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The exclusive Bedell Test Drive Program is designed to drive consumer traffic to its dealers and is running April through June. During this time, customers will be urged to visit a dealer to test drive a Bedell guitar. Upon completion of the test drive, customers will complete a brief survey to receive a free Bedell Guitar Care Kit containing D?Addario Phosphor bronze acoustic strings, polish, cloth, string winder and picks (valued at $25.99). They will also be entered in a drawing to win a chance to build their dream guitar through the Bedell Custom Shop.

The Test Drive Program is being promoted through trade and consumer advertising and in-store displays. ?This is a great opportunity to drive new customers to our dealers,? explained Bedell. ?As a new guitar brand, we?re out to earn our way into the hearts of both consumers and dealers. This is a good way to show our commitment to building our brand of premium guitars one guitar enthusiast at a time. And it allows for the kind of instant feedback we need to keep reaching for the stars.?

“Breakfast of Champions” video

ASPEN ? The foundation in Haiti operated by Joe and Susie Krabacher of Aspen got supplies for one of their orphanages from an unlikely source over the weekend. A motor yacht owned by Tom and Molly Bedell, Aspen business owners and residents of the Fryingpan Valley, dropped off a ton of rice, 250 gallons of bottled water, 27 cases of canned meat and fish, 15 cases of baby food and various other supplies at a Haitian resort Sunday. From there is was trucked a short distance to the Mercy and Sharing Foundation’s Williamson campus, an orphanage, school and feeding center about 40 miles north-northwest of Port-au-Prince. The Bedells’ 160-foot yacht, Major Wager, was leaving Panama over the weekend. Weather forced it to sail a route close to Haiti, said Capt. Walter Rowan, who spoke from his satellite phone on Tuesday. ?Knowing how the Bedells are, I said, ?Let’s see what we could do’? to deliver supplies to the country ravaged by an earthquake, he said. His crew rounded up supplies in Panama, then contacted several major relief organizations. They were geared to accept cash donations rather than food. ?When you come at them with something as bizarre as a private motor yacht with supplies, they don’t know how to respond,? Rowan said. So he told the Bedells about his quandary, and Molly told him to sit tight. She was aware of the Krabachers’ efforts in Haiti so she got in touch with the Mercy and Sharing Foundation. Joe Krabacher and Rowan worked out logistics for the supply delivery. ?We decided it made no sense to try and get the supplies in through the bottlenecked port in Port-au-Prince, or to drop them off at one of the other, more remote ports that are currently operating,? Krabacher said. He guided the yacht to an area called Arcahaie, about 3 miles from Williamson, to check out a possible beach landing. Rowan’s crew scouted the area and found 300 homeless people living in makeshift shelters on the beach. Their meager possessions included cows and goats. It wasn’t prudent to land the supplies there, Rowan said, because they never would have made it to the orphanage. Krabacher came up with a secondary plan. His foundation contacted a nearby, gated resort, which agreed to allow the vessel to land its supplies. Rowan’s crew of seven used a smaller craft to ferry supplies to shore. The resort employees helped unload the supplies, which were shipped to the Williamson campus, escorted by a security team hired by Mercy and Sharing. The beach resort might as well have been a world away from all the suffering taking place in other parts of Haiti, Krabacher wrote in an update of the foundation’s issues. ?While the rest of the island is in crisis, when they landed at the beach resort, which is fenced in, it seemed to be business as usual ? people were sitting in lawn chairs around the pool, sunning and swimming, and sipping Pina Coladas,? Krabacher wrote. ?It never amazes us what happens in this upside-down world of the Republic of Haiti.? Rowan said several U.S. Navy and Coast Guard ships were anchored off the coast where his yacht was waiting to make the supply drop. Ships would periodically contact him to inquire about his intentions. The sight of a white yacht was obviously strange. He figured he would be told to buzz off, but when he informed them of his mission, he was always told good luck. Helping out the kids in the orphanage was rewarding for the yacht crew. ?In the big picture, the amount of supplies we had was a drop in the bucket,? Rowan said, adding that even a small tree provides some shade. ?I felt like we were doing something that might save a life.? The effort might continue. Rowan was uncertain if the Major Wager will be sailing by Haiti anytime soon, but he is networking with captains of other vessels, suggesting they consider dropping off supplies. The Mercy and Sharing Foundation continues to need cash donations. Go to www.haitichildren.org and find the link for contributions.

