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ABOUT US

What Our Advertisers Are Saying...

Almost every day a customer will come in saying “I saw your ad in The Shopper.” We’ve had more success with your paper than with any other ad source.
John & Teri Boudreau, The Vacuum Store

Several people remarked on the coverage of our Harrisville exhibit and said they rely on The Shopper to learn about what’s happening in the region.
Anita Carroll-Weldon, Horatio Colony House Museum

The SwampBats and the Keene Shopper have a 20+ year relationship. They are a voice for our fans who want to stay in tune to all things “SwampBats.” The Shopper delivers over and over in helping market our games, camps, family host needs, birthday parties, etc. They understand our business and are very much a part of our success.
Kevin Watterson, Keene SwampBats

I’m a radio guy and I was skeptical of print. But given the success of the Shopper campaign, no longer.
Jared Goodell, Keene CBD

We have found the Monadnock Shopper to have a incredible hold on the readers of this community. It’s a proven advertising resource. Because of the multiple day reading opportunities. We have been very happy with the Shopper.
Ben Wichland Miller Bros.- Newton

Since I started my business 11 years ago, the Monadnock Shopper News has been a key component of my marketing and local advertising strategy. My commitment has been rewarded by consistent high quality leads that convert into business.
Larry Sportello, Budget Blinds of Keene

For over 25 years, The Monadnock Shopper News has helped our business grow. In addition to promoting Good Fortune Jewelry & Pawn, the Shopper is also our favorite publication to read. We always enjoy the wonderful stories in the paper and feel that the Monadnock Shopper is truly our community’s newspaper!
Roger Weinreich, Good Fortune Jewelry & Pawn

Advertising with The Monadnock Shopper News for the last eight plus years is a big part of our continuous success. Our community understands the importance of supporting local businesses and we can’t think of a better place to invest.
Joanne & Rick Menard, Keene Door

I built my business with The Monadnock Shopper News.
Dennis Flagg Flagg Window Cleaning

We had placed an ad with you for one of our shows in Brattleboro last December, and it proved to be the most successful piece of print advertising we’ve done to date, with roughly 40 people showing up with the coupon in hand. So, thank you!
KT Capelli, EAAE LLC

The Kiwanis Club of Peterborough’s Yard Sale was a very successful sale — thanks in no small part to you! The story and how you placed the article, the second half of the article and then the ad on pages 1, 3 and 5 gave such great impact! Thanks to the Shopper we made over $7,000 on the two days. All of that money will be donated to local children-focused organizations.
Jim Van Valkenburg, Kiwanis Club of Peterborough

Advertising in the Monadnock Shopper News has worked very well for me. I’ve been getting a lot of calls from my ad. When I ask callers how they found me, almost everyone says the Shopper.
Clint Joslyn, Firewood Sales

It has been such a pleasure to work with the Shopper; our representative is attentive and quick to help or think of new ideas & suggestions. We also find that our event participation is lower if we do not advertise in the Shopper. It is a great advertising resource for any organization.
Joy Peterson, The Prospect-Woodward Health Center

Advertising with Monadnock Shopper News was the best marketing decision I’ve made so far! The day my ad and feature story was published my phone started ringing and hasn’t stopped since! Thank you Monadnock Shopper News!
CM Minkler Paving & Painting LLC

I always get great results when I advertise in the Shopper News. This is the third or fourth time I’ve advertised and every time my schedule has filled up.
Mike Beam, MAB Landscapes

I have had a great response to the feature article!! I am very, very pleased how it turned out and the feedback I received. All the way around a great article. So, thank you!
Pam Bruder The Masiello Group

We get so much business from the Shopper. When we ask, ‘where did you hear about us?’, people say The Shopper.
Tina Palmer, Piggy’s Fine Repurposed Goods

You guys are the best! The Monadnock Shopper News has always gone above and beyond my expectations. I’ve advertised every week since 2001.
Chris Croteau, No Job 2 Odd

The latest Pet Pages on January 8th in The Monadnock Shopper News brought us 20 adoptions that week! Thank you so much to all of the sponsors and to the MSN for helping us get the word out about cats that need new homes! It really does make a difference!
Heidi Bourgeois, Monadnock Kitty Rescue and Adoption

