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February 3, 2009 |
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Metcalf Brothers:
Growing to the Needs of the Market, Despite Recession
By Jackie Rosselli
 Larry Alpert, owner of fabric supplier Metcalf Brothers, refuses to call the current economic situation a crisis, preferring instead the feel-good term, "challenging."
"Yes, agencies are cutting back across the board, but we remain optimistic about the opportunities of '09," says Alpert, the fourth generation owner of a company that's been around for over a century. "This type of environment lends itself to Metcalf."
Apparently so. Over the past year, Metcalf has grown an astounding 44 percent, winning countless new customers while solidifying its relationships with established ones. "We're getting programs that other mills have had for many decades, because there's no comfort there anymore," says Alpert.
And in a down economy, as every business knows, comfort becomes paramount.
The problems experienced by the country's mills have been well documented here and in other publications. In a David and Goliath-type situation, companies like the mid-sized Metcalf have seized the opportunity, learning from the competition's mistakes to improve their own business models. "In this environment, you have to be agile, with an ability to change quickly," notes Alpert. "Historically, the big mills have tried to get customers to grow to their needs, while Metcalf has taken the opposite approach: we grow to the needs of our customers and the market, and this has been key to our success."
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Count People Most
By Joseph Greco, M.S.O.D.
 During these times it seems that newscasters and reporters are trying hard to describe and define this difficult economic environment. Is worse now? Will it get worse before it gets worse? Sure, psychology plays a significant role in our spending behavior. The economic cycle can slow down when everyone cuts back. But the wheel goes the other way also. The older we are the more cycles we can recall. We have always come out of a downturn and this time will be no exception. The world population continues to grow and people have growing needs for food, housing, transportation, and uniforms.
This is not a news report but a business manager's viewpoint. How do we handle these rough times until the eventual upswing occurs? As sales dip, where do we make cutbacks? The last place you want to look to eliminate expenses and assets is among your human capital. With few if any businesses excepted, people are your most valuable asset. So you need to think about how to keep your organization in tact given the current economic pressure so that you are properly positioned for future growth and profits.
Henry Ford was known to quip that you could take away all his money but if you left him his men, he would build up his empire all over again. My mentor, Jim Rohn, once said that if you took all the money and divided equally among all the people in the world, it would soon all wind up back in the same pockets. What's guiding this principle if not the intelligence and experience that comes from the right people in the right positions?
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Tools of the Trade: The Sweater
By Debra Hindlemann Webster
 There is evidence that folks were knitting clothing with various types of yarns as far back as the ancient Egyptians. However, the actual sweater didn't appear until the 19th century, in Great Britain. While people had figured out long ago that knit socks and leggings could help to keep a person warm, it seems that it took another 4,000 years or so to realize that arms and the upper torso could also be kept cozy in much the same way; hence, the sweater.
The first sweaters (pullovers) were made for the working classes—especially fishermen—and strictly for warmth and dryness: Wool kept a person dry and warm, even when wet. The various sweater weaves were created, legend has it, in order to identify a man by the unique stitch of his sweater; more likely, women just knitted the garments differently from one another.
The military quickly picked up on the idea: The close-fitting jacket-like sweater was made famous by James Brudenell, the 7th Earl of Cardigan, who led the charge of the Light Brigade. The large drop sleeve was a matter of practicality when Crimean War officer Fitzroy James Henry Somerset, Lord Raglan, lost his arm and needed a coat that he could easily put on and take off.
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