Rothco Hits the Big "99"!

Just wanted to share some great news. This month, for the very first time, Rothco hit the 99th percentile. What exactly do I mean by that? According to our inventory reports, in the month of June we have an in-stock inventory rate of 99%! That means, if you order any of our regular items today, there's a 99% chance it's ready to ship. That means you get what you want when you need it. It also means you can save BIG money by letting US hold the inventory while you devote your dollars and your retail space to a greater variety of merchandise without a bigger investment. Over the course of a year, this can mean an extra turn or two in merchandise and thousands in profits, all at no extra cost to our dealers.

But don't take my word on what the Rothco difference can mean to you, let me give it to you right from the mouth of one of our more successful and savvy dealers, Jeff Goldsmith of Joe's Army Navy (who you may remember from outfitting rapper Eminem) :

"For the 3rd straight year Rothco remains my #1 vendor by retail sales. I want to let you, Howard, and the whole Rothco team know how much I appreciate the relationship we have built up over the years. Your continued dedication to innovative new products, customer service, and in-stock situation, truly make it a pleasure to work with you."

And a pleasure it is to work with you, too, Jeff. It's also a real joy to be a part of your success. Our primary goal at Rothco is the financial success of our dealers and the satisfaction of the consumers who buy our products. If you do well, we do well and it's extremely gratifying to help you all to do so. Praise like Jeff's helps motivate us to do even better tomorrow in helping all of our dealers reach their goals.

So feel free to place your next order with us knowing that when you order, we've got it!

John Ottaviano


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Rothco's Got the Vibe!

Yet another media appearance by Rothco, this time in hip-hop magazine, Vibe, in their "We Know What You're Doing This Summer" style preview.

In the article, the Vibe style folks describe various personalities, the gear they'll be wearing, their music, their activities, etc. For "The Philly Skateboarder" they picked the Rothco Vintage Infantry Utility Short as "the" garment of choice this summer. They found them at the website Army Navy USA, our good friends Simon and Dalia in Woodhaven, NY. The shorts are available in 7 colors in all, Khaki, Black, Olive Drab, City Camouflage, Navy Blue, and Army Digital Camouflage.

Just like the previous blog about Eminem in XXL Magazine, these are great promotions for your store or website. If your customers aren't already coming in because of the media coverage, find ways to let them know that Rothco products are being featured in these publications. Feel free to use these images everywhere!

By the way, the Vintage Infantry Paratrooper Fatigue Shorts are just about the most comfortable and functional shorts I've every worn. I've got three or four pairs and I'll be rockin' them all summer.

Enjoy your weekend!

John Ottaviano


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Joe's Army Navy & Eminem

We got a heads up from our good friend Jeff Goldsmith at Joe's Army & Navy in Waterford, MI that he got a visit from the stylist for rapper Eminem. Turns out they shopped Joe's for a photo shoot for XXL Magazine who dedicated nearly the whole June issue to the rapper and his comeback CD, Relapse.

For the uninitiated, Eminem is one of the best selling rapper in music history and probably one of the most controversial artists of all time. His new CD is probably his most controversial ever. At the same time, it's probably seeing as much promotion as any release in recent memory, mostly due to his self-imposed four year exile from the business to deal with a number of personal issues.

In any case, these pictures are a great promotional tool for your store. In various pictures, Eminem is wearing Black B.D.U. Pants, Black Nylon Pistol Belt, Black Wool Watch Cap, Black Fingerless Gloves and lots of other products that all the hip-hop fans in your area will be dying to wear now that Eminem has been seen wearing them. These pictures aren't just in the magazine, but all over the internet!!
I recommend going to the local newstand and picking up a copy of XXL Magazine, cutting out the applicable pictures and posting them in your store near the appropriate merchandise. Please note that XXL is a relatively adult magazine both verbally and graphically, but the pictures of one of the biggest musical artists out today should do big things for your sales.

