It was mailed to 10,000 homes in the area. Today, The Shopping News publishes a full-tab paper and is delivered to 37,000 homes each week in and around Ephrata, Adamstown, New Holland, Stevens, Terre Hill and more! During the early 1960’s there were no free papers covering Northern Lancaster County. Publisher John Hocking had been thinking about starting a free paper for quite some time. At the time, he was the founder and owner of Hocking Printing Co., Inc., which he began in 1953. The first location of his printing company was at 27 Lincoln Avenue Rear, Ephrata, in a small garage-type building. As the printing business expanded, John moved the business to his residence, at that time located at 119 E. Franklin Street, Ephrata. When that location proved too small, John purchased 24 E. Orange Street, Ephrata. It was at that location in 1965 that The Shopping News was first published. In 1972, John purchased the former East End Planing Mill on East Main Street in Ephrata. The building was renovated and was home to both the printing company and The Shopping News until 1986. On February 6, 1986, a fire completely destroyed the building. Due to the dedicated work of the employees and the help from friends and business associates, only one issue of The Shopping News was missed. The Shopping News has been recognized by a national free paper organization for its dedication to customer service and for printing a superior newspaper. Awards have been won in various categories few of the awards won from the Independent Free Papers of America (IFPA) and Mid-Atlantic Community Papers Association (MACPA) for many years. One of the most popular features of The Shopping News is the section that is produced each March called “Local Businesses, Professionals and Industries ... Meeting The Challenge.” This past year over 120 businesses were featured in the section with articles and photos of their businesses and employees. Visit our website at www.snews.com and view the current issue digitally! https://issuu.com/shoppingnews/docs
