Gerry Conway - American Entrepreneur
Gerry Conway was the classic American entrepreneur - visionary, charismatic, driven, impatient, and impending. Born in Cleveland in 1931, Conway was the ninth of 13 children. His love of the retail environment, his strong interdependence, and his deep appreciation of people appreciation of people stemmed from his childhood experience: claiming that he has been in retail for over 60 years, working at some of his fathers 200 food stores. After college, Conway and his wife, Marty, returned to Cleveland. He began working for an industrial firm and quickly learned that, while sales attracted him, working in a large corporation did not. After working at some small firms, Conway decided to found his own company, Gerald A. Conway & Associates, being display-printing broker. One day, a colleague suggested that he sell the plastic parts that retailers used to display signs as part of his printing broker business. The advantage of selling accessories was that he could sell the same product to many companies simultaneously, which was not possible in display printing, for which each printing job was customized. An early product idea was the Arrowhead fastener, which was designed to hold coupons and signs on store shelves. It was a best seller from the start. During this time though, Conway had struggles with alcohol, stating that it was a problem, but through a self-help program he chose sobriety and regained focus in his life. The following year, his first year sober, his income shot up by about 35 percent-a direct correlation. He celebrated the event saying that was a significant event in the business and for his family. In the mid 1970s, now sober, Gerald Conway and Associates was renamed Fasteners for Retail (FFr) to acknowledge its exclusive focus on display accessories and fasteners within the point-of-purchase industry. The P-O-P product includes signs, displays, devices, and structures that are used to merchandise services or products in
References: Poza, Ernesto J., 2007. Famly Business Third Edition. South Western Cengage Learning 5191 Natorp Boulevard. Mason, Ohio 45040, USA.