Free inaugural issue set for Sept. 1

46,238

Remember that number.

On Sept. 1, if all goes according to plan, that's how many residences in Randolph County will begin receiving a free edition of the first issue of the Randolph Hub!

Yes ... free.
Yes ... to 46,238 residences, not people.
Yes ... Randolph County.

But don't thank us. Thank Klaussner Furniture Industries, which is sponsoring our inaugural edition.

An initial dream for Randolph Hub was to make a big splash with its first issue, but how to pay for something that monstrous? Klaussner Furniture
stepped to the front and raised a big, generous hand. 

And, so, with the credibility provided by the backing of this local manufacturing stalwart, here we go.

The idea behind this hyper-local weekly newspaper is to give Randolph County an alternative newspaper option. This start will give the Hub the best chance possible to reach as many people as possible. 

We have more than 200 subscriptions already to a newspaper that has yet to publish a single issue. How many more might we receive when perhaps as many as 100,000 people get to see for themselves an idea of what to expect on a week-to-week basis?

Hopefully, enough to make a dream come true.

Now, for those who have already subscribed, this paper will not count against your subscription. It is a free edition. That subscription will begin on Sept. 15 with the first issue of our regular weekly run.

Why not Sept. 8? We are using the inaugural issue as a soft opening — some might say soft bludgeoning — to make sure we have any unexpected kinks worked out before beginning regular production.

Also, frankly, if hundreds more (is a thousand possible?) take the $45 subscription plunge after seeing the first issue, we may need that extra time to get everyone accurately plugged in for that initial 52-week run.

Now, there are a few details to mention:

One, because of the mailing situation for these 46,000-plus deliveries, all papers may not arrive exactly on Sept. 1. But all papers should arrive at targeted homes between Sept. 1 and Sept. 3, still in time for some good weekend reading.

Two, even with help, we couldn't blanket the entire county, so we narrowed it down to these ZIP codes: 27203, 27205, 27317, 27350, 27298, 27355, 27248, 27316 and 27341. If you're counting at home, that's all of the county but the Archdale/Trinity ZIP code areas. We hope to offer a free edition to that area of another 16,000 households in the future. Also, we are not delivering to PO Boxes since that could produce quite a bit of duplication.

So, three, if you have already subscribed and you are from the Archdale/Trinity area (we have a few) or you only get mail at a Post Office box (we have a few) or you live out of state (we have a few, as far away as Nebraska),
we will mail or deliver you a copy of this free edition. You will not be left out. I am having an extra thousand copies printed for just such cases and to hand out at booths we will man during future local events.

Randolph Countians, we heard you say this is something you want and the county needs. We put together a team of people you have trusted for decades to answer the call. It's now up to you to decide the fate of this project. 

If as a community you decide not to back what we're offering, at least no one can say we didn't give it our best shot. But we're hopeful and optimistic that you can't wait to see what comes next, and we will do what we can to make sure you don't regret that decision.