The ad has been working great! Most of my customers have mentioned my ad in the Shopper. It’s been a great investment.
Kevin Dean, Jr., K & J Dean

A while ago, I thought to myself: ‘I wish there existed just a ‘happy’ newspaper — and then I realized, ‘We have one! It’s The Monadnock Shopper News! We love it!
Holly Williams, The Toadstool Bookshops

The Shopper does a superb job of publicizing Electric Earth Concerts performances that are presented in Keene, Peterborough, Jaffrey Center, Francestown and Dublin. Their articles and ad designs are top-rate. Highly recommended!
Alison Scott, Electric Earth Concerts

My experience with The Monadnock Shopper has been nothing short of excellent. The team there has gone above and beyond to meet my needs and expand on my ideas. The cover story that Lori wrote was remarkable and truly changed my business. I’m very happy that I decided to use The Shopper for my primary advertising needs.
Adam Colombie, Armor Addict

As soon as we started advertising in the Shopper we started getting phone calls for dumpster rentals. Advertising in The Monadnock Shopper News is why our business has grown as fast as it has. Without advertising in The Monadnock Shopper we would not have the customer base that we do have.
Cheryl Laraba, Dana’s Container Service LLC

Advertising in the shopper and having a story featured about our company helped launch our business! Three months later we are still receiving calls from folks who saw the article and have continued to see our ad. We’re eternally grateful for the Monadnock Shopper and its readers.
Cara Richards, J. Ostroski Carpentry Service

The Shopper is the only paper we advertise in. The front page ad we run…it’s phenomenal what that brings us. It’s hugely effective. Over time, nine out of 10 customers say they’ve seen us in the Shopper. I tell everyone how successful it’s been. As a small business, it’s critical that your advertising to be effective. The feature stories have also driven lots of customers to us. They’ve been well-written and the photos very eye-catching.
Gary Gammans, G&R Autoworks

The Monadnock Shopper News is much more than a free, weekly, community publication. It is a printed source for important news, events, and opportunities in the Monadnock Region and beyond.
Carmen Trafton, The Samaritans

Advertising in The Monadnock Shopper just makes sense to me.
Jen Cormier, Jen’s Fish Market

We've been advertising in the MSN for ten plus years, with excellent results. Our ads and articles always get good responses from the many communities where the Shopper is distributed. We've also been very pleased with how easy it is to work with all the folks at the Shopper. They cheerfully assist us year after year with our tight deadlines, ad design, and our many questions.
Kim and Frank, Hillside Springs Farm

We are so pleased with our ads and the service we receive from the Shopper. We have had many compliments from people about how great our ads look. They're eye-catching and with great color. It has helped our business to grow by reaching additional customers from other locations. We have heard some of them say the only reason they stopped in was because they had seen the ad, and they remembered it while they were in town shopping!
Sue Bentley, The Walpole Village Tavern

Thanks for all that you folks continue to do to make this community such a wonderful place to live and work.
Carmen Trafton, Cheshire Figure Skating Club

When I opened my private therapy practice, I knew I'd benefit from advertising with The Shopper because it's often where I look and learn about new happenings in the area. Diane Stolar (Accounts Executive) was very helpful, accommodating, and flexible with me and my needs and explained my advertising options to me. While I continued to run a weekly ad in the Healing section of the paper, I was thrilled when we decided to run a "mini" article of my business that landed front cover, above the fold. This article generated over 30 phone calls in the weeks that followed. I felt the article and photo genuinely reflected who I am, what I do, and how I do it. I would recommend their services to anyone starting out.
Meg Mayer, LICSW

If it wasn't for the Monadnock Shopper News, my magic business simply wouldn't have as many booking as it does now. If you want to find a way the business and work that you're looking for, THIS IS THE WAY TO DO IT!! Everyone at the Shopper is extremely generous and is just so easy to work with! Keep up the great work guys!!
Ben Pratt, The Magic of Ben Pratt

I want to thank the Shopper for all the new customers we have. It's been the best money I have ever spent!!!! Thank you.
Cheryl Moschan, Brown House Bakery

Thank you guys for the great coverage. The art auction is our biggest fundraiser and it means a lot that you help get the word out. Thanks for being such a great resource of community news, which seems to get overlooked sometimes by bigger papers which cover national news.
Letitia, Stonewall Farm

