FRANK FLETCHER
COMPANIES, LIMITED

BUSINESSMAN IS SANTA TO HIS EMPLOYEES
by Kristi K. Misak-Hall
PROMOTIONS CONTRIBUTING WRITER
(Originally appearing in Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, January 9, 1997)

Good fortune and generosity make Frank Fletcher this year's Santa Claus of good tidings. No one asked him to give away presents to his associates and their children at Christmas time; he just does it.

ãWe want our hard-working and loyal associates to have as nice a Christmas as possible,ä Fletcher said.

This year's 8th Annual Christmas Wish List at Cheyenne Industries, Silverwood Products and a sister company in Austin, Texas, the Legacy Lamp Company, continued with a personal ãthank you for your supportä from the owner, Frank Fletcher.

Fletcher is an American dream come true. With a degree in business administration and a job as a sales representative, he sold a lamp account to Wal-Mart and gained national contacts, including Sam Walton, who at the time had only two Wal-Mart stores. In 1981, Fletcher opened Cheyenne Industries, a Little Rock manufacturer of lamps.

ãIt was Sam Walton who told Fletcher the way to make money was in manufacturing,ä said David Wooten, vice president of Cheyenne Industries.

ãFrank and Sam had the same business philosophy: treat people well and put your money back into the business,ä Alan Long, president of Cheyenne Industries, said.

Sometime after Thanksgiving, more than 300 employees received a letter from Frank Fletcher that explained his Christmas Wish List intentions. They then filled out forms with their children's names, ages, genders and Christmas wishes.

ãThat's when we really get busy,ä Long said. ãIt takes preparation and a few months to purchase all those gifts in perfect sizes and colors.ä When Fletcher began doing this eight years ago, ãwe all thought he was crazy to think that we could buy that many gifts before Christmas time,ä Long said.

ãIt certainly is a generous offer and a gracious way to say thank you, but we just didn't think we could pull it off,ä he continued. ãBut Fletcher insisted that we do it.ä

While Fletcher buys the gifts for the children, they are actually from Santa. The gifts are wrapped, labelled from Santa and delivered to the children's homes before Christmas.

Long said that Fletcher believes his success is due in great part to his many associates. This year, turkeys were given to all associates with six months of service, in addition to a gift. Those with one year of service received a $25 bonus.

Employees with two years of dedicated service received wither a color television or a microwave. Much of management received pens, jackets and watches.

In addition to Cheyenne Industries, Silverwood Products and the Legacy Lamp Company, Fletcher also owns Riverfront Hilton, Fletcher Furs, Factory Firsts, Benihana Japanese Steakhouse and five local automobile dealerships: Car Plaza in North Little Rock, Fletcher Dodge in Jacksonville [now North Little Rock], Fletcher Chrysler Jeep in North Little Rock and Fletcher-Tate Ford, formerly known as Quality Ford, in West Little Rock.

ãI don't think that many local people were even aware of who Frank Fletcher was until he bought into the car and truck dealerships,ä Long said. ãHe has always avoided high publicity because much of his profit goes back into his companies, but the automobile industry needs name recognition and he understands that he is now high profile.ä

The local automobile dealership buyouts were recent acquisitions that Fletcher is still trying to digest, according to Long.

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