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Qualifier Tackle
-By Frank Warpeha
As a young boy, fishing was his
favorite pastime. As he grew up he began to enter fishing tournaments
and one day he hoped to own his own fishing tackle store.
Jack Gallagher has been involved
with fishing tournaments for many years and has participated in
some of the top contests in the Midwest.
"I have always enjoyed competing
in bass tournaments. The Midwest usually has good tournaments,"
Gallagher says.
Six years ago, one of his dreams
became a reality when Gallagher opened his own fishing store called
Qualifier Tackle out of his two floor garage in the town of Alsip
on the on the Southside of Chicago.
"I was going to tournaments and
selling lures and other fishing products to professionals, and
I thought it would be a good idea to open a store," Gallagher
says.
Gallagher specializes in selling
lures to fisherman who are primarily concerned with bass and walleye.
When he started out, he targeted
professional fisherman, but Gallagher would also like to target
average fishermen because he thinks that the lures can be effective
for everyone.
Much of the business is mail order,
and this makes it easy for fisherman of all types to attain Gallagher's
products.
"I think that the mail order aspect
of the business is great. It makes work easier for me, and allows
more time for me to fish," Gallagher says.
One of the key elements to Gallagher's
store is that he sells lures that are not readily available.
"My business does well because
I bring fisherman lures that can't easily be found on the market,"
he says.
A special store package of hooks
is a good seller and that costs $2.29. The package includes eight
hooks.
Another good seller are plastic
lizards, which have been proven effective in catching fish which
cost $2.29 each.
The best sellers of the store are
the jig heads. They differ in size depending on what a fisherman
is looking for. They range in price from $2.25 to $3.50.
Rich Natsas, 22, is a graduated
business major from Loyola University Chicago and is the main
employee under Gallagher.
Currently, Natsas is working on
building a Website that is going to promote the company.
"I like working for Jack, and
I think that the company is selling products that are effective,"
Natsas says.
Gallagher's products are actually
endorsed by some of the top bass and walleye fisherman in the
Midwest.
He currently has advertisements
of his store and lures on the boats of five professional anglers.
"One of the more prominent anglers
in the sport is Jeff Miller, and he advertises my store by word
of mouth and on his boat," Gallagher says.
Gallagher's suppliers are mostly
other small businesses such as Crooked Creek and Competitive Edge.
Qualifier Tackle is located at
4907 W. 123rd place in Alsip. Gallagher can be contacted by calling
708-371-4729.
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