Using the latest technology to match businesses to the neighborhoods of newcomers, Our Town welcomes them with coupons and gift certificates.
By SHARON L. BOND
Published May 30, 2004
PINELLAS PARK - A company here connects newcomers with local businesses, including basics such as grocery stores, hair salons, dry cleaners and pizza parlors.
Our Town is an electronic/mail version of the Welcome Wagon, according to its owner.
"When people move, it is a very traumatic experience," said owner Michael Plummer. He should know. He moved 39 times by the age of 40 and thinks Our Town makes the experience a little easier for others.
"The idea is that a business can replace what your mother or my mother would do (and) take over a cake" to newcomers, Plummer said.
Our Town mails newcomers a packet of coupons for businesses in the cities where they've just moved. It assembles the packets electronically. While welcoming new residents, the packet also is giving a business a chance to get new customers. Businesses pay Our Town for the connection.
"We try to help new families by introducing them to good businesses in a positive way," said Plummer, 51.
He grew up in the Des Moines, Iowa, area. His parents had constant money problems that forced the family to move a lot, he said.
Plummer started Our Town in 1972 as a sideline business while he owned a pizza place. He came to Florida in 1990, and Our Town eventually became full-time work. He and his wife, Carolyn, are co-owners of the operation that grosses $5.5-million in revenue per year. Fifty employees work at its headquarters at 3845 Gateway Centre Blvd. Our Town has 35 sales offices throughout the country.
The introduction packet is mailed out four to 12 weeks after a move. It contains a letter of introduction and the coupons, which might be for free cleaning from a dry cleaner or a bouquet at no cost from a florist. The aim is for the business to make a good enough impression for the customer to come back.
"If you are given a free pizza or a free haircut, you will give them a chance to satisfy you," Plummer said.
The number of certificates in a packet varies, according to how many businesses Our Town has in a ZIP code. Its national base totals 5,000, Plummer said.
"We have some ZIP codes where there are 25 businesses and $500 in values," Plummer said.
Our Town brings movers and businesses together by buying names on change-of-address forms that people fill out. It buys about 2-million per month and then purges duplicates. Out of 2-million names, the company will use 500,000, Plummer said.
Our Town accumulates names for a month and then sends the list to its production room. There the computer reads the ZIP code on the mover's new address and pulls all the companies with which Our Town has contracts in that geography. Checks and rechecks are done by the computer to ensure a customer is getting the right coupons.
Plummer said businesses are charged 58 cents per household for the mailings. Recipients do not have to be homeowners.
"It's people who move," Plummer said, "people who buy or lease."
Businesses can choose to send their coupons to homes or apartments, depending on their product. A pool supply business would not want its coupon to go to apartment dwellers, but to homeowners who have or want pools.
Our Town asks customers to rate businesses and sends customer comments immediately to the businesses. If there are too many disappointing reports on a business, Our Town could drop it. It signs up only one of a business category in a ZIP code. For example, Plummer said, if Pizza Hut is on Our Town's list, Our Town won't take any other pizza restaurants.
Plummer just moved the company to Gateway Centre from Central Avenue in St. Petersburg to accommodate the business's new digital technology.
"We have made incredible changes in what we do," Plummer said. The digital technology allows the personalization of packets and ensures that customers get only the certificates for their ZIP code.
