Once upon a long time ago, Jim Bundschu was convinced to stop off in Charlotte to visit a new distributor while heading to NYC from Florida. The distributor, called Tryon, was run by two 26 year olds who had no offices, few employees and lots of ambition. Soon Brad Johnston and Steve Hedberg, and their friend Angie Packer had Gundlach Bundschu everywhere in the city, and for years Charlotte was GB's number two market outside of California. Over the years things evolved and Steve left the company, and as our portfolio changed other markets begin to overtake Charlotte in sales. With Brad Johnston now running the company, and many of the same people still there, Tryon remains a sentimental favorite. This is especially true for dad, who hadn't been there in many years. I got a call early Wed. morning, just after emerging from the truckstop shower, that Brad wanted us to come down from the theater and speak to his managers meeting. Dad, Nancy, and I arrived there about 2 pm, and dad was immediately overwhelmed. He hadn't t been there in years, and was blown away that the little shack of a warehouse that he remembered had grown to become one of the largest and most state of the art in the city. It was great to watch dad take pride in Brad's achievements with Tryon. The company is a great success story, and that Brad the founder is still running it with the same fun loving spirit in which he founded is a clear case of a good guy winning.
The performance that night was to another sold out crowd, and Mark brought the house down. The crowd included some old friends of the winery, lots of restaurateurs and retailers, and an enthusiastic group of Tryon sales people. Also old friends. Skip Ciforest and his wife came, from a neighboring town. Skip is 5 days younger than aunt Gigi and grew up on the turkey farm next door. He remembers Towle well and his flowing tears during the performance (he was in front of me) let on that he had very fond memories.
Some Pics:
Anxious Crowd Awaits
Gigi, Brad Johnston, Randy Packer and Nancy
Angie Packer and her two boys. Very nice to see some kids for a change.
Vance and family from Lotus. Word has it that the restaurant is off the hook good.
Stephanie rocking the nice group of politicos.
