C & G Newspapers keeps it in the family

METRO DETROIT — For anyone curious about what the “C” and “G” in C & G Newspapers stands for, here is the answer.

The “C” represents Charlotte, and the “G” is for Gil.

It was Charlotte and Gil Demers who more than 45 years ago created the family-owned business C & G Newspapers, which is still standing today.

In the early days, the husband-and-wife team ran the company from their home in St. Clair Shores with two papers: the Shores Shopper, a monthly advertiser first published in December 1977, and the Warren Weekly, with its inaugural issue Aug. 20, 1980.

Gil Demers definitely found his calling selling advertisements to local businesses, which included restaurants, mom-and-pop shops, car dealerships, medical offices, educational institutions and much more.

“He was a very personable guy,” daughter Karen Bozimowski said. “He knew everybody. He talked to everybody. He could talk to anybody.”

Gil wanted his family to be part of the business. Eventually the Demers’ five children — Bozimowski, Jeff Demers, Gregg Demers, Keith Demers and Suzanne Badalamenti —  came to work for the family business. They all started “on the road” selling advertising to neighborhood retailers, securing their own accounts with local establishments that trusted them. By watching their parents, the kids learned the value of hard work, the importance of helping their customers, and the ropes of running a successful family-owned business. Gil Demers died in 2019, and Charlotte retired several years ago.

C & G Newspapers serves metro Detroit residents in Macomb, Oakland and Wayne counties with 19 biweekly publications that reach 45 communities and are delivered to more than 571,000 homes via direct mail. The papers’ source of revenue is advertising. Instead of selling subscriptions, Gil Demers set up the company so each newspaper was distributed by direct mail straight to people’s homes.

“He was very entrepreneurial as far as ideas,” Keith Demers said.

Gil Demers was a natural. The direct-mail system proved successful right away, not only for him but for his advertisers.

“He knew they were reading it because the advertisers got great response because we went to every home,” Jeff Demers said. “We mailed it to every home. There wasn’t anything like that in St. Clair Shores.”

“That was the difference. No one else did that,” Gregg Demers said. “The thought was that a small business only could draw from so far. Let’s go to every home right around your store, and that will get them the best response.”

Many advertisers have stayed with the company over the years, Mr. C’s Deli in St. Clair Shores was their first advertiser. An advertisement for Temrowski & Sons Funeral Home, located at Hoover and Common roads, was in the first-ever Warren Weekly back in 1980.

“He still advertises today, every issue,” Suzanne Badalamenti said.

Gregg Demers, though, felt the publications needed more and came up with the idea to add editorial content with news stories that covered local city government, education, crime, human interest stories, sports and features about upcoming events happening in the readerships’ own backyards.

 

A family affair
After the success of the Warren Weekly, the company expanded to add more newspapers, the next one being the Madison-Park News, which covers Madison Heights and Hazel Park. At one point, the Demers family was able to open up an office located on Nine Mile Road, east of Van Dyke Avenue, in Warren.

Then the family members began adding more newspapers in Macomb County, including the Eastsider, the Fraser-Clinton Chronicle, the St. Clair Shores Sentinel, the Sterling Heights Sentry, the Journal, the Macomb Township Chronicle and the Shelby-Utica News.

Over in Oakland County, the Demers publish the following papers: the Troy Times, the Royal Oak Review, the Rochester Post, the West Bloomfield Beacon, the Southfield Sun, the Birmingham-Bloomfield Eagle, the Farmington Press, the Novi Note and the Woodward Talk.

The company also has a long-standing Wayne County paper: the Grosse Pointe Times. As the company grew, more space was needed, and in 1997 C & G Newspapers moved to 13650 11 Mile Road in Warren.

Currently there are 65 employees in the company who work in different departments to produce each newspaper. The team consists of salespeople, journalists, editors, graphic designers, photographers and an administrative staff. The newspapers are built right at the C & G office and then are sent to an outside company for printing.

With readers patronizing the advertisers, they are supporting family businesses, and that keeps them going. There has always been competition and different challenges. To keep the business thriving, each family member has different responsibilities. They also take time to talk to each other and share ideas.

“Each one of us has our own area of responsibility,” Jeff Demers said. “Then we meet regularly. We talk about ‘what’s going on in each area.”

The Demers said the best aspect of running the family business is working together.

“We have a common goal,” Jeff Demers said. “To be successful.”

They also appreciate the dedication of their staff members.

“The employees are just great,” Gregg Demers said.

“That’s the bottom line,” Keith Demers said.

While many newspaper entities have ceased to exist because of the internet and digital media, C & G Newspapers still continues publishing print editions.

“That comes down to the mail,” Keith Demers said. “We don’t rely on subscriptions.”

“And it’s local stories,” Suzanne Badalamenti said.

“We still believe in our product as a direct-mail community newspaper going to every home,” Gregg Demers said.

C & G Newspapers also evolved electronically with its website, www.candgnews.com, and a social media presence on Facebook and X. The company also has contests every month where readers can win gift cards and other prizes from local advertisers. The family is always looking for new opportunities and has plans for the business to expand.

“As far as the future, we’d like to open a new paper,” Suzanne Badalamenti said.

 

‘The Demers were always kind and fair people to me’
The brothers and sisters get along well with each other while working together. They also want to give their employees that same sense of family so staff members feel welcome coming to work each day.

Not only that, but they know the importance of providing their workforce with the supplies they need to get their jobs done, including everything from office equipment to moral support to the occasional social event.

A majority of staff has remained with the company 10, 20 or 30 years.

“What has always mattered to me the most about C & G is that they are unbiased. … We don’t have an agenda of any kind. We just want to be as factual and fair as possible,” said editor Annie Bates, who began wit h the company 25 years ago. “In our little corner, the Demers want us to do it right. In the beginning of my career, everyone asked me what my next step was. It was assumed you wanted a bigger outlet,” but that wasn’t what appealed to Bates. “C & G … remembers the goal a lot of media outlets seemed to have forgotten, which is to listen and be as fair as you can.”

Graphic designer Kathy Calvisi is a loyal employee who found her niche when she was hired in 1990. Working in the company’s art room designing ads gives her the chance to be creative every day.

“It’s held my interest,” Calvisi said. “It’s something different every day.”

C & G Newspapers also has been a great place to work because the Demers always accommodated Calvisi when she needed to tend to her family, such as picking up her children from school when they were growing up.

“With a flexible schedule I have the ability to take care of my family,” Calvisi said. “They’re fun people and they treat us good.”

In 1986, sales representative David Rubello joined C & G Newspapers.

“I’ve had a great ride ever since. The Demers were always kind and fair people to me. That’s what gave me my drive to keep up my good work,” Rubello said. “I’ve been here for almost 40 years. If they weren’t good to me there’s no way I could have stayed that long.”     

Rubello primarily sells advertising for the St. Clair Shores Sentinel, but also has accounts in surrounding areas. He likes the idea of working for a family-run business.

“You’re not just a number. They get to know you,” he said. “It’s not like you’re working for a really big business where there’s just a lot of faces and no names.”

He also credits the Demers for helping other family businesses stay afloat.

“They have impacted this community in so many positive ways, from promoting people’s businesses with advertising to having stories about people and their great accomplishments,” Rubello said. “This would all go silent if there weren’t community papers like ours.”