larger orders by common carrier trucks, but these soon became so backed up that the best solution seemed to be to wait and pray for resolution to the strike. After more than two weeks of virtually zero UPS deliveries, the national union agreed to terms with the company and all seemed to be back to normal. Unfortunately, we didn’t realize that the Chicago district had its own union and contract and that did not get resolved for several additional days. Business disasters like this don’t seem quite as bad several years later, but it’s also hard to forget which shippers were part of the problem and which ones were part of the solution. As the proverb says, “a man of many companions may come to ruin, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.” (Proverbs 18:24) Shortly after this NOW switched shipping to FedEx, in part because it is a worker-friendly, non-union delivery company. DR. JAMES BALCH During this time, Dr. James Balch, a urologist, board surgeon and co-author of the book, Prescription for Nutritional Healing, approached NOW with the idea of becoming a spokesman for the company. Prior to this, Dr. Balch and his wife, Phyllis, owned a health food store in Indiana that bought products from NOW. Dr. Balch had become familiar with our line of products and corporate personality over several years and he felt that we had enough in common to forge an alliance. Until that time, NOW had never sought out a national personality like Dr. Balch to act as a spokesman, because we were always concerned about the cost. But because Dr. Balch liked our company we were able to make a deal and introduce a line of products called “Dr. Recommended” with Dr. James Balch’s picture on each bottle. By 1997, Dr. Balch was as famous as one gets in the natural foods field, on his way to over five million books sold. He was well known at health food conventions, on weekly radio shows, speaking internationally and even in demand within the medical community. Dr. Balch helped put that seal of approval on NOW as a company. By being a Christian–principled company, we had caught Dr. Balch’s attention and had an advantage over other suppliers who would have liked to have had Dr. Balch in their corner. Although Dr. Balch and NOW parted ways in 2005, the partnership was a great experience and we will always wish him the best. And so we came to the fateful month of July, 1998 when our dreams, and nightmares, were about to unfold. One thing the company had learned from the 1993 move was that you can never over prepare. Our plant manager, Jim Emme, did an outstanding job of coordinating the physical move, so that most of the entire business was moved within three days. I recall being totally shocked, because our last move, with far less inventory and equipment, had lasted over a week and ended in a total mess. The 1998 move appeared to be a miraculous event, with everything in place and business ready to resume on Monday. But a major problem soon erupted that caused shipments to be delayed for up to three weeks and employees’ patience to be tried far beyond reason. The problem was that we installed a new $1 million order picking/packing/distribution system that was driven by the company’s computer system using new software. The new “pick-to- light” system, which is computer driven, wouldn’t work for nearly three weeks and the new warehouse was not set up to handle our old fashioned picking style. Those were dark days at NOW and I’m still thankful for loyal wholesale customers who somehow put up with the company when we were barely able to put up with ourselves! Perhaps the memory is too recent, but it seems stressful to even try to remember those days in 1997-2002 81
