Independent publisher launches new weekly in Los Gatos, California

Northern California-based publishing group Weeklys has launched a new weekly publication for the Silicon Valley communities of Los Gatos and Monte Sereno. Called Los Gatan, the 36-page inaugural issue was distributed to homes and businesses on Wednesday, Sept. 1.

“We’re thrilled to be back in Los Gatos again and are very encouraged by the community response,” said Executive Editor and CEO Dan Pulcrano. “People are stepping forward to purchase subscriptions and advertising because they appreciate the original reporting that our team is delivering."

Pulcrano founded the original Los Gatos Weekly shortly after his graduation from UC Santa Cruz and eight years later bought its 110-year-old competitor to create the Weekly-Times. That nameplate survives as a publication of the San Jose Mercury News under the umbrella of Alden Capital’s Digital First Media.

Los Gatan is the 14^th newspaper in the Weeklys group, previously known as Metro Newspapers, after its flagship Metro Silicon Valley. 

In addition to the print edition, Los Gatan will publish stories on its LosGatan.com website, in its weekly e-edition, in its email newsletters and on social media channels under the handle @losgatan.

The new publication’s launch follows a string of acquisitions over the past seven years in communities adjacent to Weeklys’ core markets. In 2014, along with the purchase of Santa Cruz’s Good Times, the alt weekly publisher expanded into traditional community publishing with the purchase of the Gilroy Dispatch, Morgan Hill Times and Hollister Free Lance. 

Since becoming part of the publishing group, the Gilroy Dispatch won the state’s top journalism award — General Excellence — from the California News Publishers Association, as did Good Times — two years in a row.

In 2019, Weeklys purchased Watsonville’s Pajaronian, Aptos Life and an affiliated group in the Salinas Valley. The next year, it acquired the Press Banner, based in Scotts Valley, which is adjacent to Los Gatos.

Also in 2020, Weeklys added the East Bay Express alternative weekly to the group, which also includes the Pacific Sun and Bohemian in the North Bay. In July 2020, the East Bay team unveiled a home delivered glossy, East Bay magazine.

“We are seeing a post-pandemic resurgence in our print properties,” Pulcrano said. “I know print was supposed to disappear, but in recent years, cognitive psychologists and neuroscientists have released studies explaining how the human brain absorbs written information, and print media appears to have some advantages over digital media in terms of comprehension and recall.”

Pulcrano said his Silicon Valley publishing company will also continue to invest in digital media.

Weeklys is privately held and based in the SoFA District of San Jose, California.

About Weeklys:

Founded as Metro Publishing and recently rebranded Weeklys, the company operates 14 Northern California newspapers, including alternatives Metro Silicon Valley, East Bay Express, Santa Cruz’s Good Times, Marin’s Pacific Sun and North Bay Bohemian, circulated in Sonoma and Napa counties. The company also publishes traditional community newspapers in Los Gatos, Gilroy, Morgan Hill, San Benito County, Salinas Valley, King City, Watsonville, Aptos and Scotts Valley.