I like this article for two reasons: It’s a great story about how the couple found a retail niche and stuck with it, and it’s a story that generated news about the business.

The store stocks things like table lamps made from tripods and other pieces fashioned from sturdy, leftover items found in old foundries, factories and farms. It built a reputation for offering well-made, eclectic furnishings. It has moved to larger locations twice since its inception, now encompassing 12,000 square feet of floor space. The store and its products have also earned a nice reputation in the community.

The owners were able to capitalize on the place’s popularity by convincing The Columbus Dispatch to write an article about it. What’s great is that the owners were able to provide customers for the writer to interview, all of whom talked about how happy they are with what they bought from the store.

Not only that, but the story has some great news hooks as well: The owners are high-school sweethearts who first met in kindergarten. Each item sold has its own distinctive serial number. The store is promoted as “where the Corn Belt embraces the Rust Belt.” Robert De Niro bought a table there for his new hotel in New York City.

These are the kinds of things that interest reporters and editors. All it takes is for an owner to recognize the things that turn a store into a story. If you advertise in the local media, let your ad rep know that you’d really like to see your store covered as a successful or interesting business (avoid advertorials as they have less credibility). If you don’t advertise with them, craft a short, well-written email/voicemail/phone script about your place. Find out who covers local businesses, then call or mail them. You often can find their contact information at the end of an article online or in print.

It might take a while for you to find the right words to tell the right editor at the right time. But keep at it. Sooner or later, they’re going to see that you have “the write stuff.”