A friend of ours told us today that the local family that has owned the IWANNA newspaper for decades has sold out to a new owner for a pretty penny and people are watching to see what the new owners will do.
The new owners apparently were in town today to meet with and reassure staff members, and the Corn family, that nobody will lose their jobs. But some people worry that if the company upgrades computers and other equipment – which is apparently quite needed – that some jobs might go away.
The IWANNA, as you know, is a brick of a weekly newspaper that just has a ton of classified ads and has expanded in recent years to include more content, such as racing news and high school football info. Any redneck in town who has a truck to sell or a a mutt to give away advertises in IWANNA.
There’s a well-written history of the paper on its web site, which clearly hasn’t been updated with any new owner info. Here’s a sample:
IWANNA® is owned and operated by a family with firm roots in the Western North Carolina mountains, as well as a deep feeling for the advertising needs of their mountain neighbors.
Sensitivity has been amply reflected in the phenomenal growth of IWANNA® from a four page paper containing 59 classified ads to issues exceeding 300 pages with literally thousands of classified ads and thousands of column inches of display advertising and still growing.
The original concept of the paper came to the Corns long before the first issue went to press. In the course of their travels during Bob’s years in the United States Air Force, they often dreamed of being able to settle down in the mountains to run a business of their own. Initially, the paper was to have been Kathy’s project – a way for her to be constructively employed while Bob earned a living for the family in some other field.
The ‘little paper’ that the Corns once envisioned as Kathy’s business now provides Western North Carolina, the Western Piedmont of North Carolina and Upstate South Carolina with the largest and most widely read weekly shopping guides in the Carolinas.
From the simple beginning, the paper grew rapidly, until soon the first office was too small to contain the operation. After a brief stay in an office on Market Street and the addition of Kathy, (who resigned her job from the health department to help Bob run the business), a secretary and a salesman; the operation was moved, in December 1978, to Patton Avenue, then in November 1982 moved to 84 Coxe Avenue. In 1998 IWANNA® moved into its new 40,000 square foot plant in South Asheville. The growth of IWANNA® continues, with a staff numbering over 50 and growing, and the addition of one of the most versatile and sophisticated computer typesetting systems available and an 8-unit Goss Press. You can be sure, IWANNA®’s history is just beginning.
In addition to the Flagship IWANNA® in Asheville, Bob and Kathy began a HickoryIWANNA® in 1980, now a franchised company. Also a company-owned Greenville, SC operation was initiated in 1988. Each has its own new, large facilities and growth that tracks the Asheville model.
Company founder, Bobby D. Corn died on August 8, 2000.
Who knows what’s up. Do you know? What have you heard? You tell us.