• Where: Anaheim
• 12-month sales: $1.4 million
• Two-year growth: 302%
• OC workers: 5
• Business: Publishing
If you live in Orange County, you’ve probably seen what Revista Publishing LLC does.
Anaheim-based Revista produces the Savings In OC magazines that are delivered to homes throughout the county.
The publications are monthly “coupon” magazines, and Revista does other direct mail work, including business postcards and business cards, as well as restaurant menus.
Revista Publishing ranked No. 9 on the Business Journal’s 2010 list of fast-growing private companies with sales growth of 302% for the two years through June 30.
For the 12 months through June, the company’s sales were $1.4 million, up from $347,816 for the same period in 2008.
Chris Lamoreaux and his wife, Adina, started the business with only one publication in Orange back in 2006, he said.
From there, things took off. The company now produces publications covering nine geographic areas, with about 270 targeted editions a month. It counts five workers.
Magazines are divided into the following areas: Fullerton, Brea/Placentia, Anaheim Hills/Yorba Linda, Orange/Villa Park, Tustin/Tustin Heights, Irvine East and Irvine West, Newport-Mesa, and Huntington Beach.
This month, Revista Publishing is launching two new editions to complement its main title in Huntington Beach, with one for Huntington Beach South, which will include Fountain Valley, and another for Huntington Beach North.
Customers include a lot of restaurants, Chris Lamoreaux said, as well as other consumer products and service providers, such as tanning salons and home improvement businesses.
Janny’s Donuts has a “free donut” coupon. Marie Callender’s has a “50% off an entree” coupon. The Carpet Care Inc. is discounting carpet cleaning—three rooms for $45. Dairy Queen offers “99 cent blizzards.”
“Any consumer-driven business qualifies to go in the magazines,” he said, adding that the Anaheim Hills/Yorba Linda publication is the strongest so far this year.
“Everyone wants to be in that one,” he said.
The economic slump is helping sales at Revista Publishing.
“The economy is a big selling point because a lot of businesses need to do something (after having) lost a portion of their business from a year and half ago,” Lamoreaux said. “It’s the No. 1 selling point right now, other than having a product that works.”
His magazines help businesses reach out to the community and get consumers to “open their wallets and use their business,” he said.
A good example is a coupon for a Macaroni Grill in Irvine. The typical bill there is at least $50, if not more, even with the coupon, he said. If the restaurant brings in 420 coupons in a month, that’s $20,000 in revenue.
Revista Publishing also is launching a deal-of-the-day program, along the lines of a 50% off offer on a service or at a restaur-ant that people can buy on Revista’s site, savingsinoc.com, and use at their leisure, he said.
The daily deal program will be similar to the national Groupon service, but strictly for Orange County, Lamoreaux said.
“It could be something like you pay $10 for $20 of food at a restaurant,” he said. “We have a lot of clients waiting for us to launch that right now. It’s like a cash advance for these businesses and such coupons have about an 80% redemption rate.”
After stints in business consulting, a friend convinced Chris and Adina Lamoreaux to do a coupon book for OC. Chris Lamoreaux took a look and did the research to see if there was an opportunity here.
“It really surprised us,” he said. “There wasn’t a whole lot of competition out there for this type of thing so we went for it.”
They funded it themselves and have been building the business ever since. Revista’s sales more than doubled in a year and three months, according to Lamoreaux. Last month was a record for the company, he added, with sales set to be up again for the full year.
But it’s not always easy. The biggest challenge is the market itself, Lamoreaux said, and educating business owners in understanding how to market their business effectively.
“If (a person) decides to start a business, they need a marketing budget and a strategy to help get people in their front door,” he said. “You see lots of businesses start, but they don’t know how to market or advertise it.”
