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Sweet marketing music

Tanner Montague came to town from Seattle having never owned his own music venue before. He’s a musician himself, so he has a pretty good sense of good music, but he also wandered into a crowded music scene filled with concert venues large and small.But the owner of Green Room thinks he found a void in the market. It’s lacking, he says, in places serving between 200 and 500 people, a sweet spot he thinks could be a draw for both some national acts not quite big enough yet for arena gigs and local acts looking for a launching pad.“I felt that size would do well in the city to offer more options,” he says. “My goal was to A, bring another option for national acts but then, B, have a great spot for local bands to start.”Right or wrong, something seems to be working, he says. He’s got a full calendar of concerts booked out several months. How did he, as a newcomer to the market in an industry filled with competition, get the attention of the local concertgoer?

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by Beth Ewen
November 2004

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Acquisitions

Southwest Journal owner seizes opportunity

“Opportunity comes knocking, and you open it sometimes,” says Janis Hall, long-time co-owner of the Southwest Journal newspaper in Minneapolis. She bought Minnesota Parent this spring, after its Texas-based publisher announced its closure.

“We got a phone call out of the blue from the publisher. She said, They’re shutting us down,” Hall says.

They paid cash, although Hall wouldn’t say how much. “It didn’t cost very much. The owners didn’t know what they had.” she says. “It did put a crimp in our cash flow.”

Hall and partner Terry Gahan had experience with one other acquisition, which she says helped in this case. They purchased Skyway News and published the first issue Sept. 10, 2001. Its first issue of Minnesota Parent published March of this year.

Hall says they follow no long-term growth plan. But both purchases proved to be smart because they added revenue at a time when the existing publications had peaked.

Janis Hall, Southwest Journal, Skyway News, Minnesota Parent: 612.825.9205; swjpublisher@qwest.net; www.swjournal.com