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Courier distribution gets boost from online store locator
by Ashley Johnson
Courier Staff Writer
In today’s society, consumers are all about convenience and how to manage time. Consumers do not have a lot of time and are always on the go so the smallest inconvenience can throw a person’s plans out of kilter.
The New Pittsburgh Courier has found a way to make things more convenient and less time-consuming for its readers. Because of rising gas prices, most people cannot afford to drive all over the city to find a location that carries the newspaper.
On an average, the Courier is distributed to more than 200 locations and nearly 20 news boxes on the street.
With the help of Renaissance News Inc., a publication distributor in the Pittsburgh area, readers will be able to go online and find the stores that carry the Courier.
Readers will not only be able to get up-to-date information, like phone numbers, addresses and store hours. they will also be able to get directions to the location.
“I am very excited about this new opportunity to let our readers know where they can find our publication,” said Stephan Broadus, assistant to the publisher. “We get several calls weekly from people wanting to know where they can purchase the paper. This is just one additional way for them know where the closest location is to them.”
With the decline in readership of newspapers over the past few years, the New Pittsburgh Courier has managed to maintain their numbers and in some areas, increase them. However, Broadus said the Courier needs to do a better job at making the publication available and through advanced technology and better marketing, they will be able to do that.
“Our goal is to double our readership within the next 12 months and I am confident that with the help of the store locator, we will accomplish our goal,” Broadus said.
Renaissance News Inc. currently distributes nearly 20 publications in the Pittsburgh area including the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, USA Today, The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal, just to name a few.
“We are pretty proud of it (the store locator),” Gary Morton, owner of Renaissance News Inc. said.
“We try to work hand and hand with all of our publications,” said John Moskala, Web master for Renaissance News Inc. “We are not only trying to help the publications, but also the retailers and readers. This will help customers find the location in their neighborhood closest to it.”
Morton said that the store locator is helpful because it can help readers locate where to buy the publications, but it also will increase the product sales.
For a number of years, Renaissance News Inc. has worked with the New Pittsburgh Courier. Along with the distributors employed by the newspaper, Renaissance News Inc. also delivers the Courier to various retailers and boxes.
With this new search engine, the various locations will be color-coded on the Web site. The locations that Renaissance News Inc. delivers to will be one color, while the ones that the New Pittsburgh Courier personally distributes will be another.
Out of all the distribution companies in the nation, Renaissance News Inc. appears to be the only company with a detailed search engine like this. Moskala and his company did the research for the search engine and could not find another company with one like this. From the other distributors he talked to, he said the reason that many companies do not have this is because it is such a task to upload the information, verify it and keep up with it.
Morton agreed that by being the only distribution company to have this store locator search engine, it could bring more business to his company.
Once Renaissance News Inc. receives a list of retailers and box locations, they check each address, phone number and in some instances, Web site, to make sure that every detail is correct. And in some cases, their drivers go to various locations to verify the information. After the information is verified, it is then uploaded and ready to be used on the site. Whenever there are new changes, the search engine is updated within 12 hours of Renaissance News Inc. receiving the new information.
“John deserves a lot of credit. He has put a lot of time into this,” Morton said about his employee, Moskala.
If there is a retailer who wishes to add their store to the list of carriers they have the option to either call or e-mail Renaissance News Inc. at info@renaissancenewsinc.com.
With the new search engine, Moskala said that his company will also update their Web site to make sure it is more user-friendly for their visitors and publications.
Readers will be able to access the new search engine through a link on The New Pittsburgh Courier’s Web site, www.newpittsburghcourier.com or by visiting www.renaissancenewsinc.com/storelocator.
With this new search engine, readers will be able to find locations 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
This is just one more example of two companies coming together to make things better for their customers.
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