Rolling in to the New Year…
As the New Year approaches I felt like it was appropriate to look back at what has transpired here in the past 12 months or so.
As you might know, Wes is genuine train-buff. He’s studied them for many years, has taken some BURLY rides on them and the fact that the new Willits World Headquarters abuts the Missouri-Pacific Railroad is actually considered to be pretty cool by most of us.
What does this have to do with Willits? I was thinking about the rebirth of the company being not unlike a locomotive getting up to speed. It initially seemed like those giant wheels would never start turning when Wes and Hill got started. If it wasn’t the everyday practicalities of starting a company (”where do the tools go?” “what’s our phone number?”), it was the big picture issues (”which bikes are we going to focus on?” “how do we position ourselves in this crazy market?”). Word got out that Wes was back at the torch as he was finishing up some of the last Crested Butte-era frames. With an unnerving jolt, the wheels slowly started grinding forward. Suddenly Wes had some new ideas and settled into his new environment. The wheels turned a little faster now; all that hard work converted into forward-motion. Then one day, Jared showed up and started shoveling coal into the engine (he sure can shovel coal efficiently!). It quickly became apparent that this wasn’t one of those new-fangled electric contraptions; this was a dependable, elegant behemoth from a time long-gone. New designs started to flow and plans started coming together. The wheels now turning at full-speed, the train rolled out into the open countryside. The big bike shows came around and it became clear to those outside of Texas that Willits was truly back in business. Industry interest and internet buzz spurred the final website design, re-brand, and photo-shoots. Suddenly the orders started flowing in, transforming the stream from what had been a steady trickle into a roar.
The old train remembered how to burn through the night, charging full-bore towards the moon-lit mountains ahead.
Happy New Year, everyone. This is going to be a great one.