The Distributors
We started the business in the spring of 2001 bright eyed and very naive thinking we have a winner here with the Shark and let's just go for it, simple; right? My son Carl often says: " if he knew then what he knows now, there is not chance he would have committed to this project". A world without Sharks, it just about happened.
We figured the first thing we need is a good distributor; got in touch with the folks at Triple S in New York. The package of sample Sharks was sitting on the kitchen counter ready to be delivered to New York, when we got a call from the neighbor; "turn on your TV! We just caught a live glimpse of the second plane slamming into the World Trade Center. The world changed forever that day, and at times it seems like it has been going on a downward spiral ever since. The samples didn't go out to New York for about two months. We thought about packing it in, it seemed like there was no point continuing. We were wrong, fishing took on a whole new meaning next summer as folks needed some relief from the world around them. We decided to carry on and give it a try.
Later that winter we were invited to attend the Triple S dealer show in New York. It was a good experience, met all the New York dealers, (what a pile of characters) sold a lot of product. We made a verbal agreement at the show; unfortunately it did not pan out in the spring. One of the partner's explained it to me: "Ed you are dreaming in Technicolor" I responded: " if your going to dream, it may as well be in Technicolor" we parted company.
A few interesting things did happen at the show; we were placed next door to the Walker Downrigger booth. That's where I first met this cocky young rep Don Standen. He was going on like most reps do about all the important people they know etc. Don said: " Have you tried to get into Cabela's yet?" I told him we tried that route but we didn't get past the front door." He said: I bet I could get you in with that product of yours" Ya right buddy. Well Holy Crap Batman, at five to nine Monday morning I got a call from Cabela's head office in Sydney Nebraska: we are in. But that's another story. Don turned out to be one of my favorite people in the business, he continued to offer his generous help for years to come. I'll get back to the Don Standen story in the future. Anyway one distributor down, three to go.
My Pal Don Standen
We had a short lived encounter with Don Largess in Michigan. Don and his wife Jackie were absolutely terrific. Don was an aerospace engineer laid off a few years previous and thought he’d follow his life’s dream: to become a distributor for fishing tackle. Don drove endlessly back and forth across Michigan visiting all the dealer’s promoting his line of goods. He would have made it if the fishing hadn’t dried up on Lake Huron. He lived on the shore; Lake Michigan was a long ways away. Unfortunately things didn’t work out; we parted good friends. Two down, two to go.
Don Standen told us to get a hold of Donny Rufo, their rep in New York. " Donny's got a truck and he does the rounds, he would be perfect" said Don. Well I met up with Don and Jill Rufo in March of that year in the port town of Oswego NY. They were both super people, well loved and respected in the community by their friends and acquaintances. Don drove me around the circuit and we established about 10 dealers that day.
We went on to have a great relationship over the next two years; sold a lot of Sharks and had a lot of fun along the way. One time in particular I remember; Donny said why don't you offer a special prize for the Pro Am Tournament coming up in Oswego. He suggested $1000 to the winner on the pro side if they win using Sharks and $500 on the Am side. I thought to myself, this could look good for us, and what's the chances of someone winning with Sharks anyway; there's over 40 boats in each category.
Notice Tom Allen in the red shirt smiling!
There I was up on the stage with Rufo handing over $1000 American dollars to none other than A-T0M-MIK Tom Allen on the Coldsteel Team. Two minutes later I was handing $500 dollars over to Del. For then on, we donated prizes to the derby every summer. We sure got our money’s worth as most of the winners got Sharks and we got the mention in front of the big crowd. From that day on most of the Pro Am captains in New York started using Sharks. Eight years later, they are all still using Sharks for their charter business and for fishing derbies. It was a sad day when Don & Jill left Oswego to seek other endeavors.
Tom Allen was just starting his little piece of the American Dream back then. Tom also liked to dream in Technicolor. Suzanne and I sat beside Tom and his girlfriend at the picnic lunch under the big top; I said to myself, "who is this guy" as he just kept on winning cases of beer in the raffle; about five or six of them. What a lucky guy!
We hooked up with Mike Bussing in Michigan the same summer; Mike's a good guy, I really liked him and his family and his team of super salesman. I have to say Mike's wife makes the most sensational peach cobbler I have ever tasted. Mike bought 1000 Sharks in one go. I had a lot of confidence in the product and told him: "you don't have to pay for them until you sell them". Six weeks later, I called Mike to see how it's going. "Haven't sold one Shark". I suggested I come down to Michigan to help out. I went down there and sold 1000 Sharks to dealers across the state in one week. I remember Mike saying "What kind of mojo did you put on these folks". There were a couple of guaranteed sales; if the dealer didn't sell them, I would take them back. Never had to take any Sharks back.
Down the line things turned sour, push came to shove on a few issues; we pulled out of the deal. So much for the peach cobbler. Three down, one to go.
Air Express to Sweden
Our forth and final distributor was Wildwater Fishing in Sweden. There was a lot of controversy surrounding these boys; but what the hell, they bought 1500 Sharks. They air expressed 50 Sharks across the Atlantic just so they could have them in time for a derby. Ouch! We stuck with the Wildwater Boys for about two years, but it finally fell apart for some really dumb reasons. It wasn’t the money; they were just too busy to promote the product the way they agreed to.
That was it for dealing with distributors, prices were going up for everything from gas to raw material; not a lot of room left for the wholesalers mark up. We figured we would just go direct to the dealers at this point. That is another story.
