Screenshot from twitter.com/dannyaway

Yesterday morning I tweeted the above – “Wow. @Groupon‘s already sold 2,117 groupons today to Pitch Pizzeria. Seems like they’re headed for an Omaha record.” – after I saw Groupon had sold over 2,000 of their $15 for $30 to Pitch Pizzeria. In the tweet, I also asked “Anyone know the record?”

Fit to the humor of Groupon founder Andrew Mason and the wit of Groupon copy that makes their daily emails fun and interesting to read, @GrouponOmaha provided an enjoyable reply:

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Screenshot from twitter.com/grouponomaha

My question, however, was yet to be answered (although I was pretty impressed with that cake sculpture). Another tweet came from Groupon team member Christian Jehling, who said he was responsible for Old Market daily deals. “Spaghetti Works sold almost 5,000,” Jehling tweeted. He later tweeted the exact number sold in that deal was 4,538.

Needless to say, I was unaware Omaha had hit this high mark before. With all the buzz that surrounded a possible sale to Google and now an imminent IPO, the question: “Is Groupon really that valuable?” seemed easier to answer: “Yes.” In Omaha, Groupon has more than 129,000 email subscribers. In Des Moines, it’s more than 72,000. For comparison, the daily print circulation of the Omaha World-Herald is 184,150, and the Des Moines Register is 116,876 (numbers from Wikipedia).

To learn more about the best-selling Groupons in Omaha and Des Moines, I contacted Groupon’s spokesperson, Julie Anne Mossler. The following are the stats she sent over, and it’s worth noting that the Gap deal was one that ran nationally but it performed especially well in Omaha.

Top Six Deals for Omaha

1. 4,538 – $10 for $20 worth of all-you-can-eat pasta, drinks and casual Italian fare at Spaghetti Works
2. 3,500 (Sold Out) – $15 for $30 worth of pizza, pasta, drinks and more at Pitch Coal-Fire Pizzeria 
3. 3,160 – $25 for $50 worth of apparel at Gap
4. 3,000 – $15 for $30 worth of Italian cuisine at Vincenzo’s Ristorante 
5. 2,972 – $15 for $30 worth of pizza and grill fare at Oscar’s Pizza and Sports Grille
6. 2,792 – $10 for $20 worth of Cajun cuisine at Jazz, a Louisiana Kitchen

Facts: Groupon Omaha launched on February 15, 2010. Since beginning to offer daily deals in Omaha, Groupon has saved our more than 129,000 Omaha subscribers more than $5.2 million. Groupon has featured more than 350 local Omaha businesses, selling more than 126,000 Groupons.

Top Six Deals for Des Moines

1. 2,704 – $7 for $15 worth of American fare and drinks from Okoboji Grill
2. 2,047 – $7 for $15 worth of coffee, sandwiches and more at Smokey Row Coffee House
3. 1,138 – $5 for $10 worth of Cold Stone Creamery Ice Cream
4. 1,115 – $10 for $25 game card at All Play Des Moines 
5. 1,007 – $10 for $25 worth of British pub fare and drinks at Royal Mile
6. 535 – $30 for Mani-Pedi at Finesse Salon and Spa ($64 value) 

Facts: Groupon Des Moines launched on October 25, 2010. Since beginning to offer daily deals in Des Moines, Groupon has saved our more than 72,000 Des Moines subscribers more than $1.2 million. Groupon has featured more than 100 local Des Moines businesses, selling more than 21,000 Groupons.

To learn more about Chicago-based Groupon, visit groupon.com/about