OUR HISTORY
In November of 1962, Reminder Publishing — known at the time as Reminder Publications — was founded by East Longmeadow native Carlo Buendo and wife Anne Buendo; a husband-and-wife duo looking to bring a shopping guide to the community.
In Carlo’s own words in an article he wrote for UMass’s Family Business Center in 2007, Carlo explained, “We borrowed $1,000 from Security National Bank for start-up money. We rented a one room office, 15 by 20 feet in East Longmeadow for $30 a month. My wife Anne did the bookkeeping, and I did sales, production and circulation.”
He continued, “In the beginning our goal was to provide retailers with a way to reach their customers in the town of East Long[meadow] by publishing their advertising where it would be seen by their customers and at a price that would allow them to advertise consistently. I believed that advertising had to be seen regularly to be successful. I was able to hire very talented people because we offered flexible hours.
“When the time came to hire people, I chose people with experience in their field, all the people I hired could do the job better than me. I would explain what I wanted to accomplish, and they would get the job done,” Carlo said. “I give good employees the credit for The Reminder’s success.”
He added, “In 1976 we had outgrown our one room office and I was renting three separate offices and my accountant advised me it was time to stop renting and build a building for The Reminder, and that is what I did. In 1976 we bought a lot on Main St., East Longmeadow, and built a 7,000 square foot office building. At the time, we employed about 25 creative employees,” Carlo said.
Up until the mid-‘90s, The Reminder was a true family business – with all leadership positions filled with family members, including Carlo and Anne’s sons Chris and Dan. The sons took over the business in the 1990s as co-publishers, and soon built out a management team that welcomed a few non-family members into the fold.
In 2018, Chris and Dan sold The Reminder to The Republican – a Springfield-based daily newspaper that has been serving Western Massachusetts for 200 years. The two private companies have continued to be operated as separate businesses with separate staffs.
Under new leadership, The Reminder set off on a rapid expansion plan over the course of several years, launching numerous newspapers that expanded their coverage to 62 Western Massachusetts communities. During this growth, The Reminder purchased The Westfield News Group – a Westfield, Massachusetts based daily newspaper, which the company continues to publish to this day.
Between the weekly newspapers, daily newspaper, two monthly magazines – Go Local and Prime – and a host of special sections published throughout the year, Reminder Publishing continues to be a news leader in Western Massachusetts.