Hammes family sells St. Maries Gazette Record to Mullen Family
May 5, 2021
ST. MARIES, Idaho — Dan and Cindy Hammes, second-generation family owners of the St. Maries Gazette Record, have sold the newspaper to Jesse and Sasha Mullen of Deer Lodge, Montana, according to John Thomas Cribb of Cribb, Greene & Cope who represented the Hammes family in the transaction.
The Gazette Record was founded in 1906 and purchased by the Hammes family in 1958. Since 1992, Dan and Cindy Hammes have operated the newspaper.
“It was a tough decision to sell,” said the Hammes. “Despite the challenges we all faced over the last year, business has been good. For that we are grateful to our readers and local businesses.
“Not only do we have a great staff, we publish in a great community. But we agreed it is time to retire and we know the Mullens will be a good fit and do a great job for our community.”
Jesse and Sasha are owners of the Bitterroot Star, Silver State Post and Philipsburg Mail newspapers in Montana as well as the Browsing Bison bookstore chain.
“Since Sasha and I first visited St. Maries, we fell in love with the community,” Jesse said. “The Hammes family have been excellent caretakers of St. Maries’ newspaper for more than 60 years and we are grateful they entrusted us with this responsibility.”
Cribb Greene & Cope represented the Hammes family in their sale to Jesse and Sasha. Cribb, Greene & Cope is a leading merger and acquisition firm with offices in Montana, Arkansas and California.