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Mike Mihlberger expanded Office & Things
6
6 from its single Salt Lake location to a second
store in Oklahoma. He says, “I went to Okla•
homa to look for a wife.” He met and married a
S Utah woman, closed the Tulsa store after tiring
E of the commute, and concentrated his expanP
T sion activities in Utah. At first, Mike sold speE cialty gifts as well as business supplies and
M typewriters. Later, Mike expanded his gift line
B and opened another store in the mall across the
E
R street. As his family grew from two to four, his
interests changed. “I needed toys at wholesale
2
0 for my kids.” He re-examined his marketing
1 strategy. “The only toy a kid remembers is a
4 stuffed animal.” Mike closed his second mall
store and eliminated his giftware line because it
overlapped the inventory of the store across the
hall from his primary location. He put an extensive line of stuffed animals in the extra space.
He calls his stuffed
animal store “Noahʼs
Ark” and specializes
in collectibles. His
decision to open a
bakery next door
was motivated similarly. “My family was
growing, I needed to
buy food wholesale.”
The other (maybe
the real) reason was
the bakery in his mall closed, so he thought
there would be a continued demand. He also
decided to alter the bakery-businessʼ standard
means of operation. Rather than have a baker
work on site, he simply buys wholesale from
bakers all over town. The products are as fresh;
the variety infinite.
continued...
www.UniverseWholesale.com
Over 3,000 Products for Resale - Special “Closeout” Section
Auto • Clothing • Cosmetics • Electronics • Gifts • Holiday
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