I'm very curious to know the experience of business owners who've used Groupon - I've just made a post questioning its value at http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1490096. I'd love to get HN's feedback on whether or not we should use the service.
There was an article about a bakery being overwhelmed by Groupon customers posted here a couple of months ago that you might find interesting: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1338553
People in the HN thread I linked have other interesting things to say, too. From what I can tell, it looks like there's a ton of potential to get your name out there, but you will almost certainly have to be able to accept an initial loss to do so. I don't have any experience with it personally, though.
Never used Groupon, but you might want to try emailing/calling some of the Retailers that have used Groupon in the smaller cities and see firsthand how effective it is.
Might be hard to find a "Retail Owner" here on HN.
Thanks - that's a great idea. I actually am friends with the operator of one of these clones and she herself has expressed that it might hold dubious value for most business owners. I will try to hunt down some retailers offline who've actually worked with them.
