MARYSVILLE Plans for The Marysville Globe to expand circulation will be delayed for about a month as administrators finish the challenge of hiring enough carriers to put a copy of the newspaper on each and every door step.
The community weekly will be delivered to as many as 41,000 households in north Snohomish County and circulation workers are tweaking and finalizing the routes for carriers. They are still working to find qualified carriers interested in working one day a week.
The first issue for the new, expanded delivery is scheduled for the Nov. 28 issue, according to publisher Kris Passey.
With the recent acquisition of the Marysville Globe and Arlington Times by Sound Publishing, the papers will have more resources to reach more people, and will be able to carry more advertising and will boast crisp photos and types from a state-of-the-art, multi-million printing press installed at Paine Field in Everett.
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. Direct carrier delivery means the papers wont be hampered by weight restrictions from the mailman, 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 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 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.
Anyone interested in a easy, one-day-a-week job should call Nick Pfeifle, home delivery manager for Sound Publishing. He is hiring additional carriers who will each deliver about 400 to 600 copies, once a week. Carriers need to have a valid Washington state drivers license and proof of liability insurance, and should be able to lift a bundle of papers.
Some routes are so concentrated a carrier could deliver the papers on foot, and carriers should be able to earn between $300 and $500 each month. To find out more, call Pfeifle at 253-740-0031.
The new circulation set up 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 lone 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, 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 what ever reason, Passey added.