City firm still has faith in paper

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This article was published 03/06/2010 (5939 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

THE yellow pages business model still has more than a few good years left in it, according to a Winnipeg-based trade publishing company.

Lester Communications Inc. recently acquired the EZ Finder brand for Manitoba and plans to distribute 300,000 yellow pages directories in Winnipeg and the surrounding area this October.

"Our goal is to come into the Winnipeg marketplace and get back to the grassroots of business," said company president Jeff Lester. "We thought this was a strong opportunity to develop a brand. All businesses deserve competition. Typically, an industry will have 10 to 50 competitors. We have one and they were owned by the government at one time. I always believe there’s room for two."

Lester said there’s no question technology is moving people online in increasing numbers but a significant portion of the population still likes to "touch and feel" their phone books.

"If you’re looking for phone numbers for 10 different companies, it takes longer to do the search online than to open up the print version," he said.

But to cater to the growing masses, the company launched a new online business directory this week called EZ Finder Online (www.EZFinder.ca). Lester said it allows users to refine their searches by location or category.

— Kirbyson