We figured the first thing we need is a good distributor; got in touch with the folks at Triple S in New York. The package of sample Sharks was sitting on the kitchen counter ready to be delivered to New York, when we got a call from the neighbor; "turn on your TV! We just caught a live glimpse of the second plane slamming into the World Trade Center. The world changed forever that day, and at times it seems like it has been going on a downward spiral ever since. The samples didn't go out to New York for about two months. We thought about packing it in, it seemed like there was no point continuing. We were wrong, fishing took on a whole new meaning next summer as folks needed some relief from the world around them. We decided to carry on and give it a try.
Later that winter we were invited to attend the Triple S dealer show in New York. It was a good experience, met all the New York dealers, (what a pile of characters) sold a lot of product. We made a verbal agreement at the show; unfortunately it did not pan out in the spring. One of the partner's explained it to me: "Ed you are dreaming in Technicolor" I responded: " if your going to dream, it may as well be in Technicolor" we parted company.
A few interesting things did happen at the show; we were placed next door to the Walker Downrigger booth. That's where I first met this cocky young rep Don Standen. He was going on like most reps do about all the important people they know etc. Don said: " Have you tried to get into Cabela's yet?" I told him we tried that route but we didn't get past the front door." He said: I bet I could get you in with that product of yours" Ya right buddy. Well Holy Crap Batman, at five to nine Monday morning I got a call from Cabela's head office in Sydney Nebraska: we are in. But that's another story. Don turned out to be one of my favorite people in the business, he continued to offer his generous help for years to come. I'll get back to the Don Standen story in the future. Anyway one distributor down, three to go.
My Pal Don Standen
We had a short lived encounter with Don Largess in Michigan. Don and his wife Jackie were absolutely terrific. Don was an aerospace engineer laid off a few years previous and thought he’d follow his life’s dream: to become a distributor for fishing tackle. Don drove endlessly back and forth across Michigan visiting all the dealer’s promoting his line of goods. He would have made it if the fishing hadn’t dried up on Lake Huron. He lived on the shore; Lake Michigan was a long ways away. Unfortunately things didn’t work out; we parted good friends. Two down, two to go.
Don Standen told us to get a hold of Donny Rufo, their rep in New York. " Donny's got a truck and he does the rounds, he would be perfect" said Don. Well I met up with Don and Jill Rufo in March of that year in the port town of Oswego NY. They were both super people, well loved and respected in the community by their friends and acquaintances. Don drove me around the circuit and we established about 10 dealers that day.
We went on to have a great relationship over the next two years; sold a lot of Sharks and had a lot of fun along the way. One time in particular I remember; Donny said why don't you offer a special prize for the Pro Am Tournament coming up in Oswego. He suggested $1000 to the winner on the pro side if they win using Sharks and $500 on the Am side. I thought to myself, this could look good for us, and what's the chances of someone winning with Sharks anyway; there's over 40 boats in each category.
Notice Tom Allen in the red shirt smiling!
There I was up on the stage with Rufo handing over $1000 American dollars to none other than A-T0M-MIK Tom Allen on the Coldsteel Team. Two minutes later I was handing $500 dollars over to Del. For then on, we donated prizes to the derby every summer. We sure got our money’s worth as most of the winners got Sharks and we got the mention in front of the big crowd. From that day on most of the Pro Am captains in New York started using Sharks. Eight years later, they are all still using Sharks for their charter business and for fishing derbies. It was a sad day when Don & Jill left Oswego to seek other endeavors.
Tom Allen was just starting his little piece of the American Dream back then. Tom also liked to dream in Technicolor. Suzanne and I sat beside Tom and his girlfriend at the picnic lunch under the big top; I said to myself, "who is this guy" as he just kept on winning cases of beer in the raffle; about five or six of them. What a lucky guy!
We hooked up with Mike Bussing in Michigan the same summer; Mike's a good guy, I really liked him and his family and his team of super salesman. I have to say Mike's wife makes the most sensational peach cobbler I have ever tasted. Mike bought 1000 Sharks in one go. I had a lot of confidence in the product and told him: "you don't have to pay for them until you sell them". Six weeks later, I called Mike to see how it's going. "Haven't sold one Shark". I suggested I come down to Michigan to help out. I went down there and sold 1000 Sharks to dealers across the state in one week. I remember Mike saying "What kind of mojo did you put on these folks". There were a couple of guaranteed sales; if the dealer didn't sell them, I would take them back. Never had to take any Sharks back.
Down the line things turned sour, push came to shove on a few issues; we pulled out of the deal. So much for the peach cobbler. Three down, one to go.
Air Express to SwedenOur forth and final distributor was Wildwater Fishing in Sweden. There was a lot of controversy surrounding these boys; but what the hell, they bought 1500 Sharks. They air expressed 50 Sharks across the Atlantic just so they could have them in time for a derby. Ouch! We stuck with the Wildwater Boys for about two years, but it finally fell apart for some really dumb reasons. It wasn’t the money; they were just too busy to promote the product the way they agreed to.
That was it for dealing with distributors, prices were going up for everything from gas to raw material; not a lot of room left for the wholesalers mark up. We figured we would just go direct to the dealers at this point. That is another story.
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ReplyDeleteThanks for the advice Daisy, sorry I can't make your comment public even though I agree.
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