Network Communications Inc. (NCI), of Lawrenceville, Ga., has bought By Design Publishing Inc., of Hayden, Idaho, says By Design President Brandon Lee.


Lee and co-founder Steve Swayne will stay on as president and vice president, respectively, of the By Design division of NCI, and will retain ownership of an affiliated company, Digital Print & Mail, also of Hayden, Lee says.


By Design anticipates $10.3 million in sales this year, Lee says.


According to NCIs financial statement posted on its Web site, that company posted first-quarter revenues of $53.5 million.


Though Lee declines to disclose the financial terms of the sale, he says NCI, which is owned by Citigroup Venture Capital Equity Partners, of New York, has committed to a seven-year lease of By Designs 12,000-square-foot building, owned by Lee through MB&K LLC. The company also has signed a five-year contract with Digital Print & Mailing for services, he says.


NCI publishes a number of magazines for the real estate market, including The Real Estate Book, Apartment Finder, and Seattle Homes & Lifestyles, and also maintains Web sites for the industry. The two signature publications the company acquires through its purchase of By Design are Home by Design and Your Home & Lifestyle magazines.


By Design recently launched a concierge service for Realtors through which it sends their clients gift certificates and merchant discounts, free of charge, via a company Web site at the address FreeRealtorMailings.com. Lee says he anticipates the new service could increase the companys work force to around 93 employees from 83 currently, and expects even more rapid growth now that NCI is its parent.


Lee says he hopes Realtors will use the free, Web-based service in two ways. One way will be to offer discount services to home sellers who may need to do minor repairs and painting to prepare their homes to be shown to prospective buyers. The other way will be to send customized pre-mover coupons to home buyers that will introduce them to services in their new area.


Lee says the service is being test-marketed in the Spokane and Coeur dAlene area through December, and will be marketed nationwide beginning in January.


The service is free to Realtors and their customers, because advertisers pay the cost of the mailings. In the Web sites first week in July, Lee says, about 20 advertisers signed up, along with a few dozen Realtors.


Contact Jeanne Gustafson at (509) 344-1264 or via e-mail at [email protected].