When we decided to expand into being a daily paper, we really hoped to go old school and lower the prices for at least six months. Sadly, we have to admit, we had our prices about as low as they could go. We had hoped that we could give our community of readers a break for a while, but it appears we have cut things too short and will not be able to keep the special price until mid-year as we had hoped.
It’s really no one’s fault, we had hoped that the new expanded week would take off a little better. And while we are getting a lot of people going to full 6 days per week papers, a lot of folks are holding out. We get it, money is a little tighter, and people want the best value for their money, and we agree. Additionally, ad sales are down again this year, a normal thing, however it has caused a “perfect storm” that threatens to harm our paper. This will not do!
So, for those who bought three month, six month, or one year subscriptions, we will be honoring your subscription, nothing changes until they renew. For folks who signed up for monthly subscriptions, there are some changes. Starting February 15th, retail sales will be going to the old price ($1.25 for Daily, Sunday will be $1.75, and Super Sunday will fall to $2.00). Renewals will be going to the standard pricing if paid in cash or check. If autopay is selected (and the subscriber qualifies for it!) then there is a small discount as we don’t have to manually process payments or renewal notifications. Auto pay will have a special price of $30 per month for monthly full week, as well as some discounts for other options such as Sunday only and Super Sunday only.
Lastly, we will be changing our policy on obituaries. After a lot of discussion, we have decided that Obituaries of less than 300 words will be $10, 300-600 words will be $15, and 600 or more words will be $20. This is per insertion. There are some circumstances that we may waive the fee, however that will be a decision we will make on a case by case basis.
While it breaks our hearts to raise these prices, and to start charging for obituaries, it is felt that these changes will help allow us to continue growing, and to be able to have good staff who share our vision of providing a voice to the community, it’s imperative that we keep the company on a good financial footing!
Author: Andy Anderson
Andy is publisher of Foxys Publishing Co, as well as pressman, ad sales, distribution and sometime janitor. He occasionally makes a wild attempt at writing but quite often is seen running around our offices trying to "Get 39 million things done today..."
