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MAY 2016 •
PPB
• 77
SY EREREN,
TERRY TOWN
successful intensive care unit monitoring
manufacturing company and retired at a
rather young age. He offered his unwavering
support and mentoring without expecting any
compensation or favors. I guess the tuition I
paid for studying at Northwestern was a very
good investment!
What do you enjoy most about your work?
The exceptional company culture we col-
lectively created at Terry Town. I take great
pleasure in working with courteous coworkers
who thrive on providing best quality products
and customer service to our distributor part-
ners. It was never Terry Town’s goal to
become the largest towel, robe and blanket
supplier in our industry. We just focus on
being the best.
What was your first job, and what lessons
did you learn?
My first job was working for a company
that performed fuel efficiency testing for car
manufacturers and oil companies in
Anaheim. I worked on designing fuel econ-
omy measurement instrumentation and
evaluating emission measurement instru-
mentation for the EPA. While performing
my duties, I had the opportunity to inter-
face and work with many diverse groups of
people, from auto mechanics to oil and
automotive company executives, and I par-
ticipated in establishing ASTM procedures
for fuel economy testing. I learned people
skills that enabled me to interface with peo-
ple of diverse backgrounds.
What was your first job in promotional
products and how did it come about?
Before Terry Town, I started another tex-
tile company with a partner. While supplying
robes and towels to department stores, we
were having challenges in finding quality
towel mills. Therefore, we decided to start a
towel mill in Turkey that enabled us to gain
vast experience in towels and the textile
industry. When my partner and I had differ-
ing ideas on our company’s growth plan, I
decided to start Terry Town. In the early
1990s Terry Town was a robe and towel sup-
plier to major retailers such as Lord & Taylor,
JCPenney, Nordstrom and Costco. Our first
introduction to the promotional products
industry was exhibiting at the PPAI Expo in
1998. Since we were used to generating a
majority of sales at trade shows, we were very
surprised when our sales people came back
from the PPAI show without any orders.
However, we quickly discovered how great
the promotional products industry is and
made it our primary focus.
What motivates you in business and in life?
I think I am an innovation addict. I con-
tinuously try to improve the quality of our
existing products and look for innovative
ways to embellish for better branding because
every innovative product or embellishment
process Terry Town comes up with brings a
solution to our customer’s problem or chal-
lenge. Terry Town pioneered edge-to-edge
sublimation printing on towels and blankets
in our industry. Our sweatshirt hoodie robes,
sweatshirt beach bags and sherpa-lined subli-
mated faux mink blankets are few of the new
items that are unique to Terry Town.
What is your greatest professional accom-
plishment?
Bringing together a fine group of profes-
sionals who are dedicated to quality, customer
service, and making a difference in our indus-
try with innovative products and embellish-
ment techniques.
What advice would you give to an industry
newcomer?
Learn as much as you can early in your
career in this industry. Work hard and learn
from the mentors around you—learn from
their experiences, successes and failures. This
will help you get farther faster, and don’t for-
get to always take care of your customers.
Both distributors and suppliers want to work
with partners that they can trust.
Julie Richie is associate editor for
PPB.
“I think I am an innovation addict. I continuously try to
improve the quality of our existing products and look for
innovative ways to embellish for better branding.”
Sy Ereren
(left) with his college
buddy, Chip Harlow (right), and Terry
Town’s director of sales, Matt Bitran.