The Sunday Paper publisher Patrick Best announced his plans on Friday, citing the troubles of Creative Loafing -- which owns papers in Atlanta, Charlotte and Tampa -- as a major reason. "While we planned to go to both of these markets in the next few years, the troubles of the parent company of the major newsweeklies in both cities have convinced us to accelerate our plans," he says. Best, who was Creative Loafing (Atlanta)'s advertising director before launching The Sunday Paper, recently offered CL CEO Ben Eason $1 million for the Loaf's Atlanta publication. Best's expansion plans are being helped by funding from Brian Conley, the former owner of Knoxville, Tenn., AAN member Metro Pulse and current shareholder of Sunday Paper Publishing. Meanwhile, Atlanta Magazine's Steve Fennessy reports that Eason's main creditor filed a motion (PDF) on Friday claiming CL has not been forthcoming in explaining budgets and cash flow forecasts. The CL bankruptcy protection case is scheduled to go before a judge on Wednesday.
Patrick Best, a former ad salesman at Creative Loafing Atlanta, will launch The Sunday Paper next month, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports. He hopes to reach affluent 25- to 44-year-olds tired of what he perceives as some alternative weeklies' left-leaning and pessimistic slant. "Being an American and living in the United States is a good thing," he says. "We will not be constantly, ad nauseam, critiquing it to the point people don't feel good about it." Fifty-thousand copies of the paper will be distributed each Saturday in the city's high-rent ZIP codes and northern suburbs.
