For The Kansas City Star, it’s been a hiccuping start to 2022.
On Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, Jan. 3, 4 and 5, I didn’t get my New York Times, which, like the Wall Street Journal and some other papers, is delivered by contractors who deliver The Star.
The first day, I thought it was just an aberration, but the second day I realized it was probably a significantly broader problem because my neighbors weren’t getting their papers either.
So I called my carrier, and he told me that his contract and those of about 25 other carriers had expired at the end of the year. (He delivered a couple of days beyond the 31st.) My carrier said he didn’t like the new contract he was offered and decided to call it quits, after more than 20 years of delivering The Star.
Then, I called my former carrier — a guy I got to know pretty well over the years — and he opened the conversation by saying, “You’re not getting your paper, are you?”
He said the distributor he had worked for (the carriers now work for distributors, not McClatchy or The Star) had offered him a contract to resume his old routes, including the one we live on. But the contract he was offered was essentially for the same amount of money he’d been earning in 2018.
“No thanks” — understandably — was his answer.
I heard nothing from The Star about delivery problems until this morning, when I got an email under the heading “important delivery update.”
It said in part: “Due to carrier shortages, there is a possibility that upcoming editions of The Kansas City Star will be delayed in some areas. While we continue to recruit carriers, the area manager is delivering multiple routes each morning and is working hard to ensure all routes are completed as quickly as possible.”
Then, whoever wrote that email, tried to divert our attention to the bright side, reminding us that, on our digital versions of The Star, we were getting “more than 60 pages of bonus content each day; subscriber-exclusive features on politics, sports and entertainment; (and) a customizable reader experience.”
Well now…that sure must have eased the frustration of the elderly readers who don’t read the paper online and count on having the print edition with their morning coffee.
But then, as I read on, I came across something very interesting. At the very bottom of the email, in small print, The Star’s address was listed as “4741 Central Street, Ste. 541, Kansas City, MO 64112.”
Hmmm, I mused, so The Star has rented space on the Plaza??
When last I wrote about The Star, it did not have a physical location, having sold both the former headquarters at 1729 Grand and the printing plant at 1601 McGee. Under a lease agreement with the new owner, some employees remained at the printing plant until late last year.
I had heard that The Star would be leasing space somewhere in the Crown Center area, so I was a bit surprised to see the 4741 Central address.
I quickly Google-mapped it, and what popped up was an image of a UPS store. That confused me, and when I showed it to Patty, she said, “That’s the old Halls store.”
Now, I knew damn well the old Halls building didn’t have five stories, so I wondered where the heck Suite 541 could be in that building.
So, this afternoon I drove down there and confirmed with my own eyes that it’s a three-story building, with a few retail businesses, including UPS and an Apple store, on the first floor, and parking on the top two floors.
Still mightily puzzled, I went into the UPS storefront. Two employees were behind the counter, and I said, “Say, do you know where Suite 541 might be?”
One of the employees directed my attention to a bank of rental mail boxes across from the counter.
“There’s Suite 541,” he said, pointing at this…
And sure enough, surrounded by “suites” 537, 538 and 542 was The Kansas City Star’s new address and– let’s hope temporary — home.
My immediate thought was that Suite 541 was a hell of a descent from the ornate building on Grand Boulevard and the stunning print plant with its angled face pointing toward the heart of downtown and T-Mobile Arena.
Before leaving the area, I took a couple of other photos, which help put The Star’s new address in perspective.
JimmyCsays: At the juncture of journalism and daily life in KC 
Very reminiscent of the death of the Kansan. They apparently have no physical location and are operating remotely.
Ha! I was an “assistant” district circulation manager for The Star for a period in my youth. Basically, it meant I had to throw a lot of papers because the delivery-agent contracts were so pinch penny. Doesn’t sound any better now. Hey, the NYT bought The Athletic so that will be interesting.
Very interesting about NYT and The Athletic, Bill…Thanks for the news. I bet that will be a good and successful move for both companies.
Please indulge me some nostalgia. Living in a 100+ year old house with a massive front porch, reading a print newspaper has been a genuine pleasure for decades. Box fan on hot summer mornings, bathrobe when cool, greeting and conversing with neighbors as they pass by. While gainfully employed, vacation mornings were a foreshadowing of retirement days. Now retired after 43 years, we still subscribe to the print Star and WSJ. Several episodes of delivery issues like you described, resulted in a recorded “you will be credited for this missed delivery…” We still play the annual negotiation game with the Star subscription telemarketer, but this may well be our last round with The Star. The “Journal” remains a top-notch rag, although the business articles mean less and less to us every year…Thanks to to all the dedicated journalists throughout the years. Hope the smoke-filled newsrooms have not caused you irreversible damage.