Check out the full story…

]]> http://www.twooldhippies.com/in-the-news/2009/12/04/premiere-guitar-magazine-interview-with-tom-bedell/feed/ 0 http://www.twooldhippies.com/in-the-news/2009/10/15/long-strange-journey/ http://www.twooldhippies.com/in-the-news/2009/10/15/long-strange-journey/#comments Thu, 15 Oct 2009 16:42:25 +0000 Kelcey http://twooldhippies.com/in-the-news/?p=108

Article provided by The Music Trades Online  |  http://www.musictrades.com/news1.html

Featured in The Music Trades October Issue

“Old Hippie” Restarts The Company He Launched 40 Years Ago

…guitars was less than overwhelming. However, recalling the experience today brings a smile to his face, and he reflects, ?It was a lot of fun while it lasted.? Four decades later, after working as a political consultant and then transforming Pure Fishing Inc. into a $500 million (sales) manufacturer of fishing tackle, his career has come full circle with the revival of the Bedell brand of acoustic guitars. This time around, though, he?s marshalling ample financial resources and proven marketing and managerial skills to ensure that his brand makes a more lasting impact. With a distinctive line of acoustics that covers all major price points, backed by a high-impact consumer advertising campaign and an independent-friendly MAP policy, Bedell is confident that his company will quickly ?earn its way into the market.?

]]> http://www.twooldhippies.com/in-the-news/2009/10/15/long-strange-journey/feed/ 0 http://www.twooldhippies.com/in-the-news/2009/08/26/peace-love-and-rock-n-roll/ http://www.twooldhippies.com/in-the-news/2009/08/26/peace-love-and-rock-n-roll/#comments Wed, 26 Aug 2009 07:00:39 +0000 Kelcey http://twooldhippies.com/in-the-news/?p=100 By Russ Oechslin | Sioux City Journal correspondent | Posted: Sunday, August 16, 2009

SPIRIT LAKE, Iowa — Less than two years after his ”retirement” as CEO at Pure Fishing, Tom Bedell is back in business — with a music business not unlike the one he started when he was a teenager. And, not unlike anything else the 59-year-old Bedell has done, he’s passionate about the effort.

The new enterprise, Two Old Hippies, began when a small guitar store, Great Divide Music, came up for sale earlier this year in Aspen, Colo. where Bedell and his wife, Molly, have a second home.

When Tom heard about the offering he didn’t hesitate in suggesting to his wife, ”Let’s do it!” Six months later they are already expanding the business.

As Molly explains, ”We scooped it up, brought it back to life and filled it with everything we love.”

“Everything” includes a lot more than just guitars.

Inspired by Molly’s penchant for comfort and color, Two Old Hippies delivers ”hippie chic” clothing, textiles and products sourced globally, along with rock ‘n’ roll memorabilia, and discoveries from their travels, including artwork and crafts from indigenous cultures, with a portion of their earnings to be directed back to global communities, and individual artists.

Beyond material things, the two agree their new enterprise is an outlet for the values and beliefs that two “born hippies” acquired long ago: ”Seek peace and harmony for all living things. Inspire community. Be true. And share in the spirit of peace, love, and rock ‘n’ roll.”

Feel good store

Tom Bedell is quick to explain,

”We?re a lifestyle company. We?re about the you that you want to be when you are really being yourself — when you’re being true to who you are — the real you,” Tom is quick to explain. “Not the you who dresses up to go to the local community event. We’re the you who when you go home and kick off your shoes and you’re the real you.”

