We didn't plan this, but for as long as I can remember, for the last
half-hour of most Fridays, a lot of us gravitate toward one office or
another. It starts as two or three people and grows from there. We pop
a few bags of Microwave Popcorn, or if somebody plans ahead we might
have some chips and guacamole or something. This is our social hour,
where we catch up on the little things that don't always get covered at
the actual meetings. We talk about customer service issues that have
come up during the week, and have little discussions about products.
But by no means is it all business. Sometimes we just tell jokes or
funny stories, or talk about our kids or sports. It's very casual, and
whoever's in the office that isn't ridiculously busy, stops by.
What this tells you about us is that we are big enough to serve the largest retailers in the world (which we've been doing for 40 years), but that we're small enough that any employee in the building can have an impact on the development of a product, a marketing plan or a company policy. This close contact, what some people call an "open door" policy, means that we don't work in a vacuum. We get the chance to bounce thoughts and ideas off of people for a fresh perspective, and people are more comfortable taking issues to other departments during the rest of the week. The result... seamless communication between departments and useful products for everyday life.
In the last forty years, we've focused in six different areas. First, my Dad, Ivor "Buss" Allsop developed things like the Ski Boot-In and the ratcheting buckle. The ski industry was our sole focus for almost 10 years.
My brother Mike and I led the company into the consumer electronics industry in the 70's, when we invented the mechanized VCR cleaner and Audiocassette headcleaner. We've since grown with the rest of technology developing things like Laser Lens Cleaners and Disc Scratch Repair Kits.
Just as Bill Gates was having his first meetings with IBM laying the foundation for the future of Microsoft we created our computer accessory division with products like disk storage, computer maintenance, MousePads and keyboard drawers.
In the late 80's we brainstormed a truly revolutionary bicycle frame design, which led to a spin-off company named Softride. We later added an equally revolutionary hitch-mount bike rack for cars and trucks.
Just two years ago, we came up with a great idea for a collapsible yard cart, we now call the WheelEasy. This led to the creation of our Allsop Home & Garden Division. Check out our latest addition, the FireFly. It's new this year and we're very excited about it.
Even though we've added many new products, started new divisions and expanded our focus, we didn't forget our past and what got us here. The key for our company is to not restrain our thinking and creativity to one product or market. This helps us to keep rethinking all of our products in every category for a freshness and vitality we hope you appreciate.
In 2004 we're making a whole new push in the consumer electronics market. We noticed that people are tired of clutter and mismatched home décor (just look at home improvement shows on HGTV or The Learning Channel). In this lazy marketing era of licensing cartoon characters for everything from vacuum cleaners and toasters to MousePads and televisions, we think people are hungry for better looking stuff. And we're working to make it happen in consumer electronics. We're having great success in bringing style to function, and we invite you to take a look.
Thanks for visiting our site and we hope you enjoy our products.