Why My St. Johns Sun is no longer distributed in the St. Augustine Record

If you subscribe to the St. Augustine Record, you probably opened your paper Saturday (Aug. 11) and noticed something was missing -- My St. Johns Sun.

Unfortunately this was a planned action, not a distribution mistake. A soft business climate for newspapers right now played a large role in this decision. But so did the desire to think long-term in the future of My St. Johns Sun.

Believe it or not, the Sun was originally a Record project several years ago. At some point (before I arrived on the scene) the details for getting the Sun off the ground shifted to the "big brother" paper, the Times-Union. As a way to help target the best coverage for readers, it was decided to insert the new paper in both the Times-Union and St. Augustine Record home delivery, while also putting free copies in racks around the county.

The Record distributes a fairly small amount of papers in the northwest part of St. Johns County. The majority of its subscribers are close to the Oldest City. The Times-Union has many more subscribers in the northwest.

As the Times-Union and My St. Johns Sun busily charted out the course of the next few years of covering St. Johns County, it became apparent that the overlap wasn't making good business sense. Reducing the number of papers saves time and, more importantly, money.

Will there be other changes? Quite possibly -- you've already experienced one major change this year by visiting this terrific Web site, which will only get bigger and better. But keep this in mind: We don't consider every change idea in a vacuum -- we do take into account the effect on our readers (we even talk to some of you to gauge reaction). And we appreciate your patience with these decisions.

Below you'll find a list of free distribution points throughout the county. We also have a free rack in front of the Sun office, 2750 Race Track Road, Suite #304.

As always, contact me if anybody has questions.

Kevin
kevin.clark@mystjohnssun.com

If you suddenly find yourself suffering from Sun withdrawal, fear not -- those free distribution racks are still available at the following locations:

Chamber of Commerce: Riberia Street
I-HOP: US 1
Avendia Inn: US 1
Scooners: US 1
Winn-Dixie: US 1
Harry's Curb Mart: SR 16
Dry Cleaners: SR 16
West Gate Plaza: SR 16
Dairy Queen: SR 16
Exxon: SR 16
I-HOP: SR 16
Betty Griffin House Thrift Store: SR 13
Fruit Cove Postal Store: Race Track Road
Bartram Trail Branch Library: Davis Pond Boulevard
Buddy Boys: SR 13
Trout Creek Park: SR 13
BDR Fast Stop: SR 13
Weedman's: SR 13
Publix: CR 210
Sun Trust: CR 210
Tropical Smoothie: CR 210
Jenks Pizza: CR 210
Firehouse Subs: CR 210
Animal Clinic: CR 210
Winn Dixie: CR 210
St. John's Dental: CR 210
Cherry's Grill: CR 210
Larry's Giant Subs: CR 210
CVS: CR 210
Village Grill and Subs: CR 210
BP: World Golf Village
Daily's Shell: World Golf Village
Cornwells: World Golf Village
St. Aug. Airport: US 1
Kangaroo: US 1
Florida Pecan #2: US 1 South
Nut House: US 1 South
BP: US 1 South
Dairy Queen: US 1 South
Sunrise: US 1 South
Mobil:US 1 South 
Buzz Mart: CR 13
Florida Pecan #1: CR 207