FRANK FLETCHER COMPANIES, LIMITED NLR's Fletcher Displays 'Midas Touch' by David Smith (Originally appearing in Arkansas Business, July 8, 1996)

A conversation with Sam Walton in the late 1970s could have ended Frank Fletcher's lucrative professional career. Instead it was the beginning of a more successful business. Fletcher was one of the top manufacturers' representatives selling to Wal-Mart Stores Inc. But Walton told him Wal-Mart planned to bypass manufacturers' reps and deal directly with the factories. The news so shook the gregarious 6-foot-4 salesman-entrepreneur that he asked, "Mr. Walton, would you like me to commit suicide here or would you like me to move out to the lobby so the blood won't mess up your office?" Walton laughed, then advised Fletcher to start his own manufacturing company. Thirty years later, Fletcher owns 25 companies with sales of more than $710 million. Frank Fletcher Cos. is a conglomerate with two manufacturing firms along with a Chinese manufacturing company, ten automobile dealerships, a hotel, Benihana’s Japanese Steakhouse franchise, a fur coat retail store, thoroughbred racehorse operation, and real estate investments. Cheyenne Industries, which started in 1980 along with Silverwood Products, is now the nation's largest supplier of portable lighting and is Wal-Mart's No. 1 vendor for lamps.  Fletcher’s key guys for his manufacturing success are, Kevin Brooks, Tony Delahoussay, Mike Booth and Craig Soos who heads up this team. His affiliation with Wal-Mart has been the foundation of his success, Fletcher says. Big blocks of Wal-Mart stock, acquired early and often, have helped as collateral for bank loans. He also followed "the Wal-Mart boys" he met in the 1960s. "They became district managers then vice-presidents and some moved on to be chairman of the board of many companies all over the United States" Fletcher says.

Contagious Smile
As he flies across the country, Fletcher's attire is more likely to be a black Tommy Hilfiger pullover shirt, black slacks and black leather boots rather than the customary business suit with white shirt and tie. His aversion to suits carries over to his employees, from plant workers to executives. He so dislikes having his picture taken he wouldn't schedule a time for a photographer to take a picture to accompany this article. His favorite pastime is following his stable of thoroughbred race horses. Even while talking about an employee who stole almost $200,000 from him, Fletcher has a contagious smile. Ask him a question, and he'll likely answer with a story. If there is such a thing as a born salesman, Fletcher is one. He learned hard work early. He was adopted as an infant by a couple who owned a farm in Tamo, near Pine Bluff. He was their only child. When he finished high school, his father told him he had four years to finish college or he'd be driving a John Deere tractor the rest of his life. Fletcher opted to finish college in the required four years. His first job was with Worthen Bank in Little Rock (now Bank of America) making $385 a month. "My wife made $600 a month, so I had to wash the dishes every night," Fletcher says. "I almost starved to death." He walked into an Employment Security Department office one day and told them he wanted a sales job. He started selling DuPont paint. In 1965, he met Walton at Wal-Mart's store No. 2 in Harrison. No one had ever sold paint to Wal-Mart, but Fletcher asked for a $1,500 order for 300 gallons. It took Walton two hours to make the decision, but he bought the paint. "Here I was at 22 or 23 and I had met, unbeknownst to me, the top retailer in the world," Fletcher says. Several years later, on Walton's advice, Fletcher became a manufacturers' representative for several companies. "He said, `You're an aggressive young man. You need to go to New York and Chicago and find people who will sell to Wal-Mart.'" Fletcher eventually found 30-40 lines that sold to Wal-Mart for 10-15 years. Then Walton hit Fletcher with the news about Wal-Mart dropping manufacturer’s reps.

Intelligent Executives
Fletcher's companies are so diversified, he says, because he always remembers how abruptly his career as a manufacturers' rep ended. He's surrounded with people, he says, who are smarter than he is and experts in their fields. He reels off some of the names: Tom Roy, his holding company's chief financial officer; Craig Soos, president of Cheyenne; Becki Lewis, General manager of the Wyndham Riverfront; Chris Fletcher, President of Fletcher Auto Group; Brent Lobanoff, Executive Vice President of Fletcher Auto Group; Kurt Lind, Vice President of Fletcher Auto Group; Reese Strickland, Controller of Fletcher Auto GrKathy Moore, Fletcher Racing Manager. Roy, who worked for a Big Eight accounting firm before joining Fletcher, says Fletcher gives his managers carte blanche on making most decisions. "His philosophy is to treat everyone like they are your friend," Roy says. "Everything we do is an extension of Frank Fletcher. He's a man of his word. We don't cheat anyone. That honest approach is one of the reasons we're so successful." Fletcher's hiring practices are unusual. Everyone who is a manager for him has most of their income tied to a percentage of the bottom line with the base salary being the smallest part of their total package. When he decided to buy what is now Frank Fletcher Dodge Chrysler Jeep in Sherwood, he approached Rick Williams, who was general sales manager for Landers Auto Sales in Benton. Fletcher's proposal to Williams, though, was amazing: Come to work for me for a part of our total income. Fletcher promised Williams a new location in Sherwood (now open) and was able to talk him into joining the Fletcher Auto Group organization.Before he took the job, though, Williams talked with several of Fletcher's executives. "I often wondered why all his employees stayed with him so long," says Williams, who worked five years for Landers and 12 years with Little Rock Dodge before that. "They told me how Frank really takes care of his people." That hit home with Williams when his father died. The funeral was in the tiny community of Onia (Stone County). Fletcher and executives of his other companies sent about 10 big baskets of flowers and wreaths, Williams says. "The next day, there were even more flowers," Williams says. "On the day of the funeral, as the people walked by to view my father, Frank Fletcher was the first one to walk by. I didn't even know he was there. A guy who owns several companies took time to drive all the way to Onia, Arkansas.

"He's a businessman first, but he likes to take care of his people."[related story]Still a Salesman

Fletcher admits that he is pretty hands on with the day to day operation of all off his companies. He draws no salary from any of them, he says, but is paid solely on how much his percentage of each company makes in net income. Just like he was for his first 17 professional years, he's still a born salesman. He just happens to represent the companies that he now owns. "Today I still do some of what I did in 1965," Fletcher says. "I am still a salesman. If you ask me any question about manufacturing etc. I really don’t have the answers.  I still know that sales are the key to success.  I still enjoy working 12- 14 hours a day and doing a lot of what I did when I started. I believe that you have to be lucky and work harder than your competition to make things happen”.

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