Banner Retail Marketing Group LLC, a Liberty Lake retail advertising designer, has expanded its focus beyond print mailers and circulars to include integrated Web site design and servicing, says John Dresel, Banner's new CEO, largest shareholder, and former president of Tully's Coffee.

Dresel, who's also former president of operations for the Seattle SuperSonics and former chief operating officer of Seattle-based Tully's, moved to Spokane last year to take over management of Banner, which like many of its clients had taken a severe hit during the recession.

Dresel and a group of investors last year bought Banner from a Seattle private equity firm, which bought the company from Bill and Jane Sauther, of Spokane Valley, in 2007.

Banner, located in a 13,000-square-foot building at 23305 E. Knox, employs 40 people, down from 75 employees in 2007. Dresel, though, says the company is back on a growth track and currently is seeking to hire five salespeople.

He says Banner now integrates digital and traditional advertising media, in part by using print media to drive consumers to retailers' Web sites. That strategy has stabilized the company by helping its customers, mostly small to midsized independent furniture dealers, remain visible even as consumers' habits shift.

"Since the recession, consumer buying behaviors have changed," Dresel says. "Most adults research the Internet for local prices before going to retail locations for major purchases."

That hurts smaller independent retailers who don't have Web sites, or whose Web sites are underdeveloped, he says.

To continue to serve its clients, Banner added a Web-site service that it integrates with its glossy advertising inserts and mailers delivered here and elsewhere to enable independent retailers to compete with retail giants with much larger advertising budgets.

Dresel says Banner Retail has 1,200 customers nationwide, including Arcadia, Wis.-based Ashley Furniture Industries Inc. and Lenoir, N.C.-based Broyhill Furniture Industries Inc.

Only two clients, whom Dresel declines to identify, are based in the Inland Northwest. Burgan's Furniture LLC, which closed its operations at 1120 N. Division, had been Banner's largest Inland Northwest client, Banner previously had said.

The Web-site service has been embraced by many of Banner's clients that don't have the resources to keep their own sites updated, Dresel says. "We've created over 200 Web sites," he says.

For its print products, Banner had relied on manufacturers' representatives to distribute its own promotional materials. With the addition of the Web-site service, the company keeps in closer direct contact with individual retailers, Dresel says.

"The Web site always has to be in sync with seasonal promotions and advertising," he says. "We have to be in consistent contact with customers to do custom work in 1,200 different areas."

A custom Web site that Banner creates and updates regularly has basic features and includes information on in-store specials, online offers, brands, contacts, and financing, he says.

"It's not a full-blown Web site," he says. "It's just enough to say it's worth it to visit the retailer."

Banner expects to produce more than 400 million circulars this year, he says. That's down from 1.4 billion circulars that the company said it printed in 2006.

The company, however, is fiscally healthy, Dresel says. "We've navigated through a trying time, and we're moving in a fruitful direction," he says.