Million-dollar deal fetches new Branson.com owners

Dee Dee Nilsen

Posted online June 7, 2006 | 11:00 pm

Branson.com, a portal Web site for the city that attracts 7 million visitors annually, has been sold for $1.6 million to a Branson couple and relaunched with a new look.

Branson Hills Realty owner Larry Milton purchased the site with his wife, Lianne, in February and spent several months rebuilding and designing the site, which relaunched May 1.

“We started with just a blank canvas, we didn’t take the old site and make modifications to it,” Larry Milton said. “We took the old site, put it on the shelf, and it is 100 percent new.”

The new site features information about real estate, movie and theater schedules, classifieds, maps, vacation packages and a listing of about 2,000 Branson businesses. Milton said the new site has been “very, very well received” by both locals and tourists.

“We think that’s the first introduction to what Branson is all about for a lot of people, and we take it very seriously,” Milton said. “You only get one chance to make a first impression. It has to be information-rich, and it has to be pleasing and enticing to the first-time person.”

Milton said they chose to buy the site domain because of its value as a unique city.com destination site.

The site, originally registered in 1995, was sold by LEL Enterprises Inc. Branson.com employs five full-time workers.[[In-content Ad]]