Travel Store expects 25% hike in billings while rivals struggle.

The recession has hit the travel industry hard, with losses to domestic airlines reaching $10 billion between 1990 and 1993.

In turn, the downturn has hurt travel agencies, which have been forced to cut back on personnel and in some cases close down.

But Brentwood-based Travel Store Inc. has bucked the trend and has increased in size while many rivals have struggled to stay afloat.

Founded in 1975 by 51-year-old Wido Schaefer, Travel Store recently opened its fifth storefront retail agency in Los Angeles and, for 1993, its billings reached the $50 million mark -- up $10 million from 1992, according to Schaefer. The company has also added personnel, growing from about 80 workers in 1992 to about 90, said Schaefer.

"Interestingly, our business has been increasing. Some of our clients, particularly real estate development companies, have cut back on travel but other firms, like software companies, have more than made up for the losses. I understand that software companies are growing so fast, they can't find enough employees," said Schaefer.

He said the company has also been able to grow because, rather than depending on a few big corporate accounts, Travel Store has spread its client list around among 500 local businesses.

About 80 percent of its billings are from business accounts, with the rest coming from leisure business. In addition to its five store-front agencies in the Southland, Travel Store has satellite offices, called inplants, in offices of three of its commercial clients -- Golden State Foods in Irvine, Trident Data Systems in the Los Angeles International Airport area, and Orion Products in Marina del Rey.

Schaefer, a native of Germany who was educated at the University of Frankfurt, opened Travel Store after a career as a salesman for several airlines.

"I just wasn't happy working for large corporations," he said.

The travel agency was started at a Westwood Boulevard location in Westwood with Schaefer's savings and money from an investor who a few years later sold his interest in the business to Schaefer.

"In the initial stages of the business, there was one employee and we did not focus on anything. We sold all kinds of travel," said Schaefer.

"It was probably in the early 1980s that I decided to focus on corporate travel and we were successful right off the bat. We made cold sales calls; we just went out and pounded the pavements. Two of our first accounts were Century City law firms that we still have," said Schaefer.

In 1985, Travel Store opened its second agency office, this one in downtown Los Angeles on South Flower Street in one of the Arco Plaza buildings.

In 1987, the company opened a travel agency location in Century City, which Schaefer's wife Annette manages, and moved out of its Westwood headquarters to its current facility on San Vincente Boulevard in Brentwood.

In 1990, Travel Store opened a travel agency office in Torrance and last year it opened a facility in Beverly Hills.

According to the Business Journal's List, Travel Store is the 10th largest travel agency/vendor in Los Angeles County. Several bigger companies on The List, however, are large tour wholesalers like Pleasant Hawaiian Holidays that sell tour packages nationwide through travel agencies. In addition to the Business Journal ranking, INC. magazine has included Travel Store on its annual list of the 500 fastest growing private companies in the country for three years in a row, according to Schaefer.

Travel Store's success is due in large measure to its good working relationships with suppliers, according to Pat Calverley, West Coast director of a travel agency co-op called Giants.

"He (Schaefer) knows how to work with preferred suppliers because he knows that, by booking them, he will get not only the best deal for his clients but he will get the best return for his business," said Calverley.

A travel agency co-op is a group of travel agencies that join together to negotiate bulk deals with suppliers like airlines, hotel chains and car rental companies. These vendors are referred to as preferred suppliers.

Travel Store is a member of the Giants cooperative.

Schaefer said Travel Store has made a sizable investment in serving its corporate accounts.

"We have put a lot of money back into the company with customized (computer) software systems. We can get the best rates and do things like get on waiting lists for preferred seating," he said.