is this the end of the H2O line??????

is this the end of the H2O line??????

When the company I work for sold 80% of itself to an investment firm, everything changed for the worst (and I mean EVERYTHING).

My superiors were honest & down to earth, everyone got along well and worked together as a team. We would receive quarter end bonuses and treat each other out to the bars/restaurants every Thursday after-work. All of our projects/assignments were always done on time and done right. Our customer base seemed more like our friends & family.

And now, we have the whole opposite.
There are very few people you can trust. Most of the managers stick each other in the back in the hopes to make themselves look more decent than others (my immediate supervisor most of all). We now have all these 'Sales/Marketing' personnel that earn more than twice than what I make and know even less than our janitor. All of my superiors now talk and behave in a corporate (i.e. they talk, talk, talk, but never take action nor decide on anything). After work, nobody knows you and cares even less about you. Its is now very rare for any of our assignments/projects to be finished on time and right. Therefore our quality and service factor plummeted down. They try to market and sell our equipment at ridiculously high cost (in the hopes to find a sucker, rather than make a fair price with a good customer).

We're now going on with 3 straight quarters with negative profits...

I think Academy talked about selling several years ago but decided not too.

But when Arthur Gochman died last fall, it probably became inevitable. Kind of like a rancher when he passes away, kids rarely keep the "ranch."

Academy seems to be a very strong company, several new stores opening up across the nation this year and I think they there are 130+ as it is.

Just a guess, but Academy's corporate history is closely tied to outdoor sports and I doubt that will change.

If they went away from that, they would be more closely aligned with Dick's and/or Sports Authority. That's already a crowded market with strong players.

And because they also have team sports and a lot of clothing (have you ever been in an Academy on tax-free weekend or Black Friday?!?) in addition to outdoor gear, they reach a market that Cabela's and Bass Pro doesn't always reach.

So while I'm sure there will be some tweaking, I doubt the outdoors portion of Academy goes away or changes too much over time.

When the company I work for sold 80% of itself to an investment firm, everything changed for the worst (and I mean EVERYTHING).

My superiors were honest & down to earth, everyone got along well and worked together as a team. We would receive quarter end bonuses and treat each other out to the bars/restaurants every Thursday after-work. All of our projects/assignments were always done on time and done right. Our customer base seemed more like our friends & family.

And now, we have the whole opposite.
There are very few people you can trust. Most of the managers stick each other in the back in the hopes to make themselves look more decent than others (my immediate supervisor most of all). We now have all these 'Sales/Marketing' personnel that earn more than twice than what I make and know even less than our janitor. All of my superiors now talk and behave in a corporate (i.e. they talk, talk, talk, but never take action nor decide on anything). After work, nobody knows you and cares even less about you. Its is now very rare for any of our assignments/projects to be finished on time and right. Therefore our quality and service factor plummeted down. They try to market and sell our equipment at ridiculously high cost (in the hopes to find a sucker, rather than make a fair price with a good customer).

We're now going on with 3 straight quarters with negative profits...

Doubt anything is going to change.