The Future and Promise of “The Middles”

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The Opportunities

Almost twenty years ago, I moved to the east coast from the Midwest because that was where I saw the opportunities. And now, I am moving back to the Midwest because that is where the opportunities will be found in the next twenty years. And I am not returning to the Mecca of the Midwest, Chicago, but am going further west to Des Moines, at the real “middle” of the nation geographically, philosophically, economically, and opportunistically. There will be more growth and more expansion of catalog and direct marketing companies in the Midwest than anywhere else over the next twenty years. And that means opportunity.

For those catalog companies looking for centralized distribution, the Midwest is clearly better. For qualified employees and reasonable wage levels, the Midwest is clearly better. For quality of life and living, the Midwest offers attractive alternatives. For value, the Midwest is superior. Catalog companies will, inevitably, migrate to “The Middles,” and I will be there waiting.

A definable phenomenon exists in American business that is not found elsewhere in the world. We grow companies fast, turning little seedlings into great oak trees quickly. And when those great oak trees drop acorns around the base of the tree, we nourish the new seedlings and encourage them to flourish. Then, we do the uniquely American thing: we chop down the great oak tree and turn it into mulch and nutrients for the best of the little seedlings. American business is a repetitive cycle of creation, destruction, creation, destruction, creation. It’s not like that anywhere else in the world. There are glass companies in Italy that have been making the same goblets and bowls for 900 years.

Another conclusion from observation is that many new catalog and direct marketing companies will be started or will be grown from old, mature companies most of which are now located in the east. These new entities will migrate to the economic sun, the rich soil of efficiency, and the safety of a middle environment, economically and socially. They will seek the Midwest. They have to. It is less costly to grow a business there than it is on the east or west coast.

I also believe that this opportunistic migration will not occur in cities like Chicago, Milwaukee, Cleveland, Indianapolis, St. Louis or Minneapolis. Rather, they will occur in fresh, ready-to-be-discovered cities like Des Moines, Cedar Rapids, Fort Wayne, Dayton, Omaha, and others that are attractive second and third tier cities able to respond faster and more effectively to the changing economy than the beleaguered, over-taxed and faltering Big Cities. These are opportunity-laden communities where all the right mix of nutrients is available for future success and growth at a cost that can be sustained.

Goodbye Maine . . . Hello Iowa

And so, I will be following my own conclusions and seeking new opportunities for our firm in the Midwest. By October, I will be relocated to Des Moines and will have bid farewell to the stern and rock-bound coast of Maine. My partners, Ken Evans and Geoff Walker, in Philadelphia, will continue in our offices there, but I will take on the developmental aspects of new business opportunities from Des Moines. As many of you know, I am a Midwesterner, raised from a long line of Indiana farmers, was educated and lived for years in Illinois where I first entered the catalog world in rural Sycamore and DeKalb. I am no stranger to corn and soybeans or hogs and cattle, having been a grain and livestock broker at one time for one of the major grain companies. For me, this is a return home and to my roots. It is also where the future of the catalog industry resides.

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