economist, BusinessWeek, Forbes, Fortune, and Robb Report.

The celebrity weeklies? They're staying — and will have plenty of new room to breathe.