the inventory in the warehouse to see how their personalities differed. Fearn’s products were neatly boxed on full pallets, which were neatly set in organized rows. NOW’s inventory looked like a flea market in a warehouse, with scattered small rows of products showing much less attention to appearance. The differences in office décor were even more startling. After years of shared inventory and warehouse space Lou decided it was time for NOW Foods to find its own home. He envisioned Fearn needing more office and warehouse space, and seemed to feel that the time was right for the companies to separate and expand on their own. Each company ended up paying a price – higher rent – as well as a less convenient relationship of inventory sharing and delivery costs. Yet what turned out to be bad for business in the short-term, ended up being a blessing in disguise for NOW. In 1979, NOW moved into a small 7,000 sq. ft. building at 721 N. Yale, Villa Park, IL. That was much larger than NOW’s portion of the Fearn plant had been and allowed Elwood to introduce and stock many new products. Though NOW struggled for years and years to make a profit, the pioneering spirit of perseverance and ingenuity prevailed and Elwood found a way to make ends meet. Below are sales for the three family businesses during this period: YEAR RETAIL SALES NOW SALES FEARN SALES 1978 $1,691,425 $472, 385 $1,192,296 1979 1,739,494 494,058 1,400,000 est. 1980 1,902,292 595,089 1,700,000 est. 1981 2,164,178 769,362 1,996,922 1982 2,121,828 862,723 1,643,068 1983 2,160,225 945,880 1,558,931 1984 2,222,130 943,182 1,400,000 est. This period was difficult for NOW and Fearn, while the retail stores generally profited enough to keep NOW afloat. Elwood had wanted NOW to provide such good value to customers that he didn’t make it a top priority to be overly profitable at NOW. Thankfully, some key employees like Al Powers and Doug Murguia worked the stores successfully and gave the company enough working cash to expand when the opportunity presented itself. INTRODUCING DOUG MURGUIA Doug joined The Fruitful Yield in the mid-1970s and soon became the manager of the smallest store in the chain in Downers Grove. That store was a former house and selling space was limited to about 800 sq. ft., or the equivalent of an average garage. Doug managed to grow that store’s sales so fast that he set company records for sales growth and sales per sq. ft. He made a practice of having “Kelp Days” or “Lecithin Days” or “Cod Liver Oil Days” and made a big deal with displays, samples, sales and nutritional education. He taught his employees to try to sell the special product to every customer that walked through the door and was extremely successful. He became the retail chain’s 40 BEATING THE ODDS
