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30 years
The Early Days (1984-2000)
T
he idea that became
Cityview magazine began
not with a spark—but
with a full-fledged fire. Specifically, it
was the fire that completely destroyed
the building that housed Dale Insula-
tion, a company run by John and Nancy
Lyle, as well as six other businesses, in
1983. The arsonist was caught, and the
fire received a great deal of attention in
both print and television news.
However, Dale Insulation managed to
keep its figurative doors open through
help from its parent company in Nash-
ville, warehouse space donated by local
grocery store chain H.T. Hackney, and
rapid shipment of new inventory from
supplier owens Corning—only to find
that their competitors were stealing
Dale’s customers, who didn’t know
Dale was still open.
“There was a real need to tell our about what we were doing and what we and asking to be included. These were
story,” says John Lyle. He and his wife were trying to accomplish,” says Lyle. not only home improvement-related
Nancy ultimately decided to tell it They also sold profiles to several other businesses, but banks, nail salons, and
themselves. They published a short home-related businesses in town. more. “And it worked,” says Nancy.
magazine called The Home Living Much to the Lyles’ surprise, their “The advertorials got response.” They
Guide and mailed it to 40,000 homes magazine was very popular—and more decided to continue to publish, chang-
around Knoxville. “We told the story
and more businesses were calling them
ing the magazine’s name to Cityview.
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cityviewmag.com january february 2014