Brokering Watermelons and Margins – Caution

By Carl Gerhardt

Brokering work seems to be growing, as more and more “printers” make the move to total solution providers. It brings to mind a story that goes like this: Two good old boys in Georgia bought a truck and filled it with a load of melons for 50 cents each. They drove to Atlanta and immediately sold out, selling them for 50 cents each. “Wow!” one said to the other. “We gotta get a bigger truck.”

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Carl Gerhardt Author's page Carl Gerhardt is the chairman of Alliance Franchise Brands LLC, the parent company of Allegra Network LLC and Sign & Graphics Operations LCC, and a world leader in marketing, visual and graphics communications, linking more than 600 locations in the United States, Canada and United Kingdom. The company’s Marketing & Print Division, headquartered in Plymouth, MI, is comprised of Allegra, American Speedy Printing, Insty-Prints, Speedy Printing and Zippy Print brands of marketing, printing, mailing and Web services providers. Its Sign & Graphics Division, headquartered in Columbia, MD, is comprised of Image360, Signs By Tomorrow and Signs Now brands of sign and graphics communications providers.

Carl and his wife, Judy, owned and operated their own successful Allegra franchise for nearly 20 years before selling the $2.3 million operation in 2003. He is a PrintImage International/NAQP Honorary Lifetime Member and was inducted into NAPL’s prestigious Soderstrom Society in 2010 in recognition of his contribution to the industry.