Leisure Line was featured in the Boston Herald. This article was written by Herald correspondent Marie Gendron.
Bud Jackson was working as a bartender at a North Andover restaurant 15 years ago when he stumbled upon a business opportunity.The restaurant owner wanted custom-embroidered shirts for the staff. Although Jackson had no experience in the field ,he studied up and quickly started the producing of custom shirts."I've always been willing to take a shot at anything", he said. "You just take a gamble, a calculated gamble".Today, Jackson's Haverhill based company, called Leisure Line, produces custom stitched shirts for about 200 restaurants - including seven owned by Jackson's former employer.The company's 500 plus client list also includes everyone from a local church group to the Boston Red Sox to Eastpak, a major maker of back-paks. Jackson said his company happily handles orders ranging in size from $10 worth to $250,000 worth. "We don't want to turn down small orders because that's how this company got started", Jackson said. For instance, Jackson said that shortly after he launched the company he signed up a small customer call Anchor Food Sales of Wisconsin. today, the food distributor has grown into one of Leisure Line's biggest clients. All the products Leisure Line produces have the company's Haverhill address printed on the inside label even the shirts sold in locales as exotic as the Palmetto Hotel gift shop in Bermuda, a steady Leisure Line client. Jackson said he thinks part of the reason for his company's success is that he handles every client and every account personally. In fact, he said he eliminated Leisure Line's entire 12 person sales force four years ago because he did not like putting his company's reputation in the hands of contract workers. Jackson eliminating the sales force also allowed him to cut out their commission, which helps keep his prices down. He said he knows his hands-on approach limits how big the company can eventually grow, but Jackson said he is not looking to turn Leisure Line into the world s biggest custom embroidery company. "I handle everything now myself and we're very selective about our customers," Despite that selectivity, Leisure Line has already outgrown it current space. The company recently invested $150,000 in another new stitching machine to keep up with current demand. Jackson said he also working on plans to move the manufacturing plant into larger quarters in the building nearby. He would like to open a retail outlet store in the company' current space. Wherever he goes, Jackson wears shirts custom-embroidered with his company's palm tree logo. He said the practice has proven effective over the years as a low-key sales tool. For instance, Jackson stopped off for a drink before a Lionel Ritchie concert in Worcester, 10 years ago. The singer's manager, who happened to be in the same hotel bar, inquired about Jackson's shirt and ended up signing a contract with Leisure Line to provide custom-embroidered shirts and director's chairs for the band's world tour. Jackson said that so far at least, custom embroidery has been recession-proof business because even in the worst of times most business try not to cut marketing. "People have to keep their name out there", he said. By selling things people like.
Custom Embroidery & Silk Screening
Box 1088
371 River Street
Haverhill, MA 01831
USA
Phone : 978 / 372-5321
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Custom Embroidery & Silk Screening
Box 1088
