VENTURA : Advertising Firm Closes; 100 Lose Jobs

A Ventura-based advertising company that has published a weekly booklet for more than 20 years folded on Tuesday, removing 100 positions from the county’s shrinking job market.

Executives of the Valley Shopper informed their 100 employees earlier in the day that the company would shut its doors for good at the close of the business day, sales manager Pauline Weaver said. None of the employees were aware before Tuesday that their jobs were in jeopardy, she said.

Weaver declined to say why the publication, which included personal, real estate and classified ads, was closing. But an employee said he had been told by management that the company was experiencing financial troubles.

The employees “were pretty devastated” by the news, the employee said. Neither David Cantelmi, Valley Shopper’s publisher, nor owner Bob Landegger could be reached for comment.