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To the people of the Carolinas, the name “IWANNA” is synonymous
with classified advertising. Several years and several million ads have made it
the area buyers’ choice in a way few people would have believed possible when
its first edition came out in April 1976.
Iwanna has experienced phenomenal growth -- from a four page paper containing 59
classified ads to issues exceeding 300 pages with literally thousands of classified
ads and thousands of column inches of display advertising and still growing.
Iwanna is owned and operated by Fayetteville Publishing Company, one of the nation’s
oldest family-owned newspapers. A service-oriented publication, it is designed to
provide the most convenient method available anywhere for getting buyers and sellers
of both new and used merchandise together.
Katherine H. Corn and her late husband Bobby D. Corn started Iwanna, operating out
of a small downtown Asheville, N.C. office and using an old Volkswagen Beetle to
make deliveries. The concept of free classified ads caught on quickly.
In 1998, the Asheville operation moved into its new 40,000 square foot office and
printing facility on Sweeten Creek Rd. in south Asheville. The South Carolina office
is in Greenville at 25 Air Park Ct.
What was once a “little paper” had quickly become the largest and most
widely read weekly shopping guides in the Carolinas, serving Western North Carolina
(WNC), the Western Piedmont of North Carolina and Upstate South Carolina.
The growth of Iwanna continues, with a staff numbering over 100 and growing, and
the addition of one of the most versatile and sophisticated computer typesetting
systems available and a 10-unit Goss Press.
In addition to the flagship facility in Asheville, a Hickory Iwanna was established
in 1980, now a franchised company. Also a company-owned Greenville, S.C. operation
was built in 1988.
Iwanna also publishes a WNC women’s magazine,
Sophie, which operates out of the Asheville Iwanna facility.
The family-owned Fayetteville Publishing Co. was established in 1923. It is one
of Cumberland County’s largest private companies with about 400 employees
in Fayetteville. It operates several small publications in addition to The Fayetteville
Observer. The Observer was established in 1816 and is the largest privately owned
daily newspaper in North Carolina. For more information, see www.fayobserver.com/help/about.
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