Q&As

Valassis Communications, Inc. has agreed to buy direct mail marketer Advo for $1.3 billion.

The Telephone Preference Service is getting cut off. The Direct Marketing Association announced Thursday that it would phase out the service

Sharper image Corp. reported sales of $36.4 million for June, off 21% from $46 million last year.

Starting this week, financial services giant Chase has turned its ATMs into instant-win machines, as it distributes more than 5,000 free tickets to the U.S. Tennis Open to be held in New York City later this summer.

Wise Foods gets on Scholastic’s Magic School Bus for a regional back-to-school campaign.

A Century 21 Real Estate sweepstakes drew 125,000 this past spring and the eight finalists are set to gather next week in a competition for the grand prize.

Many large chain eateries take good advantage of the promotional opportunities available online. But what if local restaurants could do this too?

Casual comic book enthusiasts read their periodicals and then toss them on the coffee table. Would a serious collector do that? Would Superman leave a chunk of kryptonite lying around the Fortress of Solitude? They turn to businesses like Bill Cole Enterprises, which sells Mylar sleeves, backing boards and other preservation supplies for paper collectibles like money, magazines, and yes, funny books.

Early in June, we were looking for a Fourth of July flag to hang on the front porch. We searched the SRDS mailing list directory (www.srds.com) to buy from a company that sells flags by mail, and that has a mailing list for rent.

* The State of West Virginia has teamed with the nonprofit group Mission West Virginia to launch a new program providing training in e-commerce applications for small business and entrepreneurs throughout the state. Four hundred and fifty participants …