Rumor control: A few changes on the way at Iwanna

Jason Sandford

Jason Sandford is a reporter, writer, blogger and photographer interested in all things Asheville.

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A loyal Ashvegas reader wrote me recently to ask me what was up at Iwanna. The writer said there were any number of rumors floating around about what was up at the Asheville-based classified ad publication.

Iwanna officials tell me there are indeed changes coming, but they’re not quite ready to publicly announce them. They tell me they’ll pass along all the deets when they’re ready, probably later this fall. Iwanna, once a locally owned publication printed at its facility down on Sweeten Creek Road, is now owned by the Fayetteville Publishing Co. in Fayetteville, N.C.

In this day and age, Iwanna is a stunning publication. In print form, the brick of a newspaper is full of nothing but classified ads. Around Asheville, if you want to buy, sell or trade, you pick up a copy of Iwanna. So much for Craigslist killing newspaper classified advertising, right?

In recent years, Iwanna has also beefed up its online presence. A few years ago, former Asheville Citizen-Times digital director John Yenne went to work for Iwanna, and he’s clearly been influencing Iwanna’s virtual newspaper.

I’ll keep you up to date as I hear more about Iwanna.