Going Global
Web site brings the world to Kaukauna Apparel Shop
By: Sharon Korbeck Verbeten
Don Grissman has the world at his fingertips ... literally. With a click of a mouse, the Carhartt distributor can ship his inventory across the oceans.
That’s a far cry from what he imagined back in 1971, when he opened a men’s and women’s clothing store, The Bottom Half, in Kaukauna. Today, Grissman runs Midwest Workwear, selling Carhartt clothing out of that same Second Street storefront. But instead of just serving local clients, he now does an astounding 99 percent of his business from his Web site – shipping to places as farflung as Russia and Australia.
Fresh out of Kaukauna High School, Grissman was only 19 when he started The Bottom Half, jumping into the then-booming blue jeans retail market with $10,000 in seed money. In the early 1970s, his shop was located off Hwy. 55 – then a major thoroughfare – in the midst of a bustling downtown. Over time, with highway re- routing and the advent of “big box” stores, independent retailers faced enormous challenges to retain customers.
After three decades, “the business started to sour,” Grissman says. “There was so much competition. The pie(kept) getting smaller.
“We decided to close, not knowing what I was going to do.” Too young to retire, Grissman, now 56, took a risk – one with technological ties he wasn’t very familiar with.
Carhartt workwear was one of the brands Grissman had offered at The Bottom Half, so his sales representative suggested he continue to sell the brand via a Web site. “He had given me (promising financial) numbers from another shop,” Grissman says. “He told me to try it.”
“I wouldn’t even have thought about this a year ago. I thought I was getting out of retail. We had lost money the last few years, and that’s not fun,” he says.
Although he was initially wary at wading into the unknown, Grissman was confident the Carhartt line had a good following, so he went live with www.midwestworkwear.com in late 2005, and within a day, he had his first order. And while he doesn’t divulge his sales figures, he says, “Our first year in sales, we doubled what we did the best year at The Bottom Half ... after 35 years in business.” This year, Midwest Workwear – one of 7,000 Carhartt distributors nationwide – has doubled the inventory it had last year.
This shrewd, yet untested, move has clearly paid off for Grissman, who still main- tains a storefront stocked with jeans, overalls, shirts, jackets, hats and one of the largest offerings of Carhartt apparel in the state. But, he adds,”I don’t think this business could survive if it were just brick and mortar.”
Other than inventory costs, Grissman says his initial outlay for Midwest Workwear was about $5,000 to have a California company build his Web site. “They set up the program and taught me how to do it,” says Grissman.
One of the biggest challenges in starting up his online business, he says has been the technology learning curve, especially realizing the importance of search engine positioning.
“We position ourselves so when people type in ‘Carhartt,’ we’re up near the top,” Grissman says, “That’s key.”
Grissman still insists on including a hand written thank-you note with each order. Appreciative clients say, “We thought those days were gone.”
He also credits the Carhartt name, founded in 1889, with fueling the strength of his business. “It’s everything,” he says.
Carhartt sales representative Dennis O’Keefe adds that online sales are helpful to all parties because they allow customers to see the breadth of the product line, including items dealers may not carry in their stores.
“You open up your inventories to the world; it’s a growth area for us,” O’Keefe says.
But while online shopping can be cold and faceless, Grissman says he enjoys speaking with clients worldwide and maintains that, even in a virtual world, customer service still comes first. He still insist on including a handwritten thank-you note with each order, and that added touch doesn’t go unnoticed by buyers. Grissman says he has heard from appreciative clients who say, “We thought those days were gone.”
Regards for customers – whether they walk in from Second Street or log in halfway around the world – is not lost on Grissman.
“We’re finding a lot of repeat business. Service – everybody preaches they have it. Just treat the customer the way you want to be treated,” he says. O’Keefe agrees.
“It’s not really price sensitive. It’s service oriented. That’s where Don and his son, Kevin, excel. It’s so easy to do business with them.”
Midwest Workwear has served diverse clients – from the U.S. Navy to fire departments nationwide to the Boston Conservatory of Music, and that would have never been possible before the Web site. About 50 percent of the company’s business is to other businesses, but with bulk orders, they tend to bring in the bigger sales dollars than individual sales. Their largest order to date was for 1,300 coats to a labor union in New York.
Expanding his business beyond a modest storefront in Northeast Wisconsin has literally brought the world to Grissman.
“I look at the globe and say, “That’s it,” he says, referring to the potential reach of Midwest Workwear.
“This business has more potential than a brick and mortar because you’re dealing with the world. We’re open 24-7.
“I’m sleeping, and we’re getting orders.”
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