By Bob Beevis, Managing Director of E.S.K
Welcome to my Blog. I thought it was about time I told you a little about me and my company, and shared a few secrets with you.
Ever wondered what E.S.K. stands for? Extreme Sensual Karting. Only joking, it actually stands for the two key trading counties for us, namely East Sussex and Kent. The full name did not sound snappy enough, so I started using the initials instead. It worked well for us and we've been E.S.K. ever since.
I started E.S.K. on August 16 1977, the day Elvis Presley died. There was only room for one of us. Over the past 34 years, I travelled many miles and met thousands of interesting people. Some were inspiring and helpful, others were less so. I am still in contact with loads of people with whom I've done business with over the years. I've also visited countless countries, and still do.
Anyway back to 1977. I had £500, a belief that I could do deals with people and the knowledge that I could sell. My first lucky break came when I saw an advert in a newspaper for a firm in the Midlands selling something called "continental quilts". This was cutting-edge, nobody had heard of the product before.
I bought some quilts, pushed them in the back of a borrowed Transit van and drove down to Hastings. Within two days I had sold them. Result! I repeated this process a few times, making a little bit more money each time.
My second lucky break came when a customer asked for 250 quilts. My initial reaction was "You must be joking!", but I quickly composed myself and assured him that would be fine. That customer was Brian Reade and his mother. Brian was to become a massive influence in my business life.
I hired a lorry, went up to the factory and started loading the goods. The factory owner saw me at work and asked why I was only half filling the lorry. I explained that I had no money to buy extra. Without a second thought, the owner allowed me to have another two hundred "on account". Amazing.
I couldn't believe my luck. So I left the factory in the hired lorry, filled with 500 quilts. My next problem was that I didn't have enough money to buy diesel for the return journey. I pulled into Corly service station and sold a few quilts to other drivers form the back of my lorry, and to some of the ladies on the till in the shop. It was like taking candy from a child! I filled up the lorry, walked in the service station and got some dinner. It was the best food I'd had for a while. Egg and chips had never tasted so good.
I continued selling quilts to the lorry drivers twice a week for a couple of years. I'd earned enough money to open my first little shop in Hastings, called Jumbo Disco.
In 1992, I teamed up with Brian Reade. We opened up our piggy banks and bought a site in Courtlands Road, Eastbourne. E.S.K Warehouses was born. It has served us well ever since. We have a great customer base and enjoy a strong relationship with the town.
Business went well and a few years later in 1995 Brian and I found a great site in Hastings. We bought the site and have been going strong ever since.
For those of you who haven't been to E.S.K., you don't know what you're missing! E.S.K. imports items from all over the world, real value for money. We stock approximately 45,000 items. There's a furniture department, rugs and carpets, household textiles, linens, stationery, garden furniture, pots, pans and cook wear. There is also a wide variety of children's books and toys. There's probably the biggest range of picture frames in the county.
We sell mirrors, big paintings, lighting and bedding. We believe we have the best range of pet products (excluding live animals, we leave that to the breeders). We have our own team of extremely talented resident demonstrators for arts and crafts in our Eastbourne store. We hold a Craft Club and you can email us for more information and even free membership. We've had a range of Sky TV stars along to the Craft Club to demonstrate their skills, including Allan and Barry, Dawn Bibby and Michelle Saxon.
We also introduced some extra services for our lovely customers. We have a super fast car wash team waiting to give your vehicle a bit of TLC, and we have an excellent cafe and restaurant offering cooked breakfasts, lunches, snacks, teas and coffees.
Last, but definitely not least, we have the all-important superstar, Green fingered Fred. He runs a huge gardening department and is always busy. He has the best value plants and the freshest displays you have ever seen. He will be sharing his knowledge through a column starting soon in the Eastbourne Herald.
That's all for now, look out for my next blog.
