Our very first Shoppers went out in November of 1981. They were printed on yellow bond paper at Great Bridge Press, which I had purchased that June, to be able to print our own publication.
We would named the little magazine The Great Bridge Shopper. We printed several thousand that November, then collated and folded them ourselves. My kids and I delivered the new hometown magazine to every other neighborhood, every other street, every other home. I hoped neighbors would talk to each other about it. They did.
This November, we are mailing 80,000 in eight community editions of 10,000 each. Next June we will celebrate the beginning of our 40th year!
There were many changes over the last decade with publications. We
watched our newspapers and magazines struggle to maintain readership and
advertising.
Why are we still here? Because you, our readers â€" then and now â€" have taken our issues with you when you shopped in a store we advertised, went to a dentist whose story we printed, told Mr. Handyman how you found him in The Shopper. Etc. You did that to help us. It did. It does. Thank you!
We have one advantage
newspapers do not have.
We get to report happy news,
show you photos of neighbors
at play, doing charity,
while loving their work
and each other.
newspapers do not have.
We get to report happy news,
show you photos of neighbors
at play, doing charity,
while loving their work
and each other.
We have one advantage newspapers do not have. We get to report happy news, show you photos of neighbors at play, doing charity, while loving their work and each other. And, we are not obligated to report an accident or any bad news.
We offer a magazine about neighbors wanting to do business with neighbors and connecting the dots. Our readers and our clients are connected to each other and to us and we to all of them. How fortunate we are to live in this great state, in friendly towns and cities, among neighbors who care about each other.
This is the time of year to tell our families, friends and neighbors how much they mean to us.
The guideline is still Do Unto Others and Give Thanks!
Jean Loxley-Barnard has been a writer all her life and studied both sociology and psychology at George Washington University where she earned a B.A. Her company, The Shopper, Inc., encompasses all the Loxley-Barnard family publications - The Shopper Magazines and Doctor to Doctor Magazine. She has been in the advertising, consulting and publishing business for 39 years.
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