New Weekly Ad/Coupon Mailer To Take Place Of Defunct PennySaver

COVINA (CBSLA.com) -- Just four months after the PennySaver went out of business, a new advertising circular is born. The Shopper Saver is now reviving the classified publication in parts of Southern California.

Fritz Peneda has owned his company, Just Electric, for 17 years. But it took a major hit this summer after its main advertiser, the PennySaver, suddenly closed its doors last spring.

"It would go from 10 to 30 calls a day. You know, then it would just drop and drop. Now, we're down to five, sometimes not even any during the day," Peneda said.

The advertising publication employed nearly 700 people and sent out millions of mailers to households across Southern California. In late May, the weekly coupon mailer shut its doors after 50 years, without giving its workers notices.

Peneda's wife, Alma, said she knew her husband's business, along with many other merchants who relied on the PennySaver for advertising, would not survive without the publication.

That's when Mrs. Peneda decided to start her new company called The Shopper Saver.

"We saw many people unemployed, ex-PennySavers and losing their homes, advertisers and employees," said Alma Peneda, CEO of The Shopper Saver.

Elaine Buckley is a former longtime PennySaver employee. She is now the vice president of sales for The Shopper Saver.

She said The Shopper Saver weekly mailer will look a lot like the PennySaver.  "Everything that we did at the PennySaver, except the quality of the book, really I have to say, is much better," Buckley said.

She said 95 percent of the Shopper Saver team is made up of former PennySaver employees.

The Shopper Saver is expected to reach more than a million homes in the San Gabriel Valley and Inland Empire starting Sept. 16.

(©2015 CBS Local Media, a division of CBS Radio Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Wire services contributed to this report.)