And even after more than a year of retail sales declines nationally, Bedell said this is ”absolutely” the right time to be starting a lifestyle business.

”We lived through the last eight years of social repression in terms of what we were stuck with in a war that people didn?t support. Now people are ready to say ‘I need a breath of fresh air.”’

Molly points out that Two Old Hippies features some ”unusual products that are really well made. Tom and I grew up in the ’60s when everybody really had such a freedom of expression and how they wore their clothes or their hair and lived their lives. Things were very comfortable and laid back.

”Now we’ve grown up. We?ve taken it up a notch. But we still remember that opportunity to really express yourself then.

”When we travel or go out on business, we dress professionally. But when I come home I love to throw on my jeans, my Lucky Brands, and a big comfortable shirt. It’s really a reflection of how you feel when you?re not having to be who you are during the day to make a living.”

It’s Molly’s job to find the Two Old Hippies’ apparel. And she jokes about being a ”professional shopper.”

Her market, she says, is ages 25 to 65.

”Everything we have in the store crosses over to about every age group. It’s really fascinating. We really have not targeted a certain demographic or socio-economic group. If you have five dollars there’s something to buy. If you have ten dollars there?s something to buy. And we have $10,000 things, too, like a great leather jacket, custom made.”

Second store

The ideal model for a Two Old Hippies retail store needs to be about 4,000 square feet , Tom said. A second Two Old Hippies store, Bedell said, will most likely be in the Los Angeles area. Molly was searching for a site in the Los Angeles area this month -in Malibu and Santa Monica.

”If you spend time in Malibu or Santa Monica you?ll find surfing — very youthful people who live by the beat of their own drum. There are some very unique stores.”

Possible future sites include San Diego, Aspen, Vail, Jackson Hole and the Hamptons.

”The opposing study we are doing is the major metropolitan areas. And our store is completely different than any other guitar store or any other kind of apparel store.”

Headquarters

Two Old Hippies will be based in Spirit Lake, where Tom grew up and his father, Berkley, started the family’s successful fishing tackle business.

“The town supported dad when he started his company. It supported me when I got to expand it and really build it,” Tom said. ”Now I’m starting a new company and can’t imagine being anywhere else. The work ethic is fantastic. The people are wonderful. The community is supportive. So this is where I want to be.

”I like to be in Aspen to ski and ride horses and stuff — but not to run my company.”

Two Old Hippies already has about a dozen employees. Denny Stulc, who worked with Bedell for 30 years at Pure Fishing, is the general manager. ”He was there the entire time I was there he was there. He was my sidekick all the way through,” Tom explained.

Bedell hired the merchandising manager who launched Tommy Bahama. His vintage guitar manager was the store manager for Gruhn Music, in Nashville, Tenn., the No. 1 vintage guitar store in America.

”We have a team that is going to be absolutely all-stars. So we’re going to have a lot of fun.”

Good early reviews

Early customers seem to agree. Spirit Lake native Dianne Roberts was one of hundreds of locals who showed up for a Two Old Hippies preview earlier this month at the Arnolds Park Amusement Park.

Roberts said she grew up with Tom and worked for both him and his father at Pure Fishing, and thought the apparel was ”cool, very cool. I think I’m going to talk my husband into one of these (leather) purses,” she explained at the event. And she did buy a Two Old Hippies purse — for herself.

Linda and Dean Aakhus, of Milford, also attended the preview out of curiosity. Dean explained that he has been a musician since the sixties, and said the new Bedell guitars ”are great. They?re beautiful, gorgeous.”

Started with music lessons

When he was too old to deliver newspapers to make spending money, Tom Bedell began giving music lessons at Lois Currier’s music store on Hill Avenue in Spirit Lake. He was just 13 years old.

He was paid half of the two dollars that Currier charged for the half-hour lessons. And, he said last week, he ”tripled or quadrupled her guitar sales. And I was getting no commission on the guitars. So I said, ‘Wait a minute. I?m creating this business. I should be getting a bigger cut.’ ”

”It seems a little cheeky now to be saying that. But I decided to teach guitar lessons out of my home — for the same $2. But I needed to have guitars for students to play.

