PPB November 2018

Battle Of The Bottles Supplier ETS Express was founded in 1985 by Eyal’s father, Ely, whose family had been in the glass and ceramics business for generations. Ely singlehandedly raised Eyal and his sister, Taly, after the family moved from Israel to the United States. “My father did an amazing job raising us,” Eyal says. “The values he instilled in us when it comes to business—how you treat people and how to behave as a human being—the values he instilled in us are priceless to me.” Eyal began working at ETS in 1988. “When I started working here, we only had five of us, including me, my sister and my father, plus we had two team members at the time,” Eyal says. By 1994, Eyal had become the company’s CEO. Today, ETS Express has more than 500 employees. The company’s Southern California headquarters spans 210,000 square feet and is spread across five buildings, and there’s also a 150,000-square-foot facility in Concord, North Carolina. A common perception is that S’well is a much bigger company than ETS—that it was a David and Goliath lawsuit. But Eyal says that’s not actually the case. “S’well is about the same size as ETS,” he says. “Size-wise, we were equally matched.” In 2017, Forbes reported that S’well had topped $100 million in 2016—an annual revenue on par with ETS. “We’re going to cross the $100 million mark this year,” Eyal says. “Our goal within the next three to five years is to reach $150 million.” That’s not to say ETS didn’t feel the financial pinch spending huge amounts of money on attorney’s fees, with no guarantee of getting that outlay back. “It was an expensive lawsuit,” Eyal admits. “From a legal fees’ perspective, we spent well into seven digits.” Eyal says he felt reasonably confident of winning throughout the nine-day trial, although he knew with a jury, anything could happen. “The only time I got nervous was during jury deliberation when they asked a question about damages,” he admits. “I thought we might be in trouble because of that question. But they came back with a unanimous decision that ETS was not liable on all counts.” It was indeed a legal victory not just for ETS, but for the entire promotional products industry. Was it worth the money and time ETS and its chief invested? “Once we were able to deliver a victory, not only for ETS but for the industry, I felt like it was worth it,” Eyal says. “There was so much more on the line for our great industry, but I don’t think many in our industry understand that even today.” Eyal feels that there is a real need to protect the promotional products industry from claims like S’well’s. “So many people are quick to just settle, even when they know they are right,” Eyal says. “That might be the cheapest and quickest route, but it may not be the best long-term solution. Stand your ground. If “Stand your ground. If you knowsomething is wrong, then fight forwhat’s right.” —SharonEyal Sharon Eyal, center, with his sister Taly Eyal and father Ely Eastman, leads the family-owned supplier that's expected to top $100 million in sales by year end. | NOVEMBER 2018 | 79 THINK