Printer Friendly
The Free Library
14,558,602 articles and books
Member login
User name  
Password 
 
Join us Forgot password?

Briefing.


A FIRST PERSON ACCOUNT OF RUNNING A SMALL BUSINESS

CREEPY creep·y  
adj. creep·i·er, creep·i·est Informal
1. Of or producing a sensation of uneasiness or fear, as of things crawling on one's skin: a creepy feeling; a creepy story.

2.
 critters are at the heart of Larry Merritt's business. Vermont Fishing Tackle Co. in Los Angeles Los Angeles (lôs ăn`jələs, lŏs, ăn`jəlēz'), city (1990 pop. 3,485,398), seat of Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1850.  sells everything from night crawlers to squid, along with a variety of fishing equipment. Merritt is in the process of taking over the company started by his aunt and uncle, Margie and Charles Williams There have been a number of notable people named Charles Williams: United Kingdom
  • Sir Charles Hanbury Williams (1708–1759), a British Member of Parliament and satirist.
, in 1984. Staff Reporter Claudia Peschiutta spoke with the 29-year-old fisherman about running a family business and keeping a tackle shop afloat in the LA. area.

"I was 13 (when I started working at the store). It was a way to keep me off the streets, to keep me out of trouble. I stocked the walls. I priced the inventory, waited on customers.

"I started working here full-time when I graduated from high school. I did everything. I placed orders, whatever needed to be done, inventory, stock, picked up orders. Actually, at the time, I was running the store, too. I basically thought it could turn out to be profitable and I had ideas that could make it even more money.

"Early, when we first started here, it was mostly word of mouth and there were billboards and advertisements in magazines. When I came in here, we got more advertising in the Yellow Pages. We have some online. We've had our second annual fishing derby Fishing Derby is an Atari 2600 video game created by Activision programmer David Crane based on the sport of fishing.

In Fishing Derby, two fishermen sit on opposite docks over a lake filled with fish (and a shark that passes through).
.

"We sell live bait, night crawlers, crawfish crawfish: see crayfish. , crickets, mealworms. We sell frozen bait for the ocean, mackerel mackerel, common name for members of the family Scombridae, 60 species of open-sea fishes, including the albacore, bonito, and tuna. They are characterized by deeply forked tails that narrow greatly where they join the body; small finlets behind both the dorsal and , squid, anchovies anchovies

a cause of diarrhea, vomiting, salivation, lacrimation, depression, miosis, polypnea, tachycardia, hypothermia in cats.
, blood-worms. We have terminal tackle, which would include hooks and sinkers. We sell the rods and reels and we provide service for the rods and reels and information for the customer as far as what's biting.

"I've been playing with worms since I was little so it's natural to me. It's really funny when you a get a first-timer and dump a box of night crawlers and they'll see the worms squirm and they'll shoot straight for the door.

"We do all right. We stay afloat. We are seasonal, meaning the business really picks up in early spring, sometimes, in late winter, depending on how the weather is.

"If we get lucky, we'll have what they call an Indian summer Indian summer

a period of mild, dry weather occurring in U.S. and Canada in late autumn. [Am. Culture: Misc.]

See : Autumn
.

"Trying to make ends meet during the slow times, it makes you want to pull your hair out. During the winter, when it's cold and raining, we may not get a customer that day.

"The season is doing very well because basically the weather's been nice. It's been warm and the fish started biting early this year.

"We're pretty much going to stay where we are. I have a couple of ideas I'm pondering, maybe like mobilized vans at parks during the weekends."
COPYRIGHT 2001 CBJ, L.P.
No portion of this article can be reproduced without the express written permission from the copyright holder.
Copyright 2001, Gale Group. All rights reserved. Gale Group is a Thomson Corporation Company.

 Reader Opinion

Title:

Comment:



 

Article Details
Printer friendly Cite/link Email Feedback
Title Annotation:Vermont Fishing Tackle Co.
Publication:Los Angeles Business Journal
Article Type:Brief Article
Geographic Code:1USA
Date:Jun 25, 2001
Words:447
Previous Article:Building brands.(Inter/Media Advertising)(Brief Article)
Next Article:For These Entrepreneurs, Professional Life Begins at 40.(Planet Sugar)(Brief Article)
Topics:



Related Articles
Adirondack Cabin Country.(Brief Article)
NATURAL RESOURCES JUST LET GO.(Sports)
NATURAL RESOURCES PLENTY OF CHOICES MATE.(Sports)(Review)
REMEMBER TO PACK YOUR LICENSE, BUT PACK IT IN AFTER DARK.(SPORTS)
OUTPOST.(Sports)
BETTER NOT POUT, GIVE A BOOK WHEN IN DOUBT; EIGHT TITLES FOR THE ANGLERS ON YOUR LIST.(Sports)(Review)
OUTPOST.(SPORTS)
FISHING WITH THE 'NET; MANY WEB SITES OFFER HAVENS FOR ANGLERS.(SPORTS)(Review)
Education resources, left and right.(activist web)(Brief Article)
Information for authors.

Terms of use | Copyright © 2009 Farlex, Inc. | Feedback | For webmasters | Submit articles