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San Francisco, Business Times, July 22, 1994 SMALL BUSINESS ENTREPRENEURS BY SHELLY SIMONDS The White House uses them to conduct foreign policy. The Pentagon uses them to deploy troops, and NASA uses them to track satellites. Geochron strategic maps that chart the time and daylight hours in the world¡¯s 40 time zones are more than just clocks, they¡¯re the stuff of spy novels. Manufactured by Redwood City based Geochron Enterprises Inc., Geochrons have embellished the sets of movies like "The Hunt for Red October", "Three Days Of The Condor", as well as the offices of policy wornks George Schultz and Henry Kissinger and military renegade Oliver North. The 28-pound electron wall-mounted, framed in natural wood, simultaneously map the passage of time in nations and continents the world over. The time pieces, which sell for $1,300 to $2,500 each, are sold in retail stores such as the Nature Co., and in catalogs like Sporty¡¯s Luxury Living and Sharper Image. The Geochron is the sole product made by Geochron Enterprises, a company founded almost 30 years ago by James Kilburg, an eccentric inventory from Luxembourg. Shortly before his death in 1985, Kilburg sold the company to his son, James Kilburg Jr., and his son¡¯s business partner, Bob Williamson. Much has changed under the company¡¯s new management. When Geochron's new owners took over, the factory was producing 20 clocks a month with a backlog of 100 orders. "He who screamed the loudest got their clock,"
said Williamson. The company¡¯s precipitous growth is due in no small part to its increased visibility. "When we bought it, the company was like a flying saucer," said Kilburg Jr., whose father wasn¡¯t spending a dime on advertising. "We had people calling us, saying, ¡®We¡¯ve been looking for you for 10 years. We thought you were in Japan or something.¡¯" Bringing the company out of the closet became a top priority. Today Geochron spends more than $75,000 a year advertising in airline magazines and participating in international trade shows. Next year¡¯s ad budget will be boosted to $100,000. Geochron¡¯s promotional campaign is supported by a three-member sales team and distributors posted in 25 foreign countries. New distributors are soon to be added in Italy and Singapore, Germany and Malaysia. Foreign sales account for a quarter of the company¡¯s sales, a figure that is expected to grow to one-third by the turn of the century. Domestic sales are sustained by a slate repeat buyers, including the Nature Co., Rand McNally and, of course, the Pentagon. Geochron¡¯s most recent order? Two
clocks heading for a naval distribution center in Orange County. Final
destination? Kilburg said he never knows. |
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