This week we return to our roots
This week and in the weeks to come, the U.S. Postal Service is once again delivering your Bargain Hunter to your mailbox.
You’ve heard it said, “The more things change, the more they remain the same.”
Sometimes things change yet eventually return, full-circle, to their roots.
This past week we celebrated 45 years of business. In that time Graphic Publications has become AloNovus, and The Bargain Hunter has taken on many different looks and forms, mostly driven by changes in technology, production processes and service providers.
In September 1973, The Bargain Hunter was first delivered to 7,800 mailboxes by the U.S. Postal Service, but for the majority of those 45 years, The Bargain Hunter was delivered-placed in a plastic bag, inserted into a yellow and green box, hung on a hook or door knob, or tossed onto one’s porch or driveway by an independent route carrier.
This week we return to our roots. This week and in the weeks to come, the U.S. Postal Service is once again delivering your Bargain Hunter to your mailbox.
We (you and us) have been blessed by many faithful and dedicated carriers these past decades. To them we owe a hearty “thank you” and a debt of gratitude. The blessing of living in a thriving community during a flourishing economy has become — in a way — a curse, making the route carrier position increasingly difficult to fill, so we do not take our carriers’ dedication for granted, nor did we take this decision lightly.
We wrestled with this decision for quite some time until earlier this summer when external factors forced a quick decision. We lost a vital link in our distribution chain when the vendor who delivered bulk papers to carriers’ homes notified us of their intent to cease that service.
We tried to find a replacement but to no avail. Out of options, we could not allow the level of service to our readers and our advertisers to suffer, so we looked for a way to turn these daunting circumstances into a positive outcome: greater consistency and reliability in the delivery of our paper.
For most this is a seamless transition, but some have expressed concern about receiving their paper on Monday or Tuesday while others received it Saturday or Sunday. This is a welcome change, as now The Bargain Hunter readers in Wayne and Holmes counties should receive their papers in Saturday’s mail.
In addition readers will note that the “broadsheet section,” the larger section in the middle of the Holmes Bargain Hunter, has gone away. Over the years this has been a bit of an experiment for us, and most recently, while advertising in the paper continues to grow, the support within that particular section has diminished. That said, one can now find that news and those advertisers within the regular pages of The Bargain Hunter.
As I reflect over the last 45 years, it is with much gratitude. I am thankful for the opportunity to live in and serve a wonderful community. I am thankful for our dedicated staff and skilled writers that allow us to put out great products and services, day in, day out. But most of all I am thankful for the continued support of our many advertisers who make it all possible and the faithful attention of readers like you.
For we would have no reason to create, no reason to write, no reason to extend our hand in weekly fellowship, were it not for you eagerly waiting to receive our efforts.