Industry news

Trading in difficult times: LGB shows the way

In a time when even some of the biggest companies are contracting, LGB Distributorship is expanding. For close to half of their short lifespan, they had been trading in some of the toughest conditions experienced by the country in two decades… and grew.

Why had they been growing, while others floundered?

For us, the customer is the most important, says MD Gary Baker as well as sales director Colin Farrer.

True — that is what everybody says. But, born into retailing families and bred in the tough sales rep environment, they both know what it takes to put this ideal into practice.

“Although we deal with chains, we mainly focus on independents — and there are still a lot around,” says Baker.

“Our agents go to the smallest outlying areas, where the retailers give us their business because they appreciate that we take the trouble of visiting them. Gary and I also try to visit them whenever we can, “ says Farrer.

They also concur that one of their main strengths is that they work as a small, close-knit team. There are no closed doors or strict hierarchy, everybody is on first-name terms and all staff are kept in the loop, explains Baker.

”We treat everybody with respect,” adds Farrer. “There is a lot of cross-pollination of ideas and we look after each other’s needs.”

Add to that an absolute passion for sport and what you do, and you have the basics of a success recipe. “Although we’re actually still working on becoming successful,” jokes Baker. (Those who know them would also add that they are jolly nice people with a self-depreciating sense of humour and therefore fun to work with).

Of course, it helps that they come from solid sport retailing stock and both excelled at sport.

Baker’s father, Bruce, and his uncle, Neville Mallett, owned Brian Bands Sports in Port Elizabeth, where Gary gained valuable experience during school and varsity breaks. Although he plays down his own sporting talent, he was a keen athlete at school (Grey College in Port Elizabeth), participating in all sports. “I did all sports, but wasn’t a star, but I have a passion for sport, because I believe team sport teaches you a lot about life.” After school, he played hockey for the PE Technikon (as a team mate of Colin) and also played a mean game of tennis.

After completing his compulsory army training, Baker joined the wholesale part of his father’s business and worked as a sales rep. During this time, he also called on the Farrer family’s store in King William’s Town. Buster (William) Farrer, Colin’s dad, is considered by many to be one of SA’s best all-round sportsmen with SA colours in three and provincial colours in six sports.

Both Colin and his brother Mike (featured as an agent in Sports Trader of June/July 2008) cut their trading teeth working in the store during vacations. Colin, who inherited some of his father’s talent for sport, played Nuffield cricket and hockey for Border while at school at Dale College, and was chosen to play for the SA country cricket X1 in 1989. After completing his compulsory army training in 1988, he played cricket in The Cheshire County league in England before injuries sustained in a tragic car crash put an end to his active sporting career.

On returning to SA, he joined his father’s store, which he ran after his father retired in the early 1990’s. When I get the chance I play a round of golf, or otherwise a round of Amstel tends to do the trick, he jokes.

Join Admiral

Baker had already taken on several independent Eastern Cape agencies early in the 1990’s — he became the Eastern Cape agent for Kookaburra (JRT Crampton), Pat Wiltshire Sport’s Mikasa, Rand Sport’s Trojan, Mizuno, and most important for his future career: Admiral, distributed by Clockwork Clothing under license by Bidvest.

In the mid-90’s the MD of Clockwork asked him to join them full-time and relocate to Johannesburg to become national sales manager under Rob Sparks as GM. After a while, Baker decided to go independent again and became the agent for Admiral, Kookaburra, Wilson clothing and W.E.T. in Gauteng.

When he heard that Bidvest was not going to renew the Admiral license, he immediately started negotiating with the principals to take on the license. At the same time he negotiated with his mate Colin, who was also representing Admiral, Harrows and a few other lines in the Eastern Cape to join him in the business. “I knew that we shared the same passion for the brand and that he was someone I trusted and could rely on.”

Other brands

In mid-2004 they started their distributorship with a bang — Admiral was the technical supplier of clothing to Cricket SA and the Highveld Lions. They also got the license to distribute Harrows darts, a brand they got to know well as agents.

With their SA cricket connection, it became a natural move to take on MRF cricket, when the brand expanded internationally with Sachin Tendulkar and Brian Lara and Steve Waugh as ambassadors.

Both Baker and Farrer had been agents for top Australian swimming brand, Zoggs, and about two years after they started the distributorship, the principal asked them to become their SA distributors.

“We just felt that these were such great brands and believed that with the right kind of passion and effort, they would take their rightful place in SA,” says Baker.

“We’ve made mistakes with the off brand we’ve taken on, but we’ve learnt from these and moved on...” says Baker. “With our current brands, we’ve received a lot of support from the principals to expand the ranges and really do justice to them.”

Building on this success recipe, they have now taken on a new brand. From July, they will also be the SA distributors of watch brand Bad Boy/ Bad Girl, which will be headed by a specialist in the watch industry, Patrick Benade.