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I wondered what he would think of his little boy now, all grown up and on top of the world.
He would have been proud of where I was on the ladder of life, but maybe not so proud of the tactics I had used to get there.
Jim Jenner had started Jenner Camping Supply in a little hole-in-the-wall shop in Denver when I was just a kid. He had loved to camp and spend time outdoors, and he’d always wanted his own business. Even though he knew nothing about running a retail shop, that hadn’t stopped him from dumping his life savings into a venture that would eventually kill him.
Jenner’s sold camping equipment, rifles, hunting bows, knives, thermal underwear, and just about anything else you’d need to survive in the woods.
The problem was, dad didn’t have what it took to survive in business.
He was too fucking nice.
He wasn’t cutthroat enough.
He let people and vendors take advantage of him.
He gave people credit and discounts.
He let them take merchandise without paying.
He lent money to customers.
He let people slide.
And they all sucked off him like leeches until he went broke and couldn’t keep the shop open anymore and his loyal friends had abandoned him in droves.
At just forty-three years old, he’d had a massive heart attack a week after he closed the store. He’d died with an empty bank account and a broken heart.
And what did I learn from my dad’s experience?
That people are parasitic assholes who will suck you dry and leave you to die if you let them.
In business, loyalty always comes at a price.
You must do unto others before they do unto you.
That’s the mentality I had when I used my dad’s life insurance money to reopen his shop as Jenner Outdoors. I sold the same basic camping supplies my dad did, but I added a ton of specialized equipment and gadgets like range finders, GPS units, high powered scopes, and other “big boy toys”.
It was the mentality I used to build Jenner Outdoors from a little store on a Denver side street into a massive megastore downtown, into a nationwide chain of stores, into the global conglomerate that it is today.
That’s still my mentality.
I’ll get mine, you get yours.
And if I want yours, then by God I’m going to get it too.
* * *
The cabin finally came into view and Charlie was still rambling on. I cut him off. “Charlie, I’m pulling up to the cabin. I don’t need to know all the details of the project. Just get it done and fax over whatever I need to sign.”
“Fine, okay,” Charlie said. I could hear him sigh through the speakers. “Hey, don’t forget, your new chef should be there today. Try to keep your clothes on at least for a few hours.”
“Yeah, yeah, don’t worry,” I said. I smiled when I saw Maggie’s battered Honda parked in the drive. I pulled up next to it and shoved the gear into park. I asked, “So, when are you coming back to Mou
ntain View?”
“We have a meeting scheduled with the mayor and town council on Wednesday. I’ll fly in then. Do you want to attend that meeting?”
I shook my head as if he could see me. I said, “Nope. Just do what you have to do and let’s get this thing moving.”
