A Friend in Need
On my recent trip back to Minnesota, I made a special point of visiting an old friend. Tony Geer. If you ever want to learn anything about retail marketing, guerrilla style, spend a few minutes with Tony and you will have an MBA level degree in retail marketing.
I first met Tony while managing a kiosk next to his at Mall of America in Minnesota. The first thing that attracted me to him was his ability to call a spade a spade. He could rip an employee for bad business practices one minute, and spin around the next minute and woo a passerby into stopping to look, than buy whatever he was selling.
Turning screaming and unruly kids into passive, obedient children is another trait he has. To him, that was the key to getting the parents to stop and look. That and a magic ball in a bag trick… I will have to get a video of that… It’s hilarious.
Okay, his no sugar coating style didn’t play well with mall managers. Who, for the most part, where totally clueless idiots that Tony would annoy just because he could.
That and his humble desire to help, showing them better ways to make the mall money, got him bounced from a mall or two. How dare a lowly kiosk manager tell a highly educated mall manger how to do his job? Then after bouncing him out, they would implement his ideas and keep the credit.
In that area, Tony excelled. Making the kiosk money. He is a diligent worker and keen observer, who can turn a losing kiosk into a printing press of money in very short order. A walk in the park for Tony because he has an instinct for understanding the customers better than anyone I know. He can spot the buyers and the testers. Watch as he turns one into the other quickly, or gets them to move on with a smile.
I dare anyone to walk with him through any retail store, and he will find fifty ways to improve the sales in the first five minutes. Give him ten and he will rewrite the sales planner, fifteen and he will have you convinced you need to remodel the store because his ideas will pay for it. And they will.
His humbleness goes to his passion… Womens Basketball. He knows more than most coaches and recruiters do about the sport. And they agree he does. Walk into any game with him, and you would think you were walking with royalty. Just by the shear number of people who stop to say hello, or to ask his advice on a certain player, or his thoughts on a certain team.
He runs a community website for that purpose… www.communityhoops.com. To expose and profile rising young basketball stars. To give advise and critique to the teams and the coaches. As well as giving opportunities to struggling journalism students by opening doors for them as they cover the games for the website, and meet the people he knows who can hire them. All at his own expense.
This humbleness also got Tony into a jam. As of right now, the economy and his desire to help others while neglecting his own situation, has cost him his health as well as his home. Tony is now homeless and struggling with depression.
Tony is a good man that is having a little bit of a bad luck and could use a little help right now. If I could get you to go over to his website and see what he is doing. Than make a donation, I would really appreciate that. Or if you need a great marketing, give him a call and see what he can really do for you.
Article: Dedicated Basketball Fan Makes a Difference
