Mapeasy:Helping Tourists Get Around
Seven years ago, Chris Harris and Gary Bradhering, who used to scribble the names of their favorite restaurants and hotels on street maps for future reference, decided to turn their idea of a street-map-and-guidebook-in-one into a business.
Working out of their homes, the two produced guide maps for New York, Boston, and Washington, D.C., cities they were well acquainted with, and set off for the American Book Sellers Show in Las Vegas in June 1990, "not knowing if anyone would like it," said Mr. Harris. "But the buying public warmed to the idea."
Imagine, said Mr. Harris, a tourist lugging a guidebook in one hand and a street map in the other. "You see all these great restaurants, but you don't know where they are," he said. "You can go out and buy a $20 guidebook or a $5.50 map."
Targeting Shoppers
Now, with 29 maps of mostly United States cities in publication and four more of Amsterdam, Rome, Venice, and Montreal due out in the spring, the company, Mapeasy, is thriving. Its products are found in bookstores across the country, and the firm also does customized versions for conventions and corporations.
The company is now expanding its line to include maps of major retail centers, to cater to shoppers.
Early next year, MapEasy, which is currently in an office on Gingerbread Lane in East Hampton, will move to larger quarters now under construction on Industrial Road in East Hampton looking over the East Hampton Airport. The move will give the company's 11-member staff some elbow room and also allow it to have an on-site warehouse.
MapEasy's success finds the East End, hardly a central location, becoming nonetheless something of a center for mapmakers. Streetwise Maps is located in Amagansett.
Focus For Mapmakers
"We occupy different niches," said Mr. Harris of the other company. While Streetwise produces more of a standard street map, including one for the East End, "we're not trying to map out the Greater Paris area - we're interested in tourist centers," said Mr. Harris.
The company has no plans to do a local map, he added, because "the market is limited."
MapEasy maps are clearly user-friendly. Printed on waterproof paper, they include pleasant drawings of major attractions and color-coded entries for hotels, restaurants, and retail shops which, thanks to computer graphics, look like they were hand-written by someone with excellent penmanship.
Happy Customers
There is no advertising charge for businesses that appear on the maps. "That's strictly an editorial decision on our part," said Mr. Harris. "We try to weigh a place on what we think our public wants."
A MapEasy user with a hankering for hamburgers while visiting New York, for example, could find choices ranging from McDonald's to the 21 Club.
The company updates its maps at least once a year and sometimes more often. Frequently, it adds new listings suggested by customers, who send in a steady stream of fan mail.
Staff members do most of the field work for new publications. "We take lots of photographs, and people come back with bags full of brochures," said Mr. Harris.
Ideal Surroundings
Not surprisingly, it is not hard to find volunteers. "I haven't had too many people upset about having to go out and do research," Mr. Harris said.
"It's a thrill for me to go to a new city and get the lay of the land and know where everything is," he added. He still does much of the scouting himself. "I have a natural curiosity. I always want to know what's around the corner."
Mr. Harris, who comes from North Carolina, heads the company's production efforts, while Mr. Bradhering, a Boston native, takes care of the business side. Mr. Harris first came to East Hampton to visit a friend. "I thought it was the greatest place I'd ever seen," he said.
The partners have also found it to be an ideal place to run their business. Communications are good, and MacArthur Airport in Islip makes travel easy, said Mr. Harris. Plus, the laid-back approach on the East End allows them to have a "very casual office," which includes a couple golden retrievers lounging under desks.