Member Profile: The Shelby Shopper
The Shelby Shopper, Shelby, N.C.
-IFPA Member Profile - June 2010
story by Dwight Bitikofer
Greg Ledford graduated from high school in Shelby, N.C. on a Saturday in 1979. By Monday morning, he had embarked on a career of advertising sales. From the houseware and hardware departments of K-Mart, he went to work for the K-Mart ad rep's father, who published the daily paper in Shelby.
"I never had time for any college," said Ledford. "I got ink in my blood. That was all it took!"
Ledford's hometown of Shelby was once a textile manufacturing center. That industry and its jobs have largely moved beyond U.S. borders. Cleveland and Rutherford counties currently have unemployment rates of around 15 percent. Shelby (pop. 19,477) and Forest City (pop. 7549), the towns where Ledford's Community First Media, Inc. publishes its papers, get by on tourism, agriculture, a little light industry and as bedroom communities. Area workers commute to jobs in Charlotte to the east and Ashville to the west in North Carolina and to Spartanburg and Greenville just over the nearby border with South Carolina.
The communities are on Highway 74, a link between Interstates 26 and 85 and a major route to the Smoky Mountains and Atlantic Ocean beaches. At Chimney Rock State Park and Lake Lure resort community in northwest Rutherford County, tourists can relax on lake beaches surrounded by mountains and see where movies like "Dirty Dancing" were filmed. Just east of Shelby, near the town of Kings Mountain, is a famed Revolutionary War battle site from 1780 that played a role in the U.S. winning its war with the British.
Beef and dairy cattle graze green pastures. Lots of soybeans and still a little cotton grow in fields. New agricultural pursuits include vineyards and wineries and thickets of blueberries and blackberries.
Ledford and a friend purchased the Shelby Shopper in 1984, a new publication that had been in print for all of 15 weeks. Though they only paid $4,000, Ledford says it was anything but a steal. The partner bailed after a few months of struggle. Ledford's uncle, Dennis Ledford, stepped in and became a partner.
When his uncle died in 1998, Greg Ledford became sole owner. In 2002, he purchased the Amazin' Shopper in neighboring Forest City in Rutherford County.
That paper is now called The Rutherford Weekly.
The papers are distributed by rack each Thursday at 750 locations in Cleveland and Rutherford counties. The Rutherford paper runs 16,000 strong and averages around 32 pages. The Shelby Shopper tallies 29,000 per week and averages about 36 pages. The papers are available in green community boxes.
The papers carry about 20 percent community news and 80 percent advertising.
Press releases are run from local schools and civic organizations. Obituaries are run at no charge. A photographer and reporter, Milton Andrews, writes "positive local articles of interest." Andrews does a weekly sidewalk survey. He approaches five locals with questions like "What makes you happy?" or "What do enjoy most about the Cleveland County Fair?" Their photographs and answers go into the paper. The questions stay far away from issues that might be controversial.
Contests are a part of the papers' focus on keeping the interest of its readers. A current "Going for the Green" contest includes handing out a $100 check each week to someone observed retrieving a paper from one of the company's green newspaper boxes. A NASCAR contest is also racing for reader attention. Contest winners are photographed and featured in in-house ads for the papers. Football contests are also featured each year.
"These contests not only generate talk amongst our readers, but help generate readers," said Ledford. "Everyone likes to be a winner!"
The company also publishes three monthly Kidsville News magazines in Cleveland, Rutherford and Polk counties. The company is in its fourth year with Kidsville publications. Ledford says the Kidsville News offers community value and a presence that appeals to children. Kidsville's Truman mascot makes an appearance at local community events.
"If we stay focused on children, hopefully we can have them as paper readers in the future," said Ledford.
The Web is a part of that future picture for Community First Media. A newly designed site was expected to be up and running before the end of May. Ledford is hoping to start making money online. A digital edition is already a part of The Rutherford Weekly.
The company has eight employees in sales, six in graphics and five in clerical. Ledford also sells. He says he maintains a weekly log of 15 to 20 accounts. Ledford spends most of his time at the Shelby office. Shelby is where most of his personal client base does business.
"I've got some clients I've been calling on for 30 years," he said.
Cross-selling is also done between the Shelby Shopper and the Rutherford Weekly.
"We saw a turn for the better the first week of March," said Ledford in mid-May. "We've had eight or nine strong weeks after a 24-month downturn. We just had one the best issues in a couple of months. I wish we could have local elections every month!"
Ledford has guided his papers through the economic downturn in variety of ways. He brought in a consultant to work with sales staff members. He sat down with sales reps, some of whom he said had been "fat and happy working 25 hours a week." Ledford convinced them that longer hours and more prospecting were in their best interests. They could no longer simply rely on large car dealer accounts.
Sales meetings are held more frequently. Ledford believes that adding more editorial content has helped readership of the papers. The company has started selling color by the column inch rather than for a flat rate per ad. Ledford said that simple change has done a lot to help company revenue.
Receivables are being watched more closely.
"We've gotten a lot tougher on requiring prepayment," said Ledford.
Classified ads in the papers have held their own, said Ledford. All classifieds run in both papers. Frequency discounts have been added. A 20-word classified costs $7.50 per week. But it can run two weeks for $10 or three weeks for $12.
The papers go to press at about 6 p.m. on Wednesdays. They are printed in Monroe, Ga. The freshly printed papers are back at the offices in North Carolina early Thursday mornings for distribution.
The papers are active in local community events. They sponsor local rodeos, a law enforcement show and the Hilltop Festival in Rutherford County. Kidsville sponsors petting zoos. The company sponsors Shelby's "Alive After Five" summer concert series.
Ledford, divorced for many years, says he is married to his business. He spends time with friends and enjoys Carolina Panthers football games. A publisher friend has a home in St. Croix, Virgin Islands where Ledford enjoys visiting.
"It is a great place to do nothing," Ledford grinned.
Ledford sees a strong future for the free paper industry, especially in rural markets. The need for local content and information remain strong, he said.
In addition to IFPA, Ledford has long been active in the Southeastern Advertising Publishers Association where he received one of SAPA's highest honors, the Herb Campbell Award in 2005.
Writer Dwight Bitikofer is an IFPA director
And publisher of Webster-Kirkwood Times
and South County Times in suburban St. Louis.
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