So long before there was the Internet or e-mail, Bedell said he got his father’s Telex machine, punched out a paper tape, and fed the tape through the system” to one of his father?s business associates in Japan.

After getting the samples from the Ibenez factory, Bedell ordered 500 guitars — at a cost of about $5 in each, landed.

When he opened his first music where the Java Joint is today, in Okoboji, he hanged the guitars in the window. And he sold the entire lot for $19.95 each over the 4th of July weekend.

Today the entrepreneur describes that initial product as ”the cheapest” guitar made, and added that he was ”using the term appropriately.”

”Every kid had to play the guitar. The Beatles had been on Ed Sullivan. Parents would come into the store and say, ‘My son wants a guitar.’ ”So I said to them — and I was just 15 years old at the time — ‘Is your son going to actually play the guitar? Or do you just need to buy him one? Because I have this special for $19.95. But they’re not very good. Or I have this one for $49.95, which would be a really good student guitar.’ “

With retailers selling his guitars in six states, and many band bookings, Bedell said he did $500,000 in business the year he was a senior in high school before he ”retired” on Labor Day weekend 1968, to go to college, ”because my folks convinced me that as much fun as I was having, that I needed a college education — that there was more to life than rock ‘n’ roll and guitars. I’m now convinced they were wrong!”

Better product

The guitars Bedell sells today are “better-made to be easier to play. And they sound much better,” he said. ”The guitars I am now designing run between $1,000 and $2,000 and have an incredible sound.”

This time Bedell decided to design ”absolutely the best guitar I could.” After visiting the top five guitar factories in China, last March, he went through samples checking every detail.

”There’s no laminate. Most guitars at these prices would have plywood backs and sides. These are all solid wood. All the bindings around the edges are all maple. All the rosettes around the soundboard are all wood inlays. Even the Bedell logo at the top is a wood inlay.

”A $1,500 Bedell guitar of today compares to a $4,000 Martin,” he said. ”And I would even make that case admitting my prejudice, because these are better.”

Friend, father, daughter look back
While Tom Bedell was 14 when he started selling guitars, he was really only 13 when he was sourcing guitars from Japanese suppliers.
Musician John Senn, who has operated the IGL Recording studios since Bedell?s school days — much of that time while he was working on the wire line at what was then Berkley Fishing — remembers the day his boss Berkley Bedell walked through the plant to show him a sample guitar that had just arrived from Japan.
Tom’s father, Senn said, wanted his opinion of the guitar.
”He knew Tom always had an interest in music. It seemed like a natural and when you look at the company that Tom went out and created, it was pretty amazing what he did in such a short time,”Senn explained.
”I remember the day very well,”Senn explained recently, ”because it was Nov. 22, 1963 n the day President Kennedy was assassinated.”
The former Iowa congressman laughed when he was asked to about something that happened more than 45 years ago. ”I want to be honest. You just proved how poor my memory is,”he said.
An honest politician? ”After hearing that statement some people might say I must be a reformed politician.”
What Bedell does remember ”is being very proud of Tom when he started a guitar business as about the same age I was when I started the fishing tackle business.”
Tom Bedell?s only daughter, the namesake of the Sami Bedell Performing Arts Center, also laughed when she was asked if she was surprised to see her dad get back in the music business.
”It wasn?t a shock,”Sami Bedell explained, admitting that she couldn?t explain what about her dad might shock her.
”Music has always been something that he has loved.”
Like Senn, Sami Bedell sees the enterprise ”as a natural fit. He can?t sit still and do nothing. He needs to keep busy. This makes a lot of sense. To be able to do Bedell Guitars again is awesome for him.”

Provided by Sioux City Journal http://www.siouxcityjournal.com/articles/2009/08/16/news/top/19725778417f5af78625761000607601.txt