One question, Casey: How the hell are you alive after 43 years of retirement? Is that a combined figure — you and spouse/partner? Or did you retire at 25?
Unless I’m not tracking correctly eiher, I think Casey means retired after WORKING 43 years.
That is truly pathetic, Jim, but so unsurprising. I’ve been receiving my Star this week but I live in a high rise and apparently my wonderful carrier is willing to work for slave wages.
I must admit, as I read your tale of woe, when I scrolled down to the photo of the PO Box, I exploded in laughter! 🤣 Only another long time subscriber could appreciate the irony.
My subscription expires at the end of February. The ensuing rate hike typically results in me cancelling my subscription. One day the divorce will be final.
Great to hear from you, Gayla…It’s been a while.
And thanks for your explosion of laughter. Just the reaction I was hoping for from at least a few people.
That is some excellent investigative reporting!
Such a sad state of affairs, but not unlike an empty Macy’s store. Progress, as they say?
Thanks for the laugh today!
That “investigation” took all of an hour, Jim. But I wasn’t going to find out anything by sitting at home and wondering…
Five straight days without delivery for me, too, Jim. Well, I should say after a fruitless phone call to the 877 number, my Monday paper was delivered on Tuesday. I’m now encountering the frustrations I tried handling during my short period as Readers Rep in 2016. I literally put sections of the paper in the mail to disappointed subscribers. But now, there is no one in KC to speak with.
That said, I read the digital edition, which including the Extra sections, may comprise the most comprehensive paper in the country. And they’ve done a great job with the Morning Sports Edition. Trouble is, so few readers are aware or care about those options. And digitally, you can’t get the Wednesday grocery ads or Sunday ad inserts.
As for the new “office,” I noticed that Plaza suite on the Opinion page a few weeks ago as the address for Letters to the Editor, never imagining it was a mail slot.
It’s one thing to work remotely (we’ve done that in sports forever) but not to have a central HQ or newsroom is so sad. That’s a place not only to conduct daily business but to develop relationships, friendships and the camaraderie that made The Star such a special place.
One of the many things I like about you, Randy, is you’re always looking for the positive, and you defend you old turf (sports) passionately.
You’re so right about the importance of a place to go to develop those relationships and work as a team.
P.S. I’m back to no paper. I saw a couple of promising white spots on the lawn, but closer inspection revealed just patches of snow.
I am still getting home delivery, so I guess either my carrier signed a new contract or is still on an old one.
This past Wednesday edition had no grocery ads. The Price Chopper ad is now coming in the mail.
The front section of Monday’s and Tuesday’s paper were only 6 pages. Thursday’s edition was missing the weather back page.
Yesterday, I did not get a print edition of the Sunday Star, but the week before, there were no ads at all. At last, even CVS has abandoned the Star.
Randy, I’m a print subscriber and they’ve recently stopped delivering the grocery ads in the Wednesday paper. The mailman just parks a big tub of them next to the mailboxes in my building. Serve yourself.
The Sunday print edition is the most annoying. Full of QR codes, reprints of stories from earlier in the week and full page ads. It’s kind of a joke. I know that eventually I will be forced to read the Star online, as I do with the NYT and WP, but dammit, I love to hold a real paper as I drink my morning coffee!
You did more shoe leather work than the entire Star staff does in a month.
Nah…The dynamic duo of Laura Bauer and Judy Thomas have eviscerated Agape Boarding School in Stockton and its proprietor, “Doctor” David Smock. Great work.
Sometimes I feel like I’m living in the bizarro world with some of these comments. Is this some sort of insider secret code??
Good digging, Jim! Keep up the good work!
I see nothing but trash talk online about the KC Star, whether it’s the paper’s political views, delivery issues, being called a “relic,” etc. Then when something like this happens, people pile it on even further. What causes delivery issues? Mostly, money. If we want local journalism, physical or digital, it doesn’t happen without support. Maybe we need to consider subscribing to the KC Star in print and online. It’s no doubt sad that the KC Star has been reduced to a PO box, but with the way we treat it, what did we expect?
John — Money is the problem here but not the way you frame it, at least from the delivery aspect. McClatchy isn’t willing to pay enough to make the carrier jobs worthwhile. The carriers get paid by the paper, so think about how many print subscriptions have been lost over the last 15 years and how many fewer papers are being delivered and how much more ground the carriers have to cover to try to increase the number they’re throwing.
