Dillons to quit carrying free publications, but reasoning doesn’t jibe with reports
UPDATED — By the end of this month, Dillons — following the lead of parent company Kroger — will no longer carry racks of free publications in its stores.
However, the reason the chain gives for eliminating the publications doesn’t jibe with what publishers report.
“As many publications have shifted to digital formats, fewer customers utilize these materials,” Dillons spokeswoman Sheila Lowrie said in an e-mailed statement. “These publications are no longer driving customer engagement in stores.”
One of the most-visible publications at the store is Splurge magazine. Of the 20,000 magazines Splurge prints monthly, 12,000 are in Dillons stores.
“Every last one gets picked up,” says president Wendell Funk.
“It’s been a great marketplace for us and a lot of others.”
Funk says he believes people will miss Splurge and say so to Dillons.
“We’re working on it pretty hard right now to figure out a solution,” he says. “They definitely have a good marketplace.”
Funk says he wonders if the publications became a hassle for the chain.
“I understand corporate decisions get made.”
The Active Age monthly newspaper, which has a 55,000-person subscription base, reports that each of its 1,600 copies distributed through Dillons is picked up every month.
The Better Business Bureau distributes 80 percent of its 20,000 annual guides through Dillons.
“We have found that having our information in a major grocery store like Dillons has been great for getting information out to customers,” says Denise Groene, the bureau’s state director.
The guides list accredited businesses, various resources and information on scams.
Groene says she personally uses the racks, too.
“I typically grab something off that rack.”
That might be a magazine or coupon book.
Others use apartment guides and city guides to parks, recreation and golf.
“It was definitely something that caught us by surprise,” says Reggie Davidson, superintendent of the city’s recreation department.
“We’re looking at some options.”
Groene says she’d already been looking at distribution through gas stations, so that’s something that will increase with the 2020 guides.
There are some advertisements on the racks as well, particularly for lawyers, such as Nola Foulston and Brad Pistotnik.
“That was a really good place to do it,” says Foulston’s husband, Steve.
“I hated to see it go, but I’m not going to lose any sleep over it.”
He says television is a better advertising vehicle for the firm, though Dillons was good for supplemental advertising.
There’s one publication that will remain at Dillons, and that’s Vype High School Sports Magazine.
“I think it’s ’cause Vype is such a hyper-local publication that is family-friendly, and you know, we don’t do negative stories,” says owner Mike Cooper.
Also, Dillons is an advertiser in the publication and on its cover.
Of the 10,000 to 15,000 Vypes that are distributed monthly, Cooper says 60 to 70 percent of them are in Dillons stores, and he says there’s an “astronomical” pick-up rate.
“I think they realize that Vype is a publication that is actually bringing traffic into the location,” Cooper says.
Vypes are on their own racks and not with the other publications.
Cooper says Walmart did a similar clearing of its lobby racks years ago but also let Vype remain. Walmart also advertises in the publication.
With both stores, Cooper says, it’s not so much an advertising relationship as it is a partnership.
“That’s probably a big part of the equation, too,” he says. “That’s probably why we get to stay while the others are headed out.”
In a follow-up e-mail, Lowrie responded to a question about whether others, like Vype, might also be able to have a special arrangement to stay in the stores.
“We would be open to exploring opportunities, should it be a good fit for our customers and our business,” she replied. “Those interested should reach out to our customer communications department.”
This story was originally published September 26, 2019 at 11:14 AM.