Site Stuff: We're all geared up for the Arts Festival!

Jun 5, 2022 • 12:00 am

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It'd be fun to say our new HQ/shop is a literal part of the Three Rivers Arts Festival that opened this past weekend and runs through next Sunday.

But it's way more fun to say we're a permanent part of the Downtown scenery and that we'll just be here, anyway, right?

If you're heading down here to the Arts Festival, as tens of thousands of Pittsburghers do each summer, just stop over and say hello. Most of the events this year, which are now more in Downtown than ever -- rather than at the edge of Point State Park -- are being held along Penn Avenue between Seventh and Ninth Streets. That puts us just a couple blocks away, at 224 Fifth Avenue, and very much on the way to Market Square.

For the first time, to mark the occasion, we'll have a presence out on the street itself, with a table showcasing some of our more art-based merchandise, such as the Dave DiCello and Carla Cardello photo prints, Rob Ullman's cartoons and much more. We also might -- that's might -- have a big artistic surprise for everyone at some point this weekend. Hoping to nail that down.

Also for the first time, to further mark the occasion, we'll stay open on a Sunday, utilizing our regular hours of 11 a.m.-6 p.m.

All of this will be part of what we expect will be a yearlong learning process regarding this new and exciting wing of the business. That goes to studying which merchandise sells to traffic patterns on the sidewalk to ... just little stuff.

Fun example came yesterday: A young man from Mechanicsburg, Va., was walking by, and he'd almost made it the whole way past us before spinning around to look inside one of our windows. Something caught his eye, after which he looked up to see our big sign, after which I'd made eye contact with him and assured him it was OK to come in and look around.

He did so, bought one of Carla's metal prints, then asked about our media business, never having heard of us. He's a diehard Steelers fan from Virginia and expressed interest in keeping up with the team through us. So Dara and I hooked him up with a new subscription and the app download, after which he walked over to a shelf and bought one of our DKPS stickers for his laptop.

For those who've asked why we're doing this ... that's why.

Hope to see you this weekend!

THE PRICE INCREASE

After letting all of our subscribers know of a general price increase this past week, both in Site Stuff and via mass email, the reaction has been overwhelmingly positive. And I'm not kidding or exaggerating.

Almost everyone who wrote back, whether in the comments accompanying the article or in replying to the email, expressed that they felt the increase, our first since 2017, was justified. Most of the rest of the feedback came from seniors wanting to be sure they'd continue paying at the same $19.99 rate they've always had -- they absolutely will -- and there were roughly two dozen subscribers who took us up on our promise that no one would pay the higher rate if they couldn't afford it.

That's it. Just two dozen. And even within those, most pledged to pay the full rate as soon as they're able.

For anyone who missed it, the price of an annual subscription's now at $59.99, and a monthly's now at $6.99. Seniors and students are still at $19.99, and military will always be completely free here. And anyone who can't afford the increase can just email me directly -- DK@DKPittsburghSports.com -- and let me know. No questions asked.

NEW GUY GETS GOING

Chris Halicke, our new full-time hire who'll cover both the Steelers and Pirates, arrived from Dallas at midweek. He penned his first piece yesterday on Pat Freiermuth after a couple days on the South Side getting the lay of the land from Dale Lolley, and he'll be with me today and tonight at PNC Park for his second tour.

Chris has our full-time roster at an all-time high of eight, with only Pitt football/basketball left to finish as part of our 2.0 remodel here. That'll be completed in the coming week. Had some very good conversations on this front the past couple days, including with the university. We want to do Pitt right.

BACK TO BUSINESS

• Our page views for the past week were 391,095, our lowest week of the year. Our most-read original piece was Alex Stumpf's coverage from Los Angeles of Cole Tucker being designated for assignment, at 12,958. Broken down by team traffic, articles on the Pirates brought 29.2% of our readership, the Steelers 18.7%, the Penguins 13.1%, Pitt 0.8%, and Penn State 0.7%.