JP Marketing celebrated its 20th birthday in December 2014, and anyone who is a business owner and works with family members knows what a significant measure of success this is.
In fact, according to the US Small Business Administration, only a little more than half of small businesses survive for five or more years and only about a third survive more than 10. Add in family members and the statistics are worse: about 30% of family businesses survive into the second generation and only 12% to the third.
With the odds against them, we couldn’t be more thrilled to celebrate milestone birthdays with these family business clients in 2015:
• Snowflake Designs is celebrating its 30th birthday – a global leader in high quality competition leotards and warm-up wear, this family-owned business operates out of Clovis, California. Company founder, LaDonna Snow, is the face of the brand. She stumbled into this business when she decided to create custom leotards for her daughter’s competitions. Through the years, they have established themselves as the quality leader in custom leotards, even procuring custom-designed fabrics from China for their designs. Today, husband Rick, daughter Kindra and her son-in-law all have a hand in the success of the business and are celebrating their 30th year with birthday giveaways all year long for their customers.
• Lewis Diamond Company is celebrating its 70th birthday – originally founded as Lewis Jewelers, Grandpa Lewis started the family business in central Fresno. When his son Bob took over the business, he changed the name to Fresno Jewelry Mart and moved the store north to capitalize on changing market conditions. With his daughter Shaunda, son Tyson and daughter-in-law Christie now working in the business, the decision was made to kick off their 70th birthday with a return to their roots, changing their name to Lewis Diamond Company and offering $70 in Diamond Dollars to customers during the holiday 2014 season.
• A&M Flooring & Design Center is celebrating its 75th birthday – originally founded by Alex and Morris Horwitz in downtown Fresno. Morris’ son Lee continued to run the business until his health forced him to sell in December 2012. The family-ownership legacy continues, however, as the new owners are family members that are committed to upholding the customer values that A&M was originally founded upon. With a slight name change from A&M Carpet to A&M Flooring & Design Center, to more accurately reflect the flooring and window covering products they carry, A&M is celebrating with special promotional savings all year long.
We couldn’t be more thrilled to help these businesses celebrate their birthdays. In future blogs, read more about how each has overcome challenges and survived.
