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n e w h a v e n b i z . c o m N o v e m b e r / D e c e m b e r 2 0 1 8 | n e w h a v e n B I Z 9 B E Y O N D T H E H E A D L I N E S Hearst acquires seven Hersam Acorn weeklies For cleaners, times are down and dirty H earst Connecticut Media further cemented its stronghold on print media in Connecticut this week with its acquisition of seven weekly newspapers owned by Hersam Acorn Newspapers. Sale price of the deal, announced last month, was not disclosed. e seven weeklies are the Mil- ford Mirror, Shelton Herald, Trum- bull Times, Ridgefield Press, Wilton Bulletin, New Canaan Advertiser and Darien Times. Hearst's Connecticut holdings now include eight daily newspa- pers, 20 weeklies and 29 websites. Its eight dailies include the New Haven Register, Connecticut Post, Greenwich Time, Stamford Advo- cate and Norwalk Hour. e latest acquisition reflects a long-term inexorable trend toward consolidation of ownership across all media platforms nationwide. Newspapers in particular had been a last bastion of independent mass-media ownership. Before the 1980s, most daily newspapers in Connecticut were family owned — as was the case in New Haven of the Jackson family, which at the beginning of that decade owned the morning Journal-Courier and the aer- noon New Haven Register. Shortly before patriarch Lionel Jackson passed away, the family sold out in 1986 to an out-of-state conglomerate — the first in a long series of corporate deals that reflect larger industry trends. Today only two independent dailies remain in southern Con- necticut: e Waterbury Repub- lican-American, whose publisher William J. Pape II is the founder's grandson; and Meriden's Re- cord-Journal, which began two years aer the Civil War ended, is today run by Publisher Eliot C. White, the fourth generation of Whites to run the paper. (But not the last: fih-generation Elizabeth White is executive vice president and assistant publisher.) Hersam Acorn is also the parent company of Trumbull Printing, a commercial printing concern. e company characterized its divesti- ture of the weekly newspapers as a "strategic initiative" that "focuses on the long-term growth of the commercial printing division." "[Trumbull Printing] has grown to become the centerpiece of the business mix of our companies and our intention is follow that path into the future. Our goal is to continue to grow as a full-service provider to the publishing industry in the Northeast," said Martin V. Hersam, Trumbull Printing's CEO. n — M.C.B. I f you're the type to get your shirts and suits dry-cleaned, you may have noticed that the lines are getting shorter — or your favorite local cleaner has closed down or downsized. Dry cleaners have been closing at a steady clip in recent years around New Haven, reflecting on ongoing downturn in the industry. e culprit? Look no farther than your home office, or companies where "casual Friday" actually be- gins on Monday. American workers are increasingly dressing down and buying wash-and-wear items that don't require professional clean- ing. Concerns about dry-cleaning solvents, high-tech home washing machines and improved detergents have also eaten into dry cleaning's market share. Analyst IbisWorld noted that it expects revenues and employment in the dry-cleaning industry to con- tinue to decline at an accelerating pace over the next five years. State statistics show a sharp drop this year in the number of businesses paying a tax specific to dry cleaners. In New Haven, neighborhood fixtures to announce their closing in recent years include Sidney's Expert Cleaners and Tailors in West River, Green's Cleaners at 233 Grand Ave. and Fab's Cleaners at 121 Grand Ave. A recent casualty of the trend is Quality Cleaners at 135 Dwight St., in business since 1982 and slated to shut down for good on Oct. 25. Owner Yong Lee singled out those who work from home in sweatpants or pajamas as a driver of his decision to close. "Volume is down 40 percent, 50 percent." e general slowdown in business he saw aer the 2008 finan- cial crisis has only gotten worse as customer habits evolve, he says. Lee still operates a dry cleaner in West Haven, but he says his peers in the business throughout the tri-state area are losing hope. "e dry cleaning business is horrible," Lee says. n — Liese Klein

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