Who would have thought back in 1962, when attorney Hughes Poticker sat with wife Sheila at their kitchen table in suburban Detroit, brainstorming a way to raise funds for charity, that his idea more than 30 years later would influence where thousands of people worldwide go out for dinner each Saturday night?
Yet when the question “Where should we go?” arises-as it inevitably does any time two or more human beings embark on a dining experience together-the answer is frequently found in the Poticker invention: The Entertainment book.
From its humble kitchen-table conception, the idea of a leisure discount book sold by not-for-profit charitable organizations has grown both in content and geography over the last 32 years. Mundelein to Montreal, Paris to Pittsburgh, this Bible of buy one, get one free restaurant meals is now sold in 125 market areas in the United States, Canada and Europe.
For the Chicago area, the headquarters is in an office complex on Lake-Cook Road in Deerfield. The office covers a territory stretching from Green Bay, Wis., hitting the major cities of Wisconsin, then reaching into northwest Indiana and central Illinois.
Nationally, the book can be found in all major American cities, according to Scott Lohmann of Chicago, regional manager for the Chicago area Entertainment Publications Inc.
“We go anywhere there is a good non-profit base that has a need for a fundraiser,” Lohmann said. He pointed out that even some less-populated areas have been added to the discount book’s map, such as the new central Illinois edition encompassing the cities of Peoria, Springfield, Bloomington, Normal, Decatur and their surrounding areas.
And while the original Entertainment book was limited to dining coupons, today it offers discounts on a wide variety of leisure-time activities, including sporting events, theaters, amusement parks, hotels, clothing and air fare.
Users hooked on the book say that if you eat out twice using the coupons, you will get back the $35 you paid for it and that just a little planning will return the initial investment many times over.
The Bauer family in Libertyville cashes in on big savings for movies, hotels and dining, said Susan Bauer, who recently booked her daughter’s lodging for an upcoming spring break trip to Florida using the coupons. The family also gets a cut rate at the local River Tree theater, she said, and her son used the coupons to take a date to a fancy Northbrook restaurant for this year’s homecoming.
Perhaps the biggest benefit, Bauer said, is that the book introduces the family to new dining experiences. “It’s nice to try different restaurants. We’ve discovered a lot of nice places we wouldn’t have found otherwise,” Bauer said.
One thing that hasn’t changed over time is the method by which the book is sold. It is hawked by an army of volunteers recruited each year from not-for-profit organizations to be the sales force for this publication, which sold 4 million copies in 1993 alone.
In return, the not-for-profit group earns 20 percent of the cost of the book, or $7 per book for sellers of Chicago area publications. The publisher keeps the other 80 percent, out of which printing and business expenses are paid. President Bob Sarkie, based in Troy, Mich., said the company does not disclose how much profit is left over for Entertainment Publications.
Nevertheless, the book seems to be a good deal for everyone involved. There are also bonuses and incentives, such as $50 for selling a case more than the prior year; free books for picking up your own inventory; and 25 cents more per book if more than 100 books are sold.
The Entertainment book is to adult fundraising what candy bars are to the kids, Lohmann said, adding, “Charities like a way to raise revenue without just asking for money.”
“It doesn’t take a lot of effort, and it is something that people use,” said Betty Wolfmeyer, who coordinates Entertainment book sales for the Auxiliary of Condell Medical Center in Libertyville. The auxiliary uses the hospital gift shop and the store at the hospital-affiliated Center Club to sell the books, she said.
Entertainment Publications works with more than 70,000 not-for-profit groups worldwide, according to branch manager Lori Robertson of Chicago, who said she marvels at the enthusiasm of those who sell the books.
“It’s incredible to see,” she said. “These individuals aren’t being paid. They are doing it to raise money for band uniforms or a new church organ. Yet they are completely dedicated, and they really want to raise money this way.”
Ironically, the popularity of the Entertainment book fundraiser is the biggest drawback, not-for-profit groups say, because too many organizations are chasing after the same customer.
“There is a lot of competition in Libertyville,” Wolfmeyer said. “My church, other churches, the high school are all selling them.”
The complaint is often heard at the Lake County headquarters, particularly from groups on the North Shore, where the books’ concentration is the highest in the Chicago area, Robertson acknowledged. But it is not true that the market is saturated, she said. In reality, only 5 percent of Chicago area households own a book, leaving 95 percent ripe for the picking, she noted.
Groups that feel the competition locally is too stiff are encouraged to sell “outside their circle of influence,” she said. “We tell them to take the books to different places, like work, or to set up a banner and sell in front of a grocery store.
For merchants, the book is a marketing technique designed to attract new patrons by making an experimental visit to a restaurant less expensive. Businesses that contract to have their promotion included in the book make introductory offers primarily on a two-for-one basis: one complimentary dinner or admission when one is paid for at the same or higher price. The book was made more attractive in recent years for those who dine alone. The “solo dining” promotion offered from many restaurants gives 50 percent off one entree to anyone dining without a companion.
The Chicago area headquarters moved to Lake County from Skokie about two years ago. The Deerfield location was picked for its convenience to sellers because most of the 2,500 non-profit groups that sell the Chicago area publications are in the north suburbs, Robertson said.
Chicago was one of the first cities to join the Entertainment bandwagon, climbing aboard in 1975 and expanding since then into five regional editions: north, northwest, west and south suburbs, and northwest Indiana.
Each edition is tailored for use in a specific area of the region.
Entertainment Publications Inc. is a publicly held corporation based in Troy, Mich., that employs 1,100 people. In 1992 the company was bought in a $230 million stock swap by CUC International, Stamford Ct., which is traded on the New York Stock Exchange.
The books are designed to appeal to a variety of tastes and budgets, said Lohmann, the regional manager. Restaurant offers, for example, are divided into three sections. Two of them-casual and international, and informal and carryout-represent more than $3,500 in values to diners who present coupons at the time of purchase. A third section, fine dining, provides a classier alternative for people averse to coupons: a membership card to present in credit-card fashion before the bill is tabulated.
A new edition of the book is published each year, with book sales starting in the fall and the coupons good through Nov. 1 of the following year. The heavy selling period runs September through December and closes out in January, Robertson said.
A sales staff of 10 account executives spends most of January through June soliciting merchants for this region, meeting with old ones and updating new ones; the remainder of their time is spent working with the not-for-profit groups, taking orders and getting books to them.
To find the name of a local organization selling Entertainment ’95 for $35, call the regional office at 708-945-0300.
