13 / 94
Fast forward to 1967. Scully was 24 when his father, who had
taken over from his grandfather and who was in poor health, persuaded
him to take over the family business. At first Scully expected to just
close the business after his father died. But then he met up-and-com-
ing fashion mogul Fred Segal, who asked if he’d be interested in manu-
facturing red, white and blue leather pants for Segal’s new concept
store. Scully did, and the leather business took off.
Two of his sons, Brian and Dan IV, both work for the company as
vice president of production and vice president of sales, respectively.
Scully’s third son Kevin is a psychologist. As for Scully himself, “I like
to say I’m the equivalent of Ronald Reagan in the second year of his
presidency. He was 72 … . So I’ve got six more years before even
thinking about retirement,” Scully says.
Through The Back Door
Scully added accessories and Western apparel soon after he took
over the business, and in 1993 he acquired an Old West-style clothing
company, Wahmaker, from bankruptcy. Wahmaker made turn-of-the-
century cowboy apparel, and Scully expanded the line to appeal to the
more mainstream Western market. It has become a major part of the
business and its products are often chosen to outfit employees at
themed casinos and restaurants.
The entrance into the promotional products arena came about
organically rather than purposefully. “We came into the promotional
products industry through the back door. Until recently, we weren’t
seeking out that business. But because we were well known [in the
retail industry], distributors came to us and asked us to design apparel
or items for golf tournaments and other events,” Scully says. “We can
make just about anything because we have both domestic and off-
shore manufacturing, so we have the ability to do quick turnaround
and can do proprietary manufacturing to accommodate anybody in the
promotional products industry. We just weren’t being proactive about it
beyond retail.”
Dynamic Duo
Multi-line reps Dale Jalovec and Sherry Maresh encouraged
Scully to become more proactive in the industry. “They came to me
about 18 months ago and said, ‘You’ve got a lot to offer. Why aren’t
you actively soliciting in the promotional products industry? Let us
do it.’ I agreed and left the door wide open for them. I told them I’d
pay for any show they wanted to do. They were really excited,”
Scully says.
“They do quite a few shows now. And they make sure we’re prop-
erly represented on all the industry websites. We should have done this
much earlier.”
Even though they are now pursuing promotional products busi-
ness, Scully is quick to point out that “we’re not doing anything differ-
ent on the inside. We already had all the mechanics and the infrastruc-
ture, and the know-how, to make anything in leather—and fabric, too.
It’s just that now we’re screaming, ‘Here we are!’ and within a short
period of time, distributors in the promotional products industry were
coming to us for quotes. We’ve had a tremendous response,” he says.
Full Circle
Scully sometimes accompanies his wife, Laney, on shopping
excursions to thrift shops like Goodwill, where he invariably finds
old Scully leather jackets that he was responsible for creating
decades earlier.
“It’s fun to find things that I made, like a 48-year-old jacket. I buy
them and bring them back to the office. Ten years ago I started buying
old Scully flying helmets. I have quite a collection. I should probably
stop now,” he jokes.
Julie Richie is associate editor for
PPB.
FEBRUARY 2016 •
PPB
• 11
12
Material
Matters
EYE ON APPAREL
18
Product
Responsibility
Step By Step
QUESTION
21
Navigating
The Tightrope
PROFESSIONAL
DEVELOPMENT
Scully’s Four Tips For Trade-Show
Success
1. Be at the important trade shows.
2. Set up your display to tell your story.
3. Hire professional models for your catalogs.
4. Make sure your sales presentation is polished and
professional.
24
The Top
Campaigns
Of The Year
FEATURE STORY