Welcomemat Rolling Out Welcomemat to More Upstate New Comers

An Atlanta-based company plans to roll out the Welcomemat for more newcomers to the Upstate.

Welcomemat, a marketing strategies and technology company that provides monthly direct mail packages to individuals and families who've changed their addresses, plans to expand in the greater Greenville area as part of its goal to add 15 franchise operations throughout the United States in 2011 and more than 200 in the next five years.

The barcode information not only allows small businesses the ability to track response of their marketing dollars, but also gives them insight into the moving population in their area, the company said.

Welcomemat was started eight years ago in Charlotte and Atlanta as a way to help small businesses gain access to new loyal clients by reaching out to new families or individuals who move into an area, said Brian Mattingly, the company’s co-founder and president.

New movers are more likely to spend more money at local businesses during their first year at a new address than established residents would spend in about five years, he said.

The company welcomes newcomers by delivering them a gift certificate package of invitations to new movers that may be redeemed at local restaurants, salons, medical practices,auto service centers and other businesses.

Welcomemat leaders say the company is the “first and only loyalty marketing platform designed for local businesses to employ proprietary technology that enables new mover information to be bar-coded into every invitation.”

Welcomemat has 12 locations throughout the Southeast.

Mattingly said the growing number of new movers in Greenville and the surrounding area make this region an ideal fit for more Welcomemat Services.

Welcomemat is already in certain areas of the Greenville County, including “heavy movement” locations like Simpsonville and the Eastside, as well as Anderson, Easley and Spartanburg.

“The whole region is really good. We’re seeing suppliers pop up in the Upstate for (Boeing) so there is definitely some great growth,” he said.

The company just started selling franchises. That’s another reason the company wanted to be in Greenville.

“We’ve always had Greenville as a target to actually sell to someone because we wanted a local person to own the market,’’ Mattingly said. “We have always anticipated Greenville being a locally-owned market.”

Welcomemat services are in every major city in North Carolina, Georgia and South Carolina, Mattingly said.

South Carolina made the 2010 “high inbound” list (55 percent or more of the moves going into state) on United Van Lines’ annual migration study for the first time since 2008.

Please visit www.welcoemmatservices.com for more information.