Proudly serving the industry for which it was named for more than 50 years, Outdoor Power Equipment provides dealers who sell and service outdoor power equipment with valuable information to succeed in a competitive market.
Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/141617
Upfront Editor Steve Noe snoe@specialtyim.com 1030 W. Higgins Road, Suite 230, Park Ridge, IL 60068 Phone: (847) 720-5600 • Fax: (847) 720-5601 www.outdoorpowerequipment.com OPE Staff A tale of two first halves year ago, I devoted this space to writing a column titled "Challenging first half." Although you may not recall the specifics of the column, the title is self explanatory and you undoubtedly remember what made the first half of 2012 so challenging. Following a relatively mild 2011-12 winter, the early spring weather triggered a much-earlier-than-expected start to the 2012 season. However, almost as soon as the season got started, it came to a cruel and sudden end with the arrival of recordbreaking heat that gripped much of the nation, much of the summer, leading to drought-like conditions and the drying up of outdoor power equipment sales. In fact, it was so dry here in Chicago that I went weeks without mowing my lawn. During the first half of 2013, the weather has been a much different story. In Chicago, we've had unseasonably cool and rainy weather, which has left many of my neighbors wondering if and when summer will ever arrive. I've also had a heck of a time trying to keep up with yard work. Since late April, I've needed to mow my lawn at least once a week. After breaking an annual family tradition of planting a vegetable garden last year, due to the heat and subsequent drought, I got motivated to resume the tradition this year and have been fighting a never-ending battle with weeds. (And at the end of the first week of June, due to the cool weather, I came down with a summer cold that I'm still trying to shake more than three weeks later.) Based on the responses that I received to our four-question survey for our "Midyear Progress Report," starting on page 17 in this issue, I'm pleased to report that all of this unseasonably cool and rainy weather has contributed to a strong first half for many dealers. In fact, some dealers have been so busy with their business that they dropped me an e-mail to apologize for not having the time to participate in our survey for the "Mid-year Progress Report." For those of you who did take time out of your busy schedules to participate in our survey, I sincerely appreciate you doing so. For those of you who did not participate in our survey, either because you were too busy or did not receive it, please feel free to e-mail your responses to me at snoe@specialtyim.com as I would still love to hear from you and will be happy to add your responses to the online version of the "Mid-year Progress Report." Hope you had a great first half and wish you the best of luck in the OP E second half! A Associate Publisher Editor Art Director Production Manager John Kmitta Steve Noe Brian Snook Karen Kalinyak Direct Mail List Sales Cheryl Naughton, (678) 292-6054; e-mail cnaughton@specialtyim.com Reprint Service Cheryl Naughton, (678) 292-6054; e-mail cnaughton@specialtyim.com Editorial Advisory Board Former Executive Director, EETC (retired) Senior Advisor, Servantage Dixie Sales Pres., Plano Power Equipment and Whipper Clipper Director of Sales and Marketing, Central Power Distributors, Inc. Jim Roche Jim Starmer Glen Whitt John D. Hedges Circulation For subscription inquiries and customer service questions, please call (845) 856-2229 or fax (845) 856-5822 business hours: 9 a.m.-5 p.m. EST Publisher's Notice: We assume no responsibility for the validity of advertising claims in connection with items appearing in Outdoor Power Equipment. Commercial product names are used for the convenience of the reader. Mention of a commercial product does not imply endorsement by Outdoor Power Equipment or Specialty Information Media, or preference over similar products not mentioned. 1030 W. Higgins Road, Suite 230, Park Ridge, IL 60068 Phone: (847) 720-5600 • Fax: (847) 720-5601 Account Representatives: Scott Hill 134 N. LaSalle St., Suite 1700, Chicago, IL 60602 Phone: 312-348-1206 • shill@specialtyim.com Leslie Palmer 16267 W. 14 Mile Rd., Suite 202, Beverly Hills, MI 48025 Phone: 248-530-0300 • lpalmer@specialtyim.com Classified Sales/Marketplace: Glenn Datz Phone: 213-596-7220 • Fax: 213-624-0997 gdatz@specialtyim.com 6 OUTDOOR POWER EQUIPMENT www.outdoorpowerequipment.com