Good Times

What Good Times does

Good Times is a Santa Cruz, California-based free weekly newspaper serving Santa Cruz County residents, visitors, and local businesses. Founded in 1975 and operated by Nuz, Inc. as part of the Weeklys local media network, the publication produces hyperlocal coverage spanning local news, arts and entertainment, dining reviews, environmental reporting, community events, opinion columns, and obituaries. Distribution combines free weekly print pickups throughout the county with a comprehensive website (goodtimes.sc) and a digital flip-through edition powered by Pagesuite.

The product portfolio extends beyond the core weekly edition to include a Cityspark-powered events calendar with submission and promotion portals (integrated with Eventbrite), email newsletters, giveaways and contests, special publications (Best of Santa Cruz County, Visitor's Guide, Food & Drink guides, Faces of Santa Cruz, 50Up lifestyle magazine) hosted on Issuu, and a paid obituary submission service operated in partnership with Legacy.com. The technology stack is conventional for a community newsroom: standard web CMS, third-party SaaS for events and digital editions, and social media distribution through Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter/X (17,623 fans and 8,845 followers respectively).

The business model is primarily advertising-driven, monetized through a structured annual themed-issue ad planner (Health + Fitness, Best of SC, Pizza Week, Burger Week, and similar franchises) sold across print and digital surfaces, supplemented by newsletter and print subscriptions, back-issue sales, gift certificates, and obituary referral revenue. The publication runs on a small team in the 11-50 employee range, is privately held with no venture capital or public-market exposure, and operates as a single-geography title with no disclosed expansion beyond Santa Cruz County.

Name

Good Times

Legal name

Nuz, Inc.

Website

https://goodtimes.sc

Company type

Private

Founded year

1975

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Good Times is a Santa Cruz County free weekly newspaper delivered in print and digital formats. Published by Nuz, Inc. within the Weeklys local media group, it covers local news, arts, dining, and events, monetized primarily through advertising.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Local Newspaper / Community Media

NAICS

Newspaper Publishers (513110), Newspaper Publishers (51311), Periodical Publishers (51312)

SIC

Newspapers: Publishing Or Publishing & Printing (2711)

akta.pro primary industry

Local & Regional Newspapers (Print & Digital) (MPAJADAB)

akta.pro secondary industries

Digital Newsstand & Aggregation Platforms (Magazine/News Apps, Bundles) (MPAJAKAE), News, Politics & Current Affairs Magazines (MPAJAEAO)

Keywords

• Local news publishing
• Weekly newspaper
• Community journalism
• Print advertising
• Events calendar

Headquarters

HQ city

Santa Cruz

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Supply Chain

Revenue model

1. Print and Digital Advertising: The primary revenue stream is advertising, both print and digital. The Ad Planner/Issue Schedule documents specific themed issues (Health + Fitness, Best of SC, Pizza Week, Burger Week, etc.) with corresponding ad deadlines, indicating a structured advertising sales model tied to editorial content themes.
2. Subscriptions and Product Sales: The site offers newsletter subscriptions, print subscriptions, back issues, gift certificates, and event ticket giveaways. Obituary submission services are available via a paid process through Legacy.com partnership.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

Good Times publishes a free weekly print newspaper and accompanying digital edition covering Santa Cruz County local news, arts and entertainment, dining reviews, and community events. The publication monetizes its audience primarily through print and digital advertising sales and offers supplementary paid services such as obituary listings, email newsletter subscriptions, and special themed publications including the annual Best of Santa Cruz County issue.

Product overview

Good Times is a Santa Cruz, California-based weekly print and digital news publication published by Nuz, Inc. (part of the Weeklys local media group). The publication operates as a multi-platform news organization offering a weekly print newspaper, a digital flip-through edition via Pagesuite, and a comprehensive website. The product portfolio includes the core print/digital newspaper covering local news, arts, entertainment, food, dining reviews, and community content, supplemented by an events calendar with submission capabilities, email newsletters, obituary services (via Legacy.com partnership), giveaways/contests, and special publications including annual Best of Santa Cruz County, Visitor's Guide, and themed lifestyle magazines distributed through Issuu. Advertising services are offered across both print and digital platforms.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Weeklys: Parent network of local California weekly publications including East Bay Express, Metro Silicon Valley, North Bay Bohemian, Pacific Sun, and community weeklies.

Products and services

• Good Times Print Edition

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration9 records

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• Legacy.comminorOthersGood Times partners with Legacy.com for obituary submission and publication services. Obituaries submitted through Good Times appear on both the Good Times website and the Legacy.com platform, extending reach for obituary announcements.

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• East Bay Express: Sister publication within the Weeklys network. Both operate as free weekly alt-news papers covering local arts, dining, news, and events in their respective California communities, sharing parent Nuz, Inc. and similar product structure.
• Metro Silicon Valley: Weeklys network sibling covering Silicon Valley with a comparable free weekly alt-news format, arts and entertainment coverage, and advertising-led business model targeting a similar Northern California SMB audience.
• North Bay Bohemian: Weeklys network sister paper in the North Bay. Same free weekly format, arts/entertainment/community focus, print + digital distribution, and shared advertising sales infrastructure serving Northern California.
• Pacific Sun: Weeklys network sibling in Marin County with parallel free weekly newspaper model covering local news, arts, dining, and community events for a similar coastal California demographic.
• Santa Cruz Sentinel: Direct in-market competitor covering Santa Cruz County. While paid/daily rather than free/weekly, it competes for the same local news audience and local advertiser dollars in the Santa Cruz market.
• Monterey County Weekly: Independently operated free weekly alt-news paper serving a neighboring California coastal county. Closely comparable product (weekly free print + digital), audience (coastal California community), and revenue model (advertising-led with events).
• SF Weekly: Historic free weekly alt-news paper covering San Francisco with the same print + digital + events + classifieds format. Provides a benchmark for ad pricing, audience scale, and product roadmap for Northern California weeklies.

Emerging players

• Lookout Santa Cruz: Digital-first local news outlet serving Santa Cruz County. Competes for the same readers and advertisers as Good Times but operates on a subscription-led model rather than free print, representing an emerging alternative format in the same market.

Regional players

• Edible Monterey Bay: Regional food and drink publication covering the Monterey Bay area including Santa Cruz. Overlaps on dining reviews, food coverage, and local food advertiser relationships in the same geographic market.

Broad incumbents

• Los Angeles Times Community News: Large regional legacy publisher that operates community/local news products and competes for the same SMB advertising budgets across California, though at substantially larger scale and broader geographic footprint than Good Times.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/GoodTimesSC
• Facebookfacebook.com/GoodTimesSantaCruz
• Instagraminstagram.com/goodtimessc

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Good Times