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Waypoint and Azimuth 2017

Waypoint and Azimuth

March 2017

A long overdue report

 

It is time to review how the last couple of years went and plot the course of progress for the next year. As we stand here in the middle of the shop, surrounded by hundreds, if not a thousand quilts, tarps, hammocks and other stock items we are in our thirteenth year.  We have already registered for JRB’s 14th Trail Days at Damascus in May.  And the following month on 4 June Jacks ‘R’ Better LLC will celebrate our 14th Anniversary.

Waypoint

2015 & 2016 were excellent years by every standard. Quilt sales, our primary yardstick, continued our 13 year growth pattern.  We are thankful to the Lord and our customers.  We hope that our business conduct is pleasing to Him and you, and that you are warmly enjoying your JRB gear.

These last two year have been hectic … Continued sales growth kept us busy maintaining inventory levels to keep filling your orders the day you placed them. We added a large tarp model, the Universal Tarp,  Spring Poles for that tarp, made minor improvements to the Bear Mountain Bridge Hammock and reduced some secondary items such as pots and food when Enertia Trail Foods went out of business … We are hoping they will come back.

The Double Down Dreamcatcher was introduced in 2015 primarily for the Overlanders, the 4×4 RVers. Initial sales were solid and we have continued to make this large quilt available.

Late in 2015 Jacks R Better LLC joined the trend to use sub one ounce rip stop nylon with a Durable Water Resistant (DWR) finish … And by late Spring of 2016 all quilt models were shipping in the new material … Overall, quilts were reduced approximately one half ounce in weight … More importantly, the soft hand or drape improved in all cases … This resulted in a smoother buttery feel of the material and closer drape in use, which increases the warmth … overall nice enhancements especially when paired with high fill power water resistant down, Activ-dri Down, which was introduced in 2013.

Therm-A-Rest NeoAir Trekker pads were introduced for both hammock users and the ground dwellers in 2015 … They will continue but with a shift in models from the Trekker to the XLite for the ultra-light ground dwelling backpackers.

 Azimuth

Looking ahead to 2017 Jacks ‘R’ Better will tighten its focus on our primary product group, quilts and under quilts … And our Cottage Industry leading shipping standard of “Same or Next Day Shipping!”

Currently, there are no totally new products under development for 2017.

Maturing our business has resulted in greater focus on production flow, techniques, larger just-in-time batch work, as well as material order efficiencies … So, the Good News … Perhaps Great News is: Jacks R Better LLC is going to help the economy, “Make America Great Again” by significantly lowering prices this Spring … Most quilts are being reduced $20 and some under quilts are reduced by much greater amounts … If you have not visited the Quilt Selections of our web site for a while take a look around … https://www.jacksrbetter.com/quilts/

In closing, we intend to make 2017 a great year of value in both products and customer service.  Our pledges:

*Great Quality.

*Fair, Competitive Pricing … Actually lower pricing!

*Responsive Communication.

*And, as always, “Same or next business day shipping.”

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