t’s wintertime at the Drag Specialties headquarters in Wisconsin, and over the past weekend I was gathering some kindling to keep the home fires burning when an old saying occurred to me. It goes like this: Once in a while you have to stop chopping wood long enough to sharpen your axe. In other words, sometimes it’s best to stop working “in” your business and instead turn your attention to working “on” your business.
     The rally season is winding down, and in some parts of the country, the riding season has slowed for all but the most stalwart of us. And what a year it was: Mile after mile of following our event trucks to rides and rallies and races near and far, flying the Drag Specialties flag high and sending countless enthusiasts to the doors of our dealers.
     But now is not the time to slow that momentum. Instead, it’s an opportunity to shift gears: Time to clean house, to get the stockroom in order, to rotate out the summer goods and prepare to greet the holiday sales season with open arms and fresh products. Time to evaluate what sold and what worked in your store over the past year–and to mark down and move out what didn’t.
     Give your customers a reason to buy what they put back on the shelf in a previous visit to your store. Set up a closeout table, cut the price on slow-moving items, post your “Clearance Sale!” sign. Move the merchandise, and then move on.
     Make room for those prospective Christmas gifts like leather jackets, chaps, gloves, and casual wear. Get with your Drag Specialties sales representative to go over all the shiny new soft goods and apparel available, and give yourself and your store the gift of a strong December.
     And then get ready for all of the new lines, new vendors, and the new Drag Specialties Fatbook catalog is poised to deliver in the New Year. After the eggnog and the champagne have flowed, a new show season is just around the corner. Cincinnati and Indy are coming up. And we’re very excited about all the new products, parts, and programs we’ll have for you there.
     The huge new Drag Fatbook will be overflowing with Jim Nasi Customs, Paul Yaffe Originals, Billy Lane and Choppers Inc., Wimmer Custom Cycles, Danny Gray’s exciting and expanding new line of custom seats and so much more it would (and will) take many more pages to cover than I have here. Thousands of more pages, in point of fact–in the aptly-named 2005 FatBook.
     There’ll be upgrades and improvements to all of our exhaust lines–Rinehart, Vance and Hines, Cobra, Samson, and more–and an even more extensive selection from all of our valued vendors.
     Here’s to a great holiday sales season–and to an even bigger and happier New Year.