Gillespie part of Scheels contract

A pair of Southwest Iowa natives are celebrating recent business successes.
Chad Gillespie, an Essex native and his wife Tonya  Mutschler,  a Red Oak native, who now live in Berthoud, Colo., recently inked a deal to have his duck calls sold through two Scheels locations.  Chad, who moved to Colorado in 2000, talked about what got him into the business of making duck calls.
“I had a customer who came to us about five years ago that had a bench top lathe and wanted to know if we could program it to run some duck calls. We were successful and ran a few duck calls before COVID-19 hit. We didn’t hear from them for a few years, and then they decided they wanted to pursue it further. They hired us to take all their hand-turning calls, make changes, and made a reversion for them,” explained Gillespie.
Since starting, Gillespie estimates he’s made around 3,500 duck calls. Depending on the type, the process can be easy or more difficult.
‘It takes about 12 to 15 minutes to make one depending on the model. If it’s a true goose call, or a duck with a reed, there’s an extra operation involved to mill for a cork notch. A snow goose call takes a little extra time as well,” commented Gillespie.
Gillespie said he was pleased that the customer they work through was able to ink an arrangement through Scheels.
“We are officially in Scheels locations in Johnstown, Colo, and our largest order has been the new Scheels store located in Wichita, Kan.,” Gillespie stated. “There have been discussions about expanding our reach to other Scheels locations as well.”
Gillespie said it gives him a great feeling to know the duck calls he’s making are being offered though a major store.
“It’s huge. There are 34 Scheels stores across the United States, and the manager of the Wichita store has had conversations with us about going national. That’s something that is still under discussion at this point. We’re all set up in Scheels with UPC codes, and we’ve been talking to other Scheels locations. They will monitor how sales do and go from there,” advised Gillespie. “We’ve talked to Lincoln, Sioux City, Colorado Springs, and a store in Utah. They’ve said they’re stocked up for the year, but told us to contact them again in the spring.”
In addition to making duck calls, Gillespie was tapped by Montgomery County Emergency Management Coordinator Brian Hamman recently for a special project.
“We were contacted to make custom flag holders for the fire and EMS department. Brian Hamman went to school with my wife and contacted her through Facebook. He said he knew we owned a machine shop, and wasn’t sure if it was in our wheelhouse, but he asked us to take a look at the project,” Gillespie said.
Gillespie said Red Oak cemetery superintendent Brad Baker was pivotal in the project.
“Tonya and I drove back to Red Oak, talked to Brad Baker, and looked at several flag holders. When we returned home, I  made a couple proto-types and sent them to Brian and Brad .They stuck two in the cemetery last October. We let them stay there over the winter and got pictures from Brad about once a month and we monitored making sure everything held up on it through the winter,” stated Gillsepie. “It passed with flying colors. We used a plastic insert that is laser-engraved and UV protected. Since I knew my name was on it, I felt better making one, putting it up, and making sure it held up through an Iowa winter.
There are currently more than 30 of the flagholders at the cemetery; one is currently on the grave of former Red Oak Fire Chief Rick Askey, who passed away last year.
“I shot them a price before we tested it out. Brad said it looked better than when we brought it out. Brian was looking at doing around 30 or 35 of them so every EMT or firefighter would have the same marker. We ended up making 60 of them. It turned into a big job, but it gave me a special feeling to create something to honor emergency responders, and in my wife’s hometown. I lived there for a couple of years myself. We covered all the labor, which ended up being about a $6,000 donation for the department.”
Gillespie said he was pleased at how well the project turned out, and both Brian and Brad were very happy with the result. Gillespie said they do plenty of custom projects at his shop every week.
“We are kind of into a little bit of everything. I worked at Eaton Corporation for eight and a half years. That’s where I picked up machining, and moved out to Colorado and took it a step further. I’ve learned programming and started doing protoype parts. There’s days we make one part, and there’s days we make 30.”
For a special project, you can contact Chad at: 970-658-8561.

 

The Red Oak Express

2012 Commerce Drive
P.O. Box 377
Red Oak, IA 51566
Phone: 712-623-2566 Fax: 712-623-2568

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