Gary Shows - Dye's secret weapon
The first to have independently financed an NXL franchise
for his team Legacy, Dye's Gary Shows tells us where he's been,
where he's going, and gives us the most extensive seminar in
paintball marketing strategy ever. You better listen.
Above
everything else, you are a paintball player?
Let's say that I was a paintball player before I was involved
in the paintball industry. I got into it through my son, who
started playing back in 1989, or 1990. I wasn't really interested
at first, I thought it was really weekend warrior types. I finally
went, thought it was pretty interesting and eventually decided
to go play as a family. Now he doesn't play paintball any more
and I've continued.
What was your profession?
I was in the scuba diving industry. In diving, you have to have
a certification or a license in order to be able to dive. In
the US, there are five agencies that certify people to dive,
I owned one of these agencies: the NASDS, the National Association
of Scuba Diving Schools.
You were based in California?
It was based out of California. We had member stores. I had
almost 400 member stores in the US. Then I had Canada, Mexico,
Australia...
A huge company...
Yes, it was an international company. We issued educational
material, memberships and certification. Not too much in Europe,
they have their own certification.
How do you start a business in scuba diving?
Back in 1969. I wanted to become a scuba diving instructor.
I went to school for that in the early 1970s.
This was all in California...
No I grew up all over the world. I'm a military brat. My dad
moved all over the world; he worked for army transportation.
I lived in Europe, the States, Asia...
Where would you say you spent the most time?
Off and on, we spent 13 years in Japan. We stayed in three different
bases around Tokyo, and a last one in the north of Japan in
a place called Misawa. The military moves you every four years.
After my dad retired, we moved to Florida, that was his home.
I like Japan, my mother is Japanese, we still have relatives
there. I go back twice a year.
Was it hard to move back to Florida?
Well because I grew up moving all the time, you get used to
it. I graduated from high school, then went to college in political
science.
Political science, that's what you originally wanted
to do?
I wanted to teach. I wanted to be a teacher, or possibly go
into law. But I studied it a little, and then couldn't make
the commitment to go to law school. I had an idealist view of
what law was... something pure. But it's not black or white,
there's a lot of gray areas in law. I didn't like that. It's
amusing that my son goes to law school.
What was your first job?
I worked in a chain of restaurants up in the Midwest, but it
was too many hours... So I decided to leave and get into scuba
diving. I wanted to be my own boss, so I wanted to own my own
store. That's why I went to the school in San Diego. I had every
intention to go back to Florida, but I couldn't get a job in
scuba diving in Florida. So a company hired me in California,
and that's why I stated.
Quite and impressive job?
My job wasn't only diving; I also developed sales training and
educational material. Most people looked at me as a sport diving
consultant or a retail consultant. The stores would come and
ask me how they should train their people to sell equipment
so that they could stay in business. I went around doing seminars,
stores-only clinics, motivational talking, sales seminars. Role-playing,
how to do phone sales...
Which can be applied
to any industry?
Absolutely.
And then, you manage to retire.
I got tired of it... Actually, if I had my choice to do it all
over again, I would go back to my original store. I had the
most fun there. The passion was all gone, I got tired of it.
You know, when you drive to work in the morning and you don't
enjoy the drive, then it's time to do a U-turn and go back home.
 What
did you think you would do after?
I thought I would just play around. And I played real hard,
for about five years. I did all sorts of things. I was pretty
comfortable financially, so I did a lot of things, riding motorcycles,
Drag Racing, boats, a lot of toys... But then, I realized that
40 was too young. I still had a whole life ahead of me. It was
back in 98 that I changed, I was getting more into paintball,
and I decided to focus on that.
I was told that you were a martial arts expert.
I took martial arts, Judo. I competed in karate and Judo, I'm
a second degree black belt.
You still train?
Yes, the difference is that I went to Japanese school, I learned
Japanese Judo, not American or western Judo.
Do they laugh at American Judo over there?
Yes. It's not as serious, or as physical. Americans have more
belts, different colors, Japan doesn't have all that. In Japan,
you have to be a black belt in Judo before you can take Karate.
In the west, you can take either or.
Out of all the adrenaline sports, paintball was the
one that motivated you the most?
Definitely. But at the same time, my kids were growing up, and
I could start playing with them. See, if I'm on a motorcycle,
it's just me. I thought that it was time for me to spend more
time with my kids, because when I had the business, I never
spent any time with them. I have three boys, and a little girl.
You were quite a good paintball player.
I had a team for years, I played amateurs for many years, I
played pro for many years. I played for Bob Long, I played against
Dave Youngblood (CEO Dye) when he was a player. We all knew
each other for a very long time. My relationship with Dave started
with John Gregory at JT. We would talk, and I would start talking
about business, he's a smart man, he knows my background in
retailing.
But you would have been an incredible asset to any
paintball company?
He offered a job, but I didn't want to drive all the way to
San Diego from Riverside, and I wasn't going to relocate.
