Coupon shuffle in Cleveland area Sunday papers

CLEVELAND -- Standing in line at the grocery store, Kelly Johnson reaches into her purse and pulls out a big white envelope stuffed with coupons. Every Sunday, thousands of people like Kelly grab the big issue of their Sunday paper and go right for the coupons.

But last weekend, Joe Daugirdas, also known as "The Coupon Guy," http://www.joethecouponguy.com noticed that all the usual coupons from a company called "RedPlum" were missing from the Plain Dealer, the News Herald and the Lorain Morning Journal.

It turns out that the Valassis Company, owner of RedPlum, has decided to stop inserting those coupons in the Cleveland area.

In a statement released to Channel 3 News, Valassis stated:

"Starting in February, the RedPlum coupon booklet will now be delivered in Cleveland through consumers' mailboxes along with their weekly grocery circulars and other savings and deals. By using direct mail, the RedPlum insert will now be able to reach almost twice as many Cleveland households as in the past. In these challenging economic times, it has never been more important to make these essential savings available to as many Clevelanders as possible so they can stretch the dollars in their wallets."

-- Thomas Murray, Valassis Vice President and General Manager of the FSI

Shirley Stineman, Director of Marketing and Community Affairs at the Plain Dealer says RedPlum's decision was strictly a business decision.

"It doesn't mean you'll have less coupon value" , she says, "because other coupon distributors can replace RedPlum". In fact, she says, this Sunday readers can take advantage of $574.92 in coupon value, a number higher than the last time RedPlum distributed coupons to the paper.

Stineman says the Plain Dealer remains the largest provider of money saving coupons for grocery stores, drug stores, retail and manufacturers of packaged goods. The paper will continue to offer an average of 50 circulars per week with hundreds of dollars in savings and will continue to distribute multiple coupon books every Sunday.

At grocery stores like Dave's Supermarket every day is double coupon day. Losing the popular RedPlum coupons in the Sunday newspapers is a big disappointment.

Madelyn Carter said, "That's the first section I go to is the comics where the coupons are located and look for the coupons and the sales. I do it every Sunday."

Dave's Supermarket Assistant Manager Gregg Heidrick said, "This is a very big deal. The way the economy and the way things are going those coupons mean a lot. It helps customers out and we bring in more customers to the store."

Valassis will mail the coupons directly to your home if you sign up on their online form. Consumers who already receive the RedPlum mail package will now find the coupon booklet inside; they do not need to sign up. Click here to sign up for RedPlum coupons and more.