Lala
During the summer of 1983, Bob Reiss observed withinterest the success in the Xanadian market of a new board game called "Trival Persuit." His years of experience selling games in the ten times those of sales in Canada. Since "Trivial Persuit" had sold 100.000 copies north of the border, Reiss thought that trivia games might soon boom in the U.S., and that this might represent a profitable opportunity for him.
Reiss' Background
After his graduation from Harvard Bussiness School in 1956, Reiss began working for a company that made stationery products. His main responsability was to build a personalized pencil division, and he suggested that he be paid a low salary and a high sales commission. He was able to gain an excellent understanding of that market, and by 1959 could start on his own as an independent manufacturer's representative in the same industry. His direct contact with stores that sold stationery products revelead that many of them were beginning to sell adult games. He decided to specialize in those products.
In 1973, Reiss sold his representative business to a small American Stock Exchange company. He incorporated under the name of R&R and worked with the help of a secretary from a rented office in never own or be resposible for a factory. In addition to being a tradicional manufacturer's representative, he did some consulting for toy manufacturers, using hisextensive knowledge of the market.
The toy and game industry
One of the main characteristics of the toy industry was that products generally had very short life cycles, frequently of no more than two years. "Fads" extended to whole categories of items: one class of toys would sell well for a couple of years and then fade away. Products that were part of categories tended to ride with the fate of that category, regardless to some extent of their intrinsic merit. Many new products were introduced every year, which made the fight for shelfs pace aggressive.
Durante el verano de
Reiss' Background
After his graduation from Harvard Bussiness School in 1956, Reiss began working for a company that made stationery products. His main responsability was to build a personalized pencil division, and he suggested that he be paid a low salary and a high sales commission. He was able to gain an excellent understanding of that market, and by 1959 could start on his own as an independent manufacturer's representative in the same industry. His direct contact with stores that sold stationery products revelead that many of them were beginning to sell adult games. He decided to specialize in those products.
In 1973, Reiss sold his representative business to a small American Stock Exchange company. He incorporated under the name of R&R and worked with the help of a secretary from a rented office in never own or be resposible for a factory. In addition to being a tradicional manufacturer's representative, he did some consulting for toy manufacturers, using hisextensive knowledge of the market.
The toy and game industry
One of the main characteristics of the toy industry was that products generally had very short life cycles, frequently of no more than two years. "Fads" extended to whole categories of items: one class of toys would sell well for a couple of years and then fade away. Products that were part of categories tended to ride with the fate of that category, regardless to some extent of their intrinsic merit. Many new products were introduced every year, which made the fight for shelfs pace aggressive.
Durante el verano de