Meyer Communications buys Marketplace Publications Inc.

by Melissa Wilson

SBJ Staff

Businesses advertising on Meyer Communications' KTXR 101.3 FM, KWTO 560 AM or KWTO 98.7 FM radio stations now have a print option to serve their advertising needs.

Marketplace Publications Inc., which publishes the shoppers Campus Express and Family Marketplace, was purchased by Meyer Communications Sept. 1.

Former Marketplace Publications owner Jim Glazebrook, who began publishing Family Marketplace in 1988 and Campus Express in 1989, is now an employee of Meyer Communications. He said he sold both publications to allow them to grow.

Glazebrook said Marketplace Publications and Meyer Communications had traded services for years, and Meyer approached him with an offer for the two shoppers in early summer. Both Glazebrook and Meyer Communications representatives declined to disclose the sale price.

"I sold Marketplace primarily from a growth standpoint Ð getting and keeping a good sales staff is difficult and Meyer had a large sales staff in place already for their three radio stations. This purchase also gives both companies the opportunity to offer clients a multimedia approach to advertising," Glazebrook said.

Dan Vaughn, Meyer Communications' manager of publications, agreed and said Meyer saw the Marketplace acquisition as an opportunity to enhance radio advertising with print advertising.

"By combining the coupon books, our Web site and radio ads, we'll be able to offer clients a larger advertising package," Vaughn said. Vaughn also said Meyer will begin offering coupons on its Web site, as well as in the two shoppers, but the company does not plan any major changes within the two publications.

"They've been in existence for going on 12 years now, so we don't plan any big changes inside," he said.

Glazebrook said he will remain the publisher of both publications and will continue to serve as an account executive.

"I'll have a lot fewer duties as far as accounting, purchasing and managing a sales staff go," Glazebrook said. He said the publications' frequency will not change for the time being, but he hopes to increase frequency and distribution in the future for both shoppers.

"There are no immediate plans for increased distribution or frequency, but as we grow, both will increase," Glazebrook said.

Campus Express, which reported a circulation of 22,000 in 1998, is published six times a year and targets students. Family Marketplace, a monthly publication, reported a circulation of 48,000 in 1998 and focuses on single-family homes. Both shoppers are distributed free on racks.

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