ThisWeek Keys Story 06/28/2012

http://www.thisweeknews.com/content/stories/Key-Bank-Keys-to-Success-stories/2012/06/la-boit-specialty-vehicles

When Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf Coast, more than 100 La Boit-built vehicles responded to assist people and pets survive the disaster.

“Our vehicles were involved in helping to treat the dogs brought in at Ground Zero in New York as well as over 100 vehicles that went to treat people and pets following Katrina,” owner Gil Blais said. “Every vehicle that leaves our facility will go out to help someone in need. That’s a good feeling.”

ThisWeek Keys 05/17/2012

http://www.thisweeknews.com/content/stories/Key-Bank-Keys-to-Success-stories/2012/05/Mad-River-Outfitters

Cincinnati native Brian Flechsig has helped define central Ohio as a fly-fishing mecca while building one of the top fly-fishing shops in the country.

Mad River Outfitters, at 813 Bethel Road, consistently records national sales in the top 10 for fly fishing, thanks to a thriving Internet business as well as a professional retail shop, according to Flechsig.

“We’re one of the top 10 fly-fishing operations in the country,” he said. “Most people think of a fly store as a mom-and-pop shop with just a few things and people sitting around talking and tying flies.

“But we’re very serious here, with a full-time shipping manager and full-time web manager. So not only do we maintain an extensive retail store, but also
an extensive online store with dozens of packages shipping out around the world daily.”

Flechsig said one of his keys to success is what he calls the umbrella.

Mad River Outfitters offers retail and online sales, guides fly-fishing tours locally, nationally and internationally, and produces instructional courses and DVDs.

“I’m hosting our annual spring Tarpin trip in the Everglades right now,” he said earlier this month. “We do these trips all over the world, South America – a lot of trips to Brazil for Peacock bass, in the Bahamas.

“We operate a full-blown guide service, including about 16 guides working for us throughout the Great Lakes region, so if you can’t afford a week to Montana or wherever, there are trips you can hop in your car and do on a weekend.”

According to Flechsig, fly-fishing has always been labeled as something that is only for trout fishing.

“Everyone associates fly-fishing with trout and snow-capped mountains, but I produced a video about 10 years ago called ‘Carpin’’ that was all about catching carp on a fly rod,” he said. “I got a lot of hate mail about it because people didn’t like that I was catching a trash fish on a fly.

“If you’re open to fishing for things other than trout, then Columbus becomes a fly-fishing heaven. There’s carp and bass all over the place here.”

Being innovative, such as teaching people to fly-fish for the local fish population, working hard, and hiring committed employees, Flechsig said, are the other keys to his success.

“I was 24 years old when I quit my job, borrowed money to start this business, and opened the doors that December in 1994,” Flechsig said. “I paid the bank off in two years and haven’t owed anyone a dime since. I’ve been very lucky, but it took a lot of hard work and thinking outside the box.

“I have some very loyal and hardworking employees who have believed in me and my dream. If it weren’t for their help and the help of great friends, I don’t know where we’d be.”

The retail store was recently remodeled and expanded and Flechsig said a new website design is under way.

“I think the future holds growth for us, that expansion will be at the remodeled store but mostly through the Internet,” Flechsig said. “After 18 years, I’m just really learning how to do this now, so if we’re halfway through, then the second half is sure to be even better.”

For more information visit www.madriveroutfitters.com.“If we can play even a small part in that, we want to. We want to keep doing this because we truly believe in
it.”

ThisWeek Keys 05/17/2012

http://www.thisweeknews.com/content/stories/Key-Bank-Keys-to-Success-stories/2012/05/School-Closet

Parents looking for school uniforms have been turning to the School Closet & School Days stores for nearly three decades.

Owner Kay Butsko said while the business has evolved, it remains grounded in what she believes are its keys to success: service, quality products and employees.

“We opened our doors selling the highest-quality school uniforms we could, because this isn’t a shirt or pants you’re going to wear just once a week; the kids wear them hard, daily,” Butsko said.

“You always have to change your business to stay with the times, your marketing and technology, but one thing stays the same: You have to have a good product and really good service.”

Those quality products and focus on service paid off in a recent poll.

“We won best school uniform store in central Ohio in the Columbus Parent reader poll, and I told my employees that this award is really for them, because we’ve been blessed with amazing employees,” Butsko said.

The family-owned and -operated company currently has 13 employees at three locations: 2497 E. Main St. in Bexley, 73 N. Stygler Road in Gahana, and 4507 N. High St. in Clintonville.

“We opened our first store in Bexley,” she said. “We eventually outgrew that, so we’re now in our second location in Bexley and we have a location in Clintonville and another in Gahanna. We also ship to customers around the country through our website.”

As a longtime business customer of Key Bank, the business first launched its online store as a part of a Key Bank test group.

“About 15 years ago, during the first surge in online shopping, Key offered us a software package to help build our website and sales and grow our online presence,” Butsko said. “Eventually, we outgrew that, but we were fortunate to get that start.”

The business has grown beyond just school uniforms. Corporate and organization-branded clothing and merchandise is a growing component of the business, according to Butsko.

“When we opened, we started as just school uniforms, but pretty quickly, parents began asking if we could do clothes for their businesses,” she said. “More and more companies are branding themselves with their employees. We’re also doing a lot of choirs across the country.”

Although the Internet has allowed School Closet & School Days to sell to a more global market, as a local business owner, Butsko said she believes it is important to support the local communities.