Was he the only one who made an offer?
No, Richmond Italia (CEO Procaps) and I played together on the
Bushwackers, and I knew Richmond when he was PMI, or Diablo-Direct.
I called him to tell him that his market in Southern California
was nowhere... that I would be able to help him. He said yes.
In one year, we increased their business in southern California
by 300%. After a year and a half, they got involved with Gino
Postorivo (CEO NPS), they sold out, and there was no longer
a company. I left, and two years ago I was in Vegas, Dave and
Rhonda were there. They knew that Diablo Direct wasn't working
anymore. They asked what I was doing, and said: "we'd really
like to hire you, but we can't afford you." I answered
back "Money isn't everything."
Why Dye?
It's true, I was in talks with Zap, with Bud Orr. The other
thing is that I like sole proprietors, I don't like corporate...
Much easier to move, much easier to make a decision. If you
want to make a decision, you just speak to Dave, and he can
make that decision. When you're corporate, it's hard to get
the board to agree.
What is your position with Dye at the moment?
I do sponsorships and promotions, I take care of their tournaments,
all their promotional stuff.
The mission that they gave you?
Help out wherever I see that they need help. I live 93 miles
away from Dye. I only have to go there three days a week.
Dye, is it really marketing genius?
I think that Dye has a vision of paintball or any type of recreational
industry that's correct.
What is it?
They look at a whole picture, not just one aspect. They're not
just trying to create a product and sell it to a dealer. They're
looking at the whole picture. They don't want to be identified
as an inexpensive cheap company, they want to be a quality company.
They're looking after the interests of the retailer to make
sure that the retailer can make money. Yes, it would be easy
to make inexpensive stuff, but you understand that if you sell
something for a dollar, and your profit is 50 cents, you only
have 50 cents to pay your rent. If you sell something for 5
dollars, and your profit margin is 50%, you have 2.50 to pay
your rent. So from a retailer's standpoint, it's easier to sell
a more expensive item, because he's going to be able to survive,
as opposed to selling cheap items. That's because there's only
a certain percentage of people who are going to take to paintball,
no matter what. It's easier to sell more expensive items and
survive that to try to sell a lot of cheap stuff, because there
aren't that many people to sell the cheap stuff to.
Dye's image is just that?
They want to be high-end identified as a quality company. Right
now, we're already buying and bringing into the warehouse 2005
products, and already on the drawing boards for 2006.
The art direction is amazing, who do we have to thank?
All the clothes and all the designs are done by Brian Benini.
I have to say honestly... underpaid. He is the backbone. Dye
is in the process of developing a full R&D department.
Where do you get your designers?
Some are straight out of schools, one came from skateboarding,
the other trained under Brian. They're now going to work with
people outside the sport of paintball, clothing companies...
What do you think of copycats, we're not going to give
you names, but...
In every industry, you're going to have a company that just
copies stuff. There's nothing you can do to stop that, really.
There's a way to get around patents, or some things that you
just can't patent. They copy things... you see it as a compliment
on what you do. The other thing is that if you watch your marketing
and your business, and you trust the people that do it, anytime
they copy, they're already a year behind. The public can either
accept it or not accept it, but if you want to be a company
that is a follower opposed to a leader, then so be it, that's
what you're always going to be.
The odd thing is that all these paintball companies
are really close to each other...
They separate. Though they're all partners in putting together
one event, they're also competitors. I'm not saying that there's
never any stress, but there is separation.
-It was your first time in Toulouse last year, and your first
Millennium tournament ever. What did you think? Before I went
to the Millennium, I heard that it was the best tournaments
ever... I went there, and it could have been because of timing,
since things were changing in the States as well, but I didn't
get that feeling.
You had just seen Huntington Beach. That is correct,
but to tell you the truth, I wasn't impressed with Huntington
Beach...
But everyone's grown, because of efforts of the Millennium,
because of Pure Promotions, that has all resulted in improvements
to paintball. Everyone's events are better now that they separated.
When I went to the Millennium, I felt like I had regressed ten
years. What I saw happening at the Millennium series, not the
management of the tournament, but the atmosphere that's created
by the vendors, was that it was people with a ten-year old mentality.
I was upset that vendors go to the Millennium and take advantage
of the players. They use that as a super retailing opportunity,
so sometimes, the prices even go up at the Millennium, when
they could buy it cheaper somewhere else. That's not really
fair, and that's not how the United States does their tournaments.
That was one of the first time that Dye was there, and they
didn't like the fact that we were selling things at wholesale
prices, when they're selling things at retail price. Our purpose
is to promote the product, let the customers touch, feel, have
an opportunity to get things at a little bit less, create a
need for it. And when we leave, that desire is still there,
it means that they're going to go to your store and buy it.
It's not going to work if you're always taking advantage of
them.
That was the major problem with the Millennium?
I always heard that the quality of reffing was great. I didn't
think that it was really good.
Did you have a team playing there?
