The name is Dan Florintine. Barely twenty one and just having fun, that was me. Six foot tall and in shape at 180 pounds, blond hair kept on the rather long side, cute as a bug's ear, which is word for word what Mom told me lots of times.
Easy to believe, the mirror told me the same thing. Lopsided "up to something" grin, quick with a wisecrack, and growing up talking to complete strangers every day about anything and everything blended total confidence into the mix.
I didn't go on to college, probably should have but my folks owned an auto parts store.
Actually several of them, it was one of those franchise deals where the main company sets up the program, supplies the inventory and the stores sell off of the inventory. Then once a month everything is added up and the main company sends a bill.
Usually what was left over was pretty good.
Especially since my Mother kept some parts lines around that were our own brand, some with over 100% markups. I never did know how she figured all of that out and got it all done, but I did have a few suspicions.
My Mom was the driving force in our family, way back before I was even born she and Dad bought the property that the first store was on, beginning with mostly private brands.
Mom had insisted on that. At first, breaking into some major brand lines was tough, there were of course regional salespeople, local, then main warehouses and the like, all taking a piece of the pie.
The systems and people involved in the distribution is what cost the money, the product and the packaging is normally just a fraction of retail.
Mom knew that, so she began touching bases with manufacturers. Of course they wanted to protect their own customer base, which meant they did nothing to upset them.
Like sell product to some tiny little auto parts store. That kind of stuff can create a big outfit out of a tiny one, and that means competition.
Major brands don't like competition much. Things happen, like suppliers suddenly jack up the wholesale price, or say product is "out of stock" or even go so far as to refuse to sell.
All because one of their BIG customers tell them to..or else.
Sure, that stuff is illegal. It happens every single day.
Which also means that the part you pay $30 for cost someone somewhere about a buck. Then all the middlemen in between grab a piece as it goes by, so yep.
$30 to you.
Anyway, that is the auto parts business, and I grew up in the middle of all of that.
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So Mom started having certain items made by smaller manufacturers, insisting on nothing but the very best quality.
That meant she was often flying all over the world. I remember once when I was about 8 years old, she came back from a business trip to China. That time she was gone 18 days.
That one I remember because things between Mom and Dad were very cool for quite awhile and I had no idea why. Mom fixed things by turning into the happiest person in the world, always kissing and rubbing up against Dad, cooking all the things he liked best.
Like I said, I was only 8 years old but I noticed that.
The next trip a few months after was to Australia, and my Mother insisted that Dad go.
Dad came back empty handed, saying something about no way could they cut a million dollar contract.
Mom left just a few days later, she was back in a couple of weeks with a contract in hand.
I had no idea at all at the time how she did that, but somehow she always managed.
Our colorful F/A logo began to appear on the boxes.
Then other parts stores started wanting things, so Mom sold them cases of stuff at discounts.
By the time Mom had selected and purchased the 3rd property for another store, then bought a warehouse down by the river, the sales people were coming by with hat in hand.
Mom was still taking those trips, some back east but often to other Nations.
She did send Dad a few times but he usually came back without a contract, or paid way too much.
Mom always came back with the contracts, and she never paid too much for anything.
Other than that one time, there were no more arguments.
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I had a broom in my hands by the time I was six, the school bus dropped me off at the store instead of at home like all the other kids.
When I was in my middle teens I was as good on the counter as anyone.
Florintine Auto Parts, it was called, of course. If a part was even made for any make or model, our stores had it. Even if we didn't have it on the shelf we could have it the next morning, the truck rolled in every day at 10 O'clock.
My job was mostly cleaning up and stacking the shelves. Customers come in, pick up items and pack them halfway across the store, then set them down where they don't belong.
My job was to find those and put them back.
By the time I graduated from high school I knew where everything went.
Actually, I thought I knew everything about everything, too, in spite of my Mother's best efforts. She loved me, no, she worshiped me, but she was also firm and took no nonsense.
Like I said, Mom was the driving force behind everything, if my Dad was left to his own devices, he would be living in a tent out in the woods with his fishing tackle.
My Dad loved to catch fish, and he often took me along. Those were always good days, just the two of us.
But Dad's pleasant and easy manner helped with customers, everyone liked him. He knew just how to stand, how to speak, and he could really sell people stuff. I did my best to copy that and in time got pretty good at it myself.
What Dad just could not do was buy products, he was way too nice and sales reps usually got the best of him.
My Mother had no troubles with that at all.
Mom was of course a catalog, she knew every part number in every manual we had, and by the time I got out of high school we had those little discs that had all the info about parts on them.
That helped a lot, sales became easy and fast.
Except for Dad, the one time I saw him put his foot down was when Mom came out to collect all the manuals because we didn't need them any more.
There was quite a discussion, damn near an argument. I went and hid a few rows over, in all my life I never saw them go at it like that.
Finally Dad went in the back room and threw the main power switch. He came back out and looked at Mom.
"Now. Look something up YOUR way!" He said.
Mom stared at him for several long seconds, then she walked over to him and kissed him.
"I'm sorry, honey." Was all she said. Mom had changed almost instantly from being stern, being the boss into something completely different.
Dad's crossed arms came down, he was holding her and I saw that clearly. Mom manipulated him with ease.
That was the moment I realized just how beautiful my Mother was, up until then she had just been Mom. She had switched from an in charge attitude to something entirely different in seconds.
Dad got to keep his manuals.
Still, Mom ran the stores.
