FEARN MOVES ALONG From 1960 to 1967, sales at Fearn grew only about 6% per year, ending 1967 at about $180,000. Elwood, Lou and Bill became intimately involved in the business as each of them had to agree on each new distributor the company added. Whenever a new distributor approached Elwood to add the Fearn line, Elwood would write a letter to Lou and Bill, lay out the pros and cons and then they would decide together if the customer deserved distributor pricing. Surprisingly, about half of those discussed were not suitable as many retailers tried to act as distributors and weren’t really in the business of servicing other stores. During this time, Elwood took a few courses at Roosevelt University and was unsure how his role would continue. He had inherited the head job in a business that didn’t captivate him. He also had a very young family and a wife, Betty, who had severe allergies, so life was extremely busy. In 1961, Elwood and Betty took a month off from work to explore other areas of the country that might be more helpful for her allergies. They spent time in Denver, Phoenix and San Diego, but ended with no noticeable improvement in Betty’s health. She remained chronically ill for many years, but eventually felt well enough to continue life in the Chicago area. Meanwhile, Lou married in 1961 and took an eight month trip around the world. He had taken a leave of absence and planned to return to his job in Denver, but his experiences in traveling the world led him back to his roots in the Chicago area where he wasn’t quite sure what he would do next. In 1962, Lou decided to join Elwood at Fearn and see if their father’s business was something that would satisfy his quest. Lou assumed this would be short term and he eventually left to explore the theological field from 1966 – 1969. During those years together, both brothers were responsible for all management/ operation functions including selling, package design, new products, billing and new equipment at Fearn. In 1964, they started oil roasting soybeans and developed a nice business producing and selling Soy-O-Snacks. In 1962, Elwood dealt with a problem that, unfortunately, was to repeat itself a number of times with different people. While totaling the numbers for mail order sales, Elwood found that they did not add up. Elwood checked and rechecked every possible option and came to the clear conclusion that one of his key employees had stolen the missing funds. He quickly confronted the surprised worker, who had been a close and well liked friend of the family and whose mother was the main supervisor. The young man wouldn’t admit any fault initially, and even swore on his father’s grave, but later in the day he confessed and had to be removed from his job. “Truthful lips endure forever, but a lying tongue lasts only for a moment.” (Proverbs 12:19) Events like this are very sad to anyone who has had a similar experience, especially so when the thief is a close, trusted friend who was as much a part of the business as anyone. While the health food industry was still getting established, Fearn was struggling with its primary customer – distributors – who practically owned the industry. Because Fearn sold food products like soy flour, soybeans, pancake mixes and other flours, the company couldn’t ship direct to retailers and was forced to rely on an unstable group of middleman distributors. In 1960, Fearn sold products through 22 natural food 20 BEATING THE ODDS
