Breeze Publications

Breeze Publications is a privately owned publisher based in Cumberland, Rhode Island, serving northern and western Providence County with four free tabloid-format weekly newspapers. Founded in 1996 by Thomas V. Ward & James Quinn, Breeze Publications began -- at first, produced in Ward's living room -- with its flagship title, The Valley Breeze, which later split to two editions. In 2006, the company acquired two other weeklies in neighboring towns. The papers now employ 19 full-time and eight part-time employees.

Properties

Each of the Breeze newspapers is printed on tabloid-sized pages and distributed free in the towns it covers, every Thursday, except for The North Providence Breeze which is published on Wednesdays.The North Providence Breeze :Originally called the North Star when it was founded in 1997, Breeze acquired the free weekly covering North Providence in 2006 and rebranded it. It does not have a Website of its own, but North Providence news is posted on The Valley Breeze & Observer site.The Valley Breeze, Cumberland-Lincoln Edition :Ward's & Quinn's first Breeze newspaper, The Valley Breeze has covered Cumberland and Lincoln, Rhode Island, since 1996. It runs 17,000 copies per week.The Valley Breeze, North Smithfield-Burrillville-Blackstone-Woonsocket Edition :The success of The Valley Breeze led to the establishment of a second edition in 1999, covering North Smithfield and Woonsocket, Rhode Island. In 2001, the newspaper began covering Blackstone, Massachusetts. It later expanded to cover Burrillville, Rhode Island, as well.The Valley Breeze & Observer :Called The Observer when Breeze bought it in 2006, The Valley Breeze & Observer was converted from paid to free delivery. It covers Foster, Glocester, Scituate and Smithfield, Rhode Island, in western Providence County. The Observer was founded in 1955.

Sisters and competitors

Breeze papers compete with The Providence Journal, the only statewide daily newspaper, and with the RISN Operations dailies The Call and The Times, in Woonsocket and nearby Pawtucket, respectively. In Blackstone, The Valley Breeze competes with the Telegram & Gazette of Worcester, Massachusetts, and with The Milford Daily News of Milford, Massachusetts.

All four Breeze newspapers are members of Rhode Island Newspaper Group, an advertising sales consortium that consists of five weekly newspaper publishers in suburban Providence. Other member publishers are Beacon Communications, East Bay Newspapers, Hathaway Publishing and Southern Rhode Island Newspapers.

References

External links

• The Valley Breeze Website -- both editions
• The Valley Breeze & Observer and The North Providence Breeze Website