I’m completely with the carriers on this. A couple of years ago, McClatchy distanced itself from the carrier operation by hiring the distributors, who, in turn, contract the carriers. McClatchy wants to get as far away from the actual delivery as possible because it’s difficult and expensive, at least it should be expensive!
When I called the 877 number and told the rep I wasn’t getting my New York Times, she said, “Call The New York Times.” Unless she’s an idiot with no training whatsoever, she knows The New York Times is completely reliant on The Star for delivery in the KC area. But that’s another story…The Times, the Wall Street Journal, Baron’s and whatever other papers are being delivered here should get together and figure out a way to handle delivery after The Star goes completely online.
I have subscribed to The Star home delivery for over 41 years. I just renewed my subscription for 13 weeks for $357.01. That includes their $60.61 delivery charge (which I do not understand how that is tacked on the subscription as there is no other way to get the print edition by subscription). Oh plus their $2.99 charge for having a printed bill sent to me. A full 52 weeks is now $1,441.20 including a $121.21 delivery charge.
I also get the New York Times. They do not charge me a separate delivery fee. And my Monday-Friday delivery schedule for the Times now costs me about a half of what The Star charges for six day a week delivery for a month.
When I am paying as much as I am for The Star I expect more than a 6 page front section and a 8-10 page second section. Today’s paper on the Sports section is still rehashing on the front page last Sunday’s Chief’s game like it happened yesterday.
I used to renew a year at a time. I just dropped to as I said to 13 weeks. If the print edition continues to shrink like it has recently, I’ll just switch to the electronic edition. And I still think they make more on the print edition than they do on the electronic edition.
Yes I want to support local journalism, but there is limits to what I will pay.
Every print subscription is negotiable, Bill. You’re probably being too accommodating. If you want to keep getting the print edition and pay a reasonable price for what you’re getting (or not getting), get tougher.
I strongly recommend, to everyone, drop the print edition and go with the digital. I think the starting price is $13 a month. It goes up to $20 a month after several months, but it’s still an acceptable price…Paying for a KC Star print subscription today is like paying a cable provider — exorbitant and unnecessary. (We just switched to Hulu now that Google Fiber is going out of the TV biz.)
A lot (but not all) of The Star also is available to Apple News+ subscribers. It’s a pretty good value for $9.99/month: Besides The Star, you also get most of the WSJ and many other major metro and national papers, plus dozens of magazines such as The New Yorker.
I prefer print, but with so many newspapers and magazines phasing out or downsizing their print editions, I’ve grudgingly made the switch.
Tim — A good friend of mine, retired lawyer Lonnie Shalton, echoes your thoughts on that. He’s a subscriber.
The only caveat is that Apple News+ requires an Apple device: iPhone, iPad or Mac. I’m a month into a free, six-month trial of Apple News+, and so far I’ve been reading it on my iPhone. Not bad, but an iPad or Mac will make for a better reading experience, especially for older eyes and those of us who stare at a screen all day for work.
You also can email and DM story links to people who aren’t Apple News+ subs. Usually they can read the story even if they don’t have a subscription to whatever the publication is, such as The Star. They also don’t need an Apple device to read the story because the links take them to the publications’ websites rather than an Apple News+ portal. There are exceptions, but that’s been mostly my experience so far.
I’d like to see something similar for the “hyperlocal news” publications. For example, instead of paying separately for Shawnee Mission Post and CitySceneKC, maybe those outlets (or an aggregator) could offer a bundled subscription at a discount.
$1450 for a year of The Star!?!?!? With your library card you read it for free online. And for that money, you can buy an iPad Pro and use Apple News+ to read it and a lot more for $10 a month and have a really nice tablet to boot.
A mailbox? The KC Star/Times is now a friggin’ mailbox? This is so depressing!
Another new low with today’s (Wednesday) print edition. Page 2 was from the Topeka Capital Journal in the News section. I wonder if the error will be acknowledged in Thursday’s print edition?
And the answer is no. There was no acknowledgement of the print error in the Wednesday edition. It makes me wonder if anyone with any power at The Star even looks at the print edition anymore.
At what point do they have to get rid of the period at the end of The Kansas City Star?
I looked at yesterday’s e-replica edition (online print version) and it looked okay. Maybe they subbed the correct page for the e-replica edition. It’s another reason to never, ever subscribe to the print edition. A complete waste of time and money.
What print edition? I’ve received the print edition twice this month, not counting the Wall Street Journal that arrived on Sunday instead of The Star.