ELKHART, INDIANA—John Wheedle, founder and owner of Wheedle & Sons Whittling, presented his plan to “go after the big market, starting with those hotshots down in Fort Wayne” during a gathering of business professionals and entrepreneurs at the Elkhart Community Center.
The evening’s theme was Aim for the Stars. Group members were encouraged to present on ambitious, long-term plans and then receive constructive feedback. Wheedle was third to go. On his way up to the podium, several attendees recall him saying “This is going to knock their socks off.”
“As makers of fine doorstops, paper weights, and other wooden office accessories,” Wheedle began, “we believe there is a huge untapped audience for our products beyond local craft fairs and the odd sale via online marketplaces. Corporations are filled with people eager to show off something fun and unique in the workspace, and we believe those same corporations will see the benefit of ordering custom-made, locally-sourced items crafted by me and my two teenage sons.
“We can accept a large number of orders, specific to each employee, as long as it’s one of our four available items and the custom messaging uses one of our two fonts.
“As a first step, we’ve registered for rewards Credit Cards at both Home Depot and Lowe’s to obtain the best possible rates on our core supply materials. We can’t scale without a solid supply chain, and the fine folks at Lowe’s Store 2942 have assured me they can meet our burgeoning demand.”
Wheedle received a strong positive reaction at the end of his presentation, with one person, later identified as town corner-store mogul Janette Mische, yelling “Get ’em Wheedle! Go all the way to Indianapolis!”
The presentation was not without its critics. Sources say there were concerns about whether this proposed change in business structure would alienate Wheedle’s core set of customers in town. An anonymous attendee said, “We love ambition here in Elkhart. It really is one of our core principles. But we’ve seen this play out in companies like Slack and Dropbox and Toys ‘R Us, where corporate greed makes the original goal null and void. I’m worried Wheedle & Sons may fall into the same trap.”
We reached Wheedle for response. “The spirit of Elkhart is central to my company. We use local landmarks as inspiration for our designs, and will continue to ensure we proudly display our Made in Elkhart stamps at the bottom of every item.”
When asked about the recent investment capital he received, Wheedle clarified. “Well, yes, we do have to make that message smaller and place it below the prominent Funded by Amazon, Screw You Etsy etching. But that’s a small price to pay for quality products making their way across the country.”
At time of printing, Wheedle reported that he and his teenage sons were bonding during their 18 hour garage shifts overseen by a friendly blue-vested Amazon manager.