Hippo Press
HippoPress is the publisher of the free weekly newspaper Hippo, based in Manchester, New Hampshire.
| Type | Alternative weekly |
|---|---|
| Owner(s) | Jody Reese Jeff Rapsis Dan Szczesny |
| Publisher | HippoPress LLC |
| Founded | January 2001 |
| Headquarters | Manchester, New Hampshire |
| Website | hippopress.com |
History
Hippo, which is independently owned by Jody Reese, Jeff Rapsis and Dan Szczesny, started in January 2001. In 2004 it launched a second edition in Nashua and in 2005 it started a third in Concord. In 2007 the editions were combined into one newspaper with a circulation of 42,000.[1]
In 2009 HippoPress launched Quality of Life Printing and Distribution, a commercial distribution service for other free newspapers and fliers. QOL Distribution circulates publications throughout New Hampshire, Maine and Massachusetts. QOL Printing offers a wide range of commercial printing, from postcards to banners. It also handled direct mail and list services.
In 2010, Hippo launched Seacoast Hippo, a free weekly distributed from mid June through mid September, to cover arts, entertainment and events in the Seacoast region of southern Maine, New Hampshire and northern Massachusetts. It has a weekly circulation of 20,000 and is distributed along the coast from Kennebunkport to Newburyport.
The Hippo's parent company, Quality of Life Publication, began some other publications that later folded: a free weekday newspaper in Manchester called the Manchester Daily Express; The Oxx, a semi-weekly circular geared towards males that in the summer of 2007 was turned into a monthly called OxxCycle, covering the state's motorcycling scene, that in 2009 was converted to a semi-yearly glossy magazine before shutting. In 2009, HippoPress purchased The York Independent, a twice-monthly newspaper in York, Maine, that ceased publication around 2011.