Thanks again, Jeff, for making Eminem look so damn cool!!!
John Ottaviano



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Goodbye Col. Bubbie, Are You Ready to Succeed Winners

Meyer Reiswerg, better known to all as Col. Bubbie, owner of Strand Surplus Senter in Galveston, passed away last week. A fixture in the Army Navy business and a great representative and supporter of the city of Galveston, Meyer worked very hard to get after Hurricane Ike and was one of the first stores open on the Strand in Galveston back in November. Though it was a tremendouse amount of work for Meyer and his family, the rebirth of his store and his beloved city were of utmost importance to him.

Meyer, you will be missed by all your friends here at Rothco. Here are a couple of wonderful stories on Meyer, from the Houston Chronicle and the Galveston County Daily News

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Congratulations to the winners of our "Are You Ready to Succeed?" book contest. Receiving free copies will be Carol of Church's Army & Outdoor, Lori of Texas Tees, Nancie of At Work Uniforms, and Richard of Uncle Sam's Army Navy . Each of them will be receiving a free copy of the book courtesy of Rothco

John Ottaviano


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Are You Ready to Succeed?

It doesn't seem to right to call Rothco's president, Howard Somberg, a "guest" blogger, but this is his first contribution to Camobloge. It's a very interesting insight to the Rothco business philosophy:

One of the most gratifying things about being a part of the Rothco organization is getting feedback from our customers about the service they get from our staff. Much of what I learned about customer service I got from my father and Rothco’s founder, Milton Somberg, who made it clear to me that if we take care of the customer, the customer will always take care of us. Over the years, as I got more involved in the operations and fulfillment end of our business, I developed a strong desire or obsession, as some would call it, in shipping out orders as quickly as we possibly could. This often meant very early and long hours for me and our staff, but soon the team became as focused as I was on getting every last order out we possibly could.

My father also instilled in me the importance of sharing our good fortune at Rothco with the staff that was so important to our success. This, in turn, has lead to a very rare and fortunate longevity amongst our staff with most employees enjoying long tenures with many here over 30 years. That continuity helps give Rothco the service edge that we enjoy and certainly makes our roles as company leaders much easier.

I am very fortunate to have learned at my father’s knee and to still enjoy his guidance and I wish I had the ability to better share this with others. Fortunately and, perhaps, coincidentally, I have a good friend named Srikumar S. Rao, a man who has studied leadership and shared his results with others at the Columbia Business School, London Business School and University of California at Berkley, etc. He has recently written a book entitled, Are You Ready to Succeed? - Unconventional Strategies for Achieving Personal Mastery in Business and Life.

It just so happens that many of the principles he discusses in his book, like leading by example, taking care of one’s employees, empowering team members and making sure that all those involved with an organization, staff, customers, vendors, etc., are given all they need to find their own success. From his books I have discovered why the things we do at Rothco have succeeded and even more ways to help ensure the success of our employees, our customers and, from their successes, our company.

It was through sheer luck that I met Srikumar through our shared love of tennis, but I do believe that our relationship was somewhat destined though our shared love of business and learning more about leadership. I am so excited about his philosophies that I want to giveaway 5 copies of his book, Are You Ready to Succeed to 5 readers of Camobloge randomly chosen. Just send an e-mail to Info@Rothco.com with the subject “I Am Ready to Succeed” and we will enter you in a drawing for a free copy of Srikumar’s book. After you read it, please let me know your thoughts on it. I’d love to hear from you.

For more information on Srikumar Rao and his thoughts on leadership, please go to his website at Are You Ready to Succeed.

Have a great weekend!

Howard Somberg


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The Pepper Spray King

Just a brief shout out to our friends at Army Navy Outdoors and my good friend, Sam Zackowitz. Sam and his staff at his four Florida stores have been working hard building one helluva personal defense spray business. He also has a great selection on his website Army Navy Outdoors.

Anyway, Sam and his staff filmed a great video showing his full selection. Even better, Sam somehow got one of his team members to agree to be sprayed and show the effects of some of Sam's products. It takes one heck of a salesman to do that!!

Check out Sam's video below. You can go to Rothco.com for our full selection of self defense sprays, too.


Have a great weekend.

John Ottaviano




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