These business directories are an effort to create a cross-advertising / networking mechanism for small businesses.  I sell ad space, design the ads unless customers supply artwork, get them printed, and then deliver them to the participating businesses.  They pass them out to their customers wherever and however they see fit.  The more they pass them out, the more everyone benefits.  These brochures are a collaborative endeavor by small businesses to promote themselves.  Customers also benefit.  If customers knew what was available to them in their neighborhoods who knows how much they could save by spending less money on gas.