Thanks Katrina and Michelle for all your help w/our Craft Fair at Bentley Commons. I can't tell you how many people said, "I saw it in the Shopper." Muchas gracias!
Lajla, Artisans Online

Just wanted to let you know that SEVERAL people came to our Lifeline Awareness Day on Friday and brought the Monadnock Shopper ad with them! We signed up a bunch of new people, including family members of staff. Tom and I always recommend the Monadnock Shopper News to people for advertising, because we always get good results. And, of course, I enjoy working with you all! Thanks!
Ms. Barri Wyman, Cheshire Medical Center/Dartmouth-Hitchcock Keene

When Fairfield's and Keene Mitsubishi wants to sell cars, they have turned to The Monadnock Shopper News, the most cost-effective way to reach customers in our market area.
Terry Clark, Fairfield's Pontiac Cadillac Buick GMC

We have used other forms of advertising, but have found the Shopper has brought the best results.
Gary Gammans, G&R Autoworks

The Monadnock Shopper has been an effective way of getting our message out to the Monadnock Region. I strongly recommend The Monadnock Shopper. It works!
Rev. David M. Berman, Christian Life Fellowship Church

HISTORY

By Cami L. Jack

Midway through 1958, Gabriel and Barbara Shakour started publishing a small paper known as The Keene Shopper in an 8x10 room with three desks. The room also happened to be in the basement of their home. Fifty years ago, the “Shopper” was a small publication, containing nothing but advertisements placed by small, local businesses in an effort to improve their profits and educate local consumers.

Fifty years later, you hold in your hands the natural evolution of that tiny advertising publication, a business that has grown up around it, and the hard work and dedication of three generations of employees, family, and local business owners. From that one basement room sprang a weekly community newspaper that’s had its own building since the early 1960s, has increased its circulation from 14,000 in 1958 to 42,000 in 2008, and has gone from three employees then to almost 20 employees now. What was painstakingly pasted together by hand is now created, laid out, and sent to the printer on computers. Today, we publish The Monadnock Shopper News, an evolution in the name brought about by the realization that to serve our readers best, we needed to provide them with news of immediate and local importance, not just the ads for products and services from local business owners.

Just about the only thing that hasn’t changed at this paper is its overriding mission, to support and serve local small businesses. Original publisher Gabriel Shakour was himself a small-business owner (many readers will remember the Keene Drive-In Theater), and knew full well the challenges and rewards inherent in doing business in our “tiny little corner of the world.” Since its inception the Shopper News’ mission has been to be helpful to local business, not adversarial, as a great deal of daily and national media can be. Second-generation Monadnock Shopper News publisher Mitchell Shakour says it best: “We’ve stayed true to helping small businesses in the community. The success of other businesses is our entire goal, and we will do whatever is legal and ethical in the service of that goal.”

“We don’t run negative ads,” he continues. “We want to keep this a family paper, based on the higher, common values that unite the members of this community: God, motherhood, and country.”

While the growth of the paper you’re reading certainly serves as a testament to publishing a quality product that makes local residents happy by providing good news that is useful and necessary, Shakour also points out that the rise of The Monadnock Shopper News is also reflective of the rise of free community papers nationwide. As a member of several regional and national newspaper associations, he can easily quote statistics to prove the growth and value of the industry as a whole, pointing out that there are now more audited free papers in the US than there are audited paid papers, which flies in the face of the conventional wisdom that predicts doom and gloom for print media everywhere.

So thank you, loyal readers, advertisers, and community organizers for supporting the first 60+ years of The Keene Shopper, The Keene Shopper News, and now The Monadnock Shopper News. Thank you to the talented, local writers who submit their columns each month as a valuable resource to residents who love to read about things like the economy, nature, alternative medicine, family, and whatever happens to be timely and interesting. Thank you to those advertisers who’ve supported this paper over years, to allow us to pay the bills to bring The Monadnock Shopper News to its readers. Thank you to the readers who send us their press releases, poems, letters to the editor, and notes to let us know we’re doing a good job. Thank you to the Monadnock Region as a whole, for being the educated, demanding, supportive area that allows a paper like ours to enjoy over 60 years of being “The Weekly With A Heart.”