8 GROUNDCOVER NEWS VENDOR WEEK WEDNESDAY 2/4 ALL WEEK JANUARY 23, 2026 february 2-8, 2026 VENDOR APPRECIATION WEEK MONDAY 2/2 10 a.m.: Radio interview about Groundcover News on the Lucy Ann Lance Show. Listen at 1290 WLBY or online at www.1290wlby.com/ 7 p.m.: Ann Arbor City Council Declaration of Vendor Appreciation Week 2026 TUESDAY 2/3 celebrity selling Some familiar faces will be selling with Groundcover vendors around downtown A2 during the morning and afternoon! • People's Food Co-op • Main and Liberty • North U and State Street • 4th Ave and Liberty Street • Argus Farm Stop • YMCA 10 a.m.: Vendors speak on U-M campus 11:30 a.m.: Catered lunch at Groundcover office 1 p.m.: Vendors speak on U-M campus THURSDAY 2/5 Massages for vendors at the office 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. provided by Julia from Eclipse Massage FRIDAY 2/6 10 a.m. Special breakfast and Vendor Meeting, new paper delivery. 6:30 p.m.: LIVE dance party (see right) all proceeds go to Groundcover! If you would like to sell the paper with a Groundcover vendor on Tuesday (you don't have to be a celebrity!) or support any of the Vendor Appreciation Week activities, email lindsay@groundcovernews.com. Read more about what this experience entails below. Follow along on social media for updates! Customers are invited to: post about Groundcover on social media; talk to friends, family and coworkers about the paper; tip your vendor; bring your vendor coffee/hot chocolate and hand warmers, and MORE! GROUNDCOVER NEWS HAPPY HOUR DANCE PARTY @ LIVE, 6:30-9PM Vendor Week lesson: "It was very cold out" LAUREN HALPERIN Groundcover contributor International Street Paper Vendor Week was February 4-10 [2014]. The Groundcover student group decided that to celebrate this time of the year, each student would shadow a vendor for a day to help him or her sell, get them coffee, and really just give them some company. I had the pleasure of working with Michael, vendor #163. I met Michael in front of the Groundcover office. We started our journey on Main Street near Starbucks, went in to get some hot coffee, and then walked a couple blocks after a small altercation over territory with another vendor. Once we ventured those couple of blocks, we stopped where the sunlight could still reach us between the buildings. Sun was a very sought-after commodity on this cold February afternoon. The cold weather presents myriad issues for vendors. People will walk out of an establishment, put their hood on, earphones in, and scarf up to their eyes, determined to get to their next destination as quickly and warmly as possible. This leaves no time to stop and inquire about a $1 donation for a newspaper for which this person is then going to have to sacrifice a hand out of their pocket to hold on the way home. However, Michael was determined. With a smile on his face, he inquired of every person walking by, “Have you read the new issue of Groundcover?” He was informed about the stories inside, which enabled him to use that as a selling point to potential customers. He would even playfully use me as a way to gain the attention of passing crowds saying, “She writes for them! She’s a great writer!” A smart move, if I do say so myself. Going into Vendor Week, I was expecting to write about the trials of a Groundcover vendor, the harsh winters and even harsher rejections. After selling with Michael that day, however, I realized a lesson that I truly have tried to apply to my own stresses and hardships: it’s all about the attitude. The faces you see selling Groundcover newspapers are happy to be out there; they understand that when they hear a “No, thank you,” that person may have somewhere else to be and would love to stop but simply does not have the time. As Michael pointed out to me after standing out in the cold for hours with 30 newspapers under his arm and not going home until he had sold all of them, “Not everyone has time to stop and chat, and it IS very cold out today.” Originally published in the May 2014 edition of Groundcover News.
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