No, I did not have a team. I tried to be objective. I saw that
there were a couple of individual reffs who were good, but I
think as a rule, I just got the feeling that it wasn't of the
quality I expected.
 The
padded jersey affair...
Dye's padded
jersey was banned from Millennium tournaments, they said that
paintballs were more likely to bounce off the shoulders. Your
thoughts? I'll back it up. I don't think that it's the job of
a tournament series... They shouldn't be making rules about
people's equipment unless they can produce some kind of document
that backs up what they're saying. If you say that my jersey
creates an unfair advantage, I'll say "OK, show me how
it creates an unfair advantage. Show me documentation, test
it." Because by making a rule, you're affecting the finances
of my company, not anything else. If you're trying to financially
impact my company, then you should take on the responsibility
to test it. They don't do that. They take an opinion of a group
of players... and they make a ruling on it. It's always easy
to come back and question it because they don't have any certified
testing. I even said that fat people get more bounces than skinny
people... what should we do, outlaw fat people?
Where are we now?
Sponsored teams have to take the padding out from the jerseys.
That's putting extra stress on our sponsored teams. Why would
players want to have to do that?
Has Dye thought about going to a Super 7 event?
No, for the same reasons that we won't attend the Millennium.
Why would we want to be a sponsor to an event, pay them money
for them to ban our jerseys?
And financially, that won't represent a loss?
Our business is still growing.
Let's talk a little about teams... Legacy making it
to the NXL?
We were approved. We are the ninth NXL team.
What motivated this action?
I've been in the industry quite a while. Watching Smart Parts...
they've played an integral role in this whole thing. Watching
them, and watching Dave, watching Jerry, Richmond... I believe
in what they're doing... I think that some of the moves they're
making are really wise, though in the short term, they look
unfounded. In the long run, this will have tremendous impact.
This is probably going to help them as individuals, without
a doubt. And that would be the reason that I would get into
it, because I have no company to benefit... That would have
to be just for me. I do believe in what they're doing, the connection
with Dick Clark. I wanted to make the investment.
You're telling me that you actually bought the franchise
yourself?
Yes, I bought it. I am the first independent to buy a franchise.
They're probably going to expand to up to twelve teams.
Let's switch teams, you're a lot more involved with
the Ironmen, or the new Ironmen...
I don't have a position on the team, but because we're all closely
related, it would be in our interest to help each other out.
It sounds kind of weird because we are supposed to be competitors,
Legacy and the Ironmen, but we still work together. We jointly
practice together...
Rich Telford leaving, Shane Pestana coming in, what's
your opinion?
It's not much of an opinion, I was there when conversations
were going on. Contrary to popular belief, at the end of the
year, the Ironmen was a 7th placed team. They had a meeting,
and we said, "what's the difference between our 7th placed
Ironmen, and the 1st placed team?" There was one difference,
they had a coach. As a matter of fact, the top placing teams
had coaches. We asked Rich whether or not he was ready to become
a coach, and stop playing. He said no. We asked Shane to come
in, he said yes.
Did you have any idea that they would all walk?
No. A little bit of surprise, but instead of trying to fight
to keep it, it was be better to let the dust settle, and then
rebuild. A franchise is not built on individuals. These players
think that the franchise is built on individuals. They were
a tool to help build their company. You can either buy a hammer,
or a nail, they just happened to be a tool. They were able to
play a sport that they liked for free, but they got greedy...
they're going to find out that the money's not there yet.
Were promises made too prematurely?
No promises were made. As a matter of fact, they were the best
paid NXL team last year.
 You're
coming from an entirely different industry, where do you see
paintball in a decade?
Paintball is going to grow up. What I mean by that
is that everybody is going to be more business oriented. It's
the only extreme sport in the last two years that has grown
at all. The retailers are going to become more sophisticated,
more profitable, and larger. It can be chains of retailers,
you're going to have business people looking at paintball as
a profitable venture, and invest. As that increases, the industry
is going to have to learn how to sell paintball equipment. Right
now, people give their opinions on the product, that's not how
you sell. You have to learn how to sell. I see an association
of manufacturers that pull everything together and teach people
how to sell and manage their business. What Dye is trying to
do is make paintball acceptable in the public's eye. The secret
is to make it into a lifestyle. Skateboarding has done that,
paintball just happened. That's where Dye comes in with casual
wear. When you walk into a skateboarding shop, there is maybe
one wall of skateboards, the rest of the floors and walls are
filled with T-shirts, hats, pants, clothing, that identify the
lifestyle. That's what paintball has to become. The minute the
manufacturer figures out that he has to sell a lifestyle rather
than a marker, we're going to be much more successful.
Something you hate and something you love?
I hate racists. I don't like them.
Were people racist towards you?
Yes, a little. But because I traveled to Asia, to Europe, I
like different cultures, different kinds of people. When I hear
people saying bad things about one culture or another, I don't
like it. They're very narrow-minded.
Something you love?
Competition. It's a real drive in my life.
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