Jill Cataldo

"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times..." - Charles Dickens

Let me tell you a little story about point-of-purchase coupons that appear in dispensers near various products at the supermarket. Couponers have long referred to these coupons as "Blinkies," because the dispenser has a small red LED on the side blinking and beckoning to the shopper.

For as long as I can remember, the Blinkie dispensers have been maintained by SmartSource. They actually call them SmartSource Coupon Machines®, and if you've ever pulled a coupon out of a dispenser in a store aisle, you've seen and used one.

In Chicagoland, SmartSource Blinkie dispensers have always been found at both Jewel and Dominick's, the two major grocers in this area. However, Jewel recently made a significant change to their point-of-purchase coupon dispensers, and they are no longer contracting with SmartSource to place coupon dispensers in their stores. In the middle of June, the SmartSource coupon dispensers quietly disappeared -- perhaps you noticed.

In their places, we have new coupon dispensers maintained by Valassis (RedPlum.) The new dispensers look somewhat similar to the old ones, but unlike the SmartSource Coupon Machine, they do not dispense a certain amount of coupons to a user. The SmartSource coupon machine actually has an electric eye and won't dispense more than two unless you move away from the machine and reapproach it as "someone else." With the Valassis dispenser, there's simply a slot in which you can stick your finger in and pull out as many coupons as you'd like. This can be good and bad. Good that you can get multiples easily if you need them -- bad in that the dispensers will clear out much more quickly. Also notable? The Valassis dispensers don't have a blinking light on them. (Will we still call them "Blinkies?")