Hello 2018

Happy New Year to everyone.

I’m delighted that 2018 is here and 2017 is behind us.  It’s not that 2017 was bad, but it certainly presented us with a few challenges that have actually created a stronger company, poised for a great 2018 and beyond.  As a reminder, all of the following took place last year:

• Both divisions switched their accounting systems.  It was much more challenging than hoped, but we now have better systems in place to help us grow.
• WTC said goodbye to a few smaller accounts and hello to new, larger accounts that will make us even more successful with greater growth potential domestically and internationally (Butterfly Palladium, Oglebay Resort, Dolphin Discovery and Rainforest Adventures).
• WAI saw a change in sales and operations structure and management.  Many staff transitions took place, all for the purpose of readying us for greater efficiency as we grow.

• 

  Wade Werner

  WTC saw two Directors of Operations come and go and then we hired one of our own from within (Wade Werner).  His promotion was well-deserved and something we’ll be looking to do more of.

• WTC had a higher than normal amount of store transitions take place in 2017.  Moving ahead we’ll be looking at how we can grow in a way to not put as much of a strain on overall operational efficiencies.
• The weather was not our friend in 2017.  There were many weather events, not including this week, and the hurricane season was exceptionally hard on us… and yet the hard work and resilience of our affected employees and partners was nothing short of inspiring!  A special thanks to Wade Werner, Marie Kurtz and Linda Trudel for their post-hurricane leadership.
• Both divisions were affected by inventory shortages, which led to our adding new controller, purchasing and inventory management positions.
• Our IT support was certainly stretched thin for most of the year.  As a result, we now outsource much our help desk functions to Advanced Office Solutions (AOS) and I’ve heard only positive feedback from this change.

Six months ago many of you filled out our first annual employee survey.  As I shared previously, 4 critical areas of focus came from your feedback…

• Communications
• Process
• Technology
• Work-Life Balance

Since then, we’ve committed nearly $1 million in technology, support and new positions to help address the above and I look forward to communicating further progress along the way.  Many of you also communicated feelings of a lack a corporate vision.  Taking this feedback to heart, we’ve updated our Corporate Vision and Mission Statements.

Brand Vision (The ideas behind a brand that inspires employees and customers. It gives a clear direction to the company):

“Transform the shopper experience to inspire an appreciation for nature, adventure and conservation.”

Brand Mission (The missions should be short and sweet, vital and visceral. They’re  a way to focus energy, action and innovation within a company, and between a company and its customers.):

Customer Commitment:  Create products and experiences with authenticity and artistry that inspire an appreciation for nature and adventure

Stewardship Commitment: Use business to forward conservation efforts

Economic Commitment:   Cultivate sustainable growth to expand opportunities for employees, partners and stakeholders

We’ll be sharing more information on what this means and how to use these to help guide decisions and actions moving ahead.  For now just know that we are “all in” for wildlife, conservation and outdoor adventures.  We know our vision is where businesses will all be heading in years to come and we’ll be leading the way.

I’ll be increasing my frequency of communications and will be looking to include visuals and videos along the way as well.  We’ll create a “library” to keep all the updates in one place.  Feel free to make suggestions for future updates.

I’ll end this update with a short “what you can do” list:

• Keep sharing your thoughts and suggestions with your managers.  Our success will be guaranteed if we maintain frequent, honest communications.  I continue to maintain an open door policy and ask my executive team to follow suit.  Think not only about how we can save money, but how we can make money.  Let’s see how well we can increase our stores’ per caps and sell more plush!
• Please become active followers on all our social media and like and share our posts.  Both divisions are on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and LinkedIn.  Not only will this help push our company names out, but our posts are a good source of information for you as well.
• Be mindful of nature and get outdoors more often.
• Visit stores and see what’s new.
• Collaborate across teams and a divisions.
• Find ways to bring more fun in what we do.

Thank you for all your hard work, enthusiasm and, in many instances, perseverance in 2017.  I’m confident 2018 will be much more rewarding for us all.

 

James Ward
President and CEO