MARYSVILLE The Marysville Globe will be expanding its circulation starting later this month, as the community weekly and its sister publication, The Arlington Times, will be delivered to as many as 41,000 households in north Snohomish County.
With the recent acquisition of The Marysville Globe and The Arlington Times by Sound Publishing, the papers will have more resources to reach more people, said Publisher Kris Passey.
As owner of the papers for the last decade, Passey said he had long considered making the switch from delivery via the
U.S. Postal Service to company carriers, which will occur starting with the Oct. 31 edition.
Direct carrier delivery means the papers wont be hampered by weight restrictions from the postal service, meaning more inserts or flyers can be included in the newspapers. Some people dont care for the slick sheets that are the main avenue for mass merchandising by large, national retailers, but most shoppers live or die by the inserts and moving to the new setup will help serve readers better, Passey said.
With the new, larger circulation the weekend Shopper Express will be discontinued and the paper will serve a larger audience, he added.
It just needs to get into the hands of the people who live here, said Passey, a Marysville resident for more than 10 years who will continue to oversee The Marysville Globe and Arlington Times, as well as the Wenatchee and Bellingham Business Journals.
Initially the circulation will span 34,500 homes and businesses and subscriptions will be free to residents of North Snohomish County; distant readers will have to pay for the delivery cost, though. The change means the newspaper will be able to attract national, big-box advertisers such as Target and other chains, many of whom are already advertisers with Sound Publishings other Puget Sound properties.
The logistics challenge is being led by Nick Pfeifle, home delivery manager for Sound Publishing, who rolled out a brand new product for the Issaquah and Sammamish area about a month ago. That meant a completely new newspaper hitting the doorsteps of more than 33,000 homes in a competitive market.
In general the reaction was good, Pfeifle said.
The change means readers wont find the paper in their mailbox anymore, but on their driveway or doorstep, depending on where they live. Condos, apartments and senior living centers have different access rules and carriers might leave papers at the mailboxes or in the office or clubhouse, Pfeifle said. By and large the delivery times should stay the same, as postal delivery to outlying areas was often as late as Thursdays and Fridays for some subscribers. Since adult carriers will be used, readers should see their papers by late Wednesday evening, or early Thursday morning at the latest, Pfeifle said.
Weve wanted to change to carrier distribution for five or six years, Passey
The days of teens delivering papers on their bikes in the early mornings are long gone due to changes in Washington state labor laws, so somewhere between 40 and 80 carriers will be needed to reach the new circulation base with delivery routes of about 400 to 500 customers each. Eventually The Marysville Globe and Arlington Times will have a full-time circulation director to fill Pfeifles role and to help with customer service issues, to monitor delivery conditions and to run a fresh copy out to readers who were missed for whatever reason, Passey added.