Kapp Advertising Service, Inc.

As publishers of free community newspapers since 1950, we strive to deliver the best possible service to our advertisers and our readers. Our mission is to play a vital role in the communities we serve.

Our products include eleven editions of the Merchandiser serving Central Pennsylvania and Northern Maryland, with a circulation of over 260,000 homes. The Merchandisers of Central Pennsylvania are one of the ten largest groups of independently owned weekly publications in the United States. In addition we offer pre-print distribution and commercial printing services.

Our founder and owner, Mr. Robert Kapp built Kapp Advertising Service, Inc. on just that, service! Today, we continue to embrace that philosophy as we serve our clients, readers, and communities from our offfices in Lebanon, Hanover, and Reading Pennsylvania.

Our History

The Merchandiser was started in 1948 by Lestor Benson. In January of 1950 it was sold to Robert S. Kapp with a circulation of 2,300 homes. The business was located on West Main street in Myerstown, Pennsylvania, and later moved to Millardsville, PA.

In 1967, it was moved back to Myerstown with three different editions: Lebanon, Myerstown and Hershey, with a total circulation of 60,000.

In January of 1977, the Merchandiser moved to its present location at 100 East Cumberland Street, Lebanon, Pennsylvania. It has a fully computerized graphics department and two high speed presses to produce not only the Merchandisers, but other printing work as well.

Today, there are eleven different Merchandiser editions:

The Myerstown Area Merchandiser started in 1948.

The Lebanon Valley Area Merchandiser started in 1954.

The Hershey Area Merchandiser started in 1968.

Three Greater Reading Area editions started in 1971.

The Hanover Area Merchandiser started in 1974.

The Gettysburg Area Merchandiser started in 1975.

The Dauphin/Schuylkill Area Merchandiser started in 1976.

The Northern Adams/York Area Merchandiser started in 1989.

The Hampstead/Manchester Area Merchandiser edition started in 2006.