“We care about the community because we want it to survive and thrive, because we live here. If the community thrives, so can the business,” Butsko said. “If you look at the local businesses that have been around — and we’re one of the oldest around in Bexley —  most of them are family-owned and are very much a part of the community.”

For more information about the School Closet & School Days stores, visit www.schoolcloset.com.

ThisWeek Keys 05/17/2012

http://www.thisweeknews.com/content/stories/Key-Bank-Keys-to-Success-stories/2012/05/shade-on-the-canal

Shade on the Canal restaurant has been a staple of downtown Canal Winchester since the 1920s, and that community connection is important to the current owners.

Greg Powers and his business partner, Ralph Lusher, own Shade’s, as it is known by locals, as well as the Leghorn restaurants in Heath and Athens.

According to Powers, after the restaurant became vacant in 2000, he saw an opportunity to rebuild the business and benefit his community.

“The restaurant originally belonged to the Shade family,” Powers said. “It’s changed hands a number of times over the past 20 years now. I’ve lived in Canal Winchester for that long and know what the restaurant means to the community.”

Shade’s was his first business venture on his own after working in the corporate world.

“I love Canal Winchester, so it meant a lot to open my first business in the downtown area,” Powers said.

He said it took a lot of work to rehabilitate the building and reopen for business in 2004.

“The building sat empty for four years. Restaurant success rates are not high normally without this to deal with, so it took a while, talking to the owners of the building, to work out the deal,” Powers said. “It was a mess; you can’t imagine what it looks like when a building has been empty that long with no heat and a leaking roof.”

The building was gutted before being renovated, and since then, other improvements have been made at Shade’s to better serve the community, he said.

“We do a lot of community-based event hosting, like the Walk for a Cure and the Fire Department MDA kickoff that’s coming up; we donate 10 percent of our sales on those days to their causes,” Powers said.

“Right now, we’re preparing to add a patio at Shade’s and we’re continuing to spruce the place up, brighten it up,” he added. “We’re remodeling the kitchen so that we can handle more volume.”

The food at Shade’s is nearly all made from scratch, Powers said. Taking pride in what they make is one key to their success, he said.

“Foodwise, we make our own chili and chowder recipes, our own salad dressings. We just try to stay away from processed food as much as possible,” Powers said. “If you order our wings, they’re fresh, not frozen, and we make all our sauces from scratch. We take a lot of pride in our food, and that means going the extra mile and doing it ourselves.”

Another key to the success of Shade’s has been the staff, according to Powers. The restaurant employs about 75 people. Companywide, Powers’ three restaurants employ about 220 people. Many are young people in their first jobs, he said.

“I’ve been in the restaurant business for 22 years and know it’s important to hire fun and friendly people. It’s been nice to have a chance to shape these people and then watch them mature and grow,” Powers said. “We get compliments on the food, which is great, but we especially like when people ask how we found so many nice people to work for us.

“Our focus is taking care of our employees and our customers. If you care about the people you
hire, they will take care of your customers.”

Shade on the Canal is located at 19 S. High St., Canal Winchester.  For more information, visit www.shadeonthecanal.com.

ThisWeek Keys 05/17/2012

http://www.thisweeknews.com/content/stories/Key-Bank-Keys-to-Success-stories/2012/05/World-of-Bounce

The family behind Grove City’s World of Bounce used their own family’s expectations for a kid-friendly birthday party as the framework for their success.

Paul McKnight and his son, Jeff, have been partners in the family construction businesses since 1998. His daughter, Jennifer, approached them with the idea.

“In spring of 2008, Jennifer had taken one of her sons to a birthday party where they had huge inflatables. She came to us and said she enjoyed the concept and the kids liked it so much she thought it would work in Grove City,” Paul McKnight said. “I thought it was an opportunity for our family to develop the type of family center we would like, and since I had a building available, we decided to turn it into the World of Bounce.”

The three agreed that the focus should be on private parties in a safe environment where families could enjoy time with their guests, McKnight said.

“With 11 grandchildren, we’ve been to all of the other places around town and you spend all the time you’re there counting heads and trying to keep track of your kids,” he said. “So we knew we wanted a private party center with the biggest inflatables that we could get. Making this a family-friendly business has been very conscious in every decision we’ve made.”

There are two separate rooms filled with inflatables at the World of Bounce, which helps to maintain separation between the parties, according to McKnight. This strategy has worked well for the business so far.

“We’ve been able to stick with this plan pretty well. We have ‘open bounce’ at different times, and a ‘family bounce night’ where families can come and for a fixed price, get pizza and drinks and then enjoy the bounce houses,” he said. “That’s all by reservation, though, so that it doesn’t get out of hand.”

McKnight said he directs his employees to have fun at the job and interact with children and parents to make sure everyone is having fun.
“I think the biggest key for us is paying attention to detail. What we try to do is make every guest’s experience as good as it can be,” McKnight said. “We invite the parents to join the children on the inflatables and use the birthday child’s name as much as possible to recognize them on their day.

“We realize that these parents have chosen to spend their dollars with us, so we want to exceed their expectations, making sure everything is nice, orderly, clean and coordinated.”

The attention to detail and encouraging fun and participation is working, McKnight said.

“Even in today’s economic climate, we find that when you do your job correctly, you can be successful regardless,” he said. “Our long-term goal is to take the World of Bounce, its operation and procedures that we’ve developed, and open a second or third location.

“We checked into some franchises before starting this up and found the current franchise structure to leave something to be desired, so we may expand into that area, too, but it would be prototype. I don’t like to just follow the norm.”

For more information about the World of Bounce, visit www.worldofbounceparty.com or 1649 Gateway Circle in Grove City.