How Two Kids on a Hockey Team Developed a World-Famous Brand
Nationwide Video’s recent major Investment in the new Sony HDC Series Studio and Live Camera Systems and Sport Lenses continues to build on the successful business philosophy Gary Becker put together with the support of Bret Tracey 20 years ago based on their bond of friendship, trust, and the love of playing hockey.
What started with three people in an 800 square foot office in Milford, MI, part of the greater Detroit metro area, is now headquartered in a 25,000-square-foot warehouse facility in nearby Wixom, MI. Now, with 10 more locations in major event cities across North America and a reputation for excellence in rental gear quality and customer support, Nationwide Video serves the pro AV rental staging industry globally.
Bret Tracey, the president of Nationwide Video and Gary Becker, former CEO, were longtime friends who both played hockey together. Becker’s father, Bill, owned AVMS, a professional staging and rental equipment company. In summers during their teenage years the two friends and other hockey teammates worked for the senior Becker doing whatever was needed, such as cleaning cases and building racks. His son Gary had, of course been around the equipment all his life.
The two friends pursued separate paths after high school. Becker, an entrepreneur to his core, went off to Notre Dame, graduated and returned to Michigan. Tracey joined the U.S. Navy, served six years at Naval School of Health Sciences in San Diego and worked at Pearl Harbor, HI as a medic and radiology technician, completed service with an honorable discharge and transitioned back to Metro Detroit.
Beginnings
“Gary had kept his hand and eyes on the AV business during college years and realized that with the speed in which technology was changing, his father and AV companies like his were struggling to turn their gear around fast enough to recover ROI before technology changed again,” says Tracey.
The concept Becker hit upon to resolve was to create relief in the CapEx, or capital expenditure, part of the formula — investing in gear that he could then rent out to support staging companies as an extension of their own inventory. He made an equally important observation by looking at the rental staging industry and acquired gear his targeted customers needed, but didn’t own at all. This action would come full circle in later years as the staging companies sought input on what Nationwide Video was purchasing so they could add complementary equipment to their own assets.
Meanwhile Tracey had found success selling digital imaging radiology products to major medical centers around the metro Detroit area.
After running into an old friend who told Tracey, “Hey, we’re getting the band back together and forming a team to play men’s hockey,” Tracey agreed, saying, “I’ll play if Becker plays,” whereupon he went looking for his friend he had not seen in five years.
That Team Spirit
“The language of resolution was the common ground we found,” says Tracey,” as Becker laid out his business plan to me.” Above and beyond that was the history the two shared on the ice. “Our chemistry had always been there. We knew whatever we did together we could do really well at it, regardless whether it was a game or business. Gary was the smart guy. He could look at a situation on the ice and say, ‘This is how we’re gonna do this,’ and I would take care of business, doing some of the dirtier stuff while keeping an eye on him as he would light the other team up scoring goals.”
The two were sitting around waiting to start a game when Becker laid out his paradigm-changing “freight free” shipping concept for Nationwide Video to Tracey. “The company was then ready to go, literally built on a napkin right then and there, just like all those stories you hear. I thought the idea was amazing, and it was a done deal. We were all in that instant, and ‘failure is not an option’ was our instant mindset, and still is.”
So positive was Tracey in their chances of succeeding with this new enterprise that he laughs when he recalls how he walked away from a phenomenally successful radiology sales practice working a mere 25 hours a week, with a simple, “Okay, let’s do this. Game on.” Tracey says, “My wife was awesome. Her response to the change was, ‘Seriously?’”
They ramped up in 1999 as the two pounded the phones and bought up gear as fast as they could. Doug Frisch, another fellow hockey player, was the fourth employee to join Nationwide Video, as the original QC technician, and now is a director of operations. “Gary had a good idea of what the baseline for our inventory would be,” says Tracey. The idea worked so well the company morphed enough over the next six months, leading them to open an Atlanta office circa 2000.
The lead tech they chose to drive quality control in the Atlanta office was Clark Turner. Tracey can’t express enough respect and admiration for the man. “He’s done two tours of the Middle East while with us at Nationwide. He’s the real deal. He came to us after returning from his first tour and said he had a need to go back over there and finish what he started. There was no question in my mind, and we had his back. He has always been a vibrant, hard-charging guy, and remains so today, still heading up the Atlanta operation. He’s just that good, and we all appreciate his service to our country,” says Tracey.
Many employees have been with Nationwide since the early years and come up through the ranks as the company grew. “In fact,’ Tracey says, “our director of logistics, Dave Hunter, started here 15 years ago doing banding and palletizing of our freight shipments while keeping the warehouse organized.”
Another major asset in the Nationwide Video organization for many years is Keith Solomon, yet another hockey player, who has been driving customer service for 17 years. “His reputation precedes him everywhere. He is known industry wide. Matt Berens is our pro AV Swiss army knife, that guy has done it all. He is one of our key people on the scene when something goes south for a client technically. His commitment is relentless.”
Growth of the Company
The company gained a foothold on the West Coast when called upon by two large event companies heavily involved in staging awards shows such as the Grammys and Oscars. Struggling with a local gear vendor whose equipment, “constantly needed repair” before it could be used on site; the stagers preferred the results gained by having Nationwide ship gear across the country to them.
“In 2001, we opened the L.A. office,” recalls Tracey. “I think the uniqueness of what we were doing prompted others to choose us over the larger competitor out there. Both companies were moving gear, but our quality control gave people peace of mind, and mitigated risk for them. We were not everything to everyone, but the right things to the right people, and with live events, stagers need rock solid quality gear. That’s what we did then, and that’s what we do now. Quality Control (QC) should not be a buzz term as it is being used today; it is an absolute necessity, and serious business. It’s expensive doing it the right way, but we have minimized that expense because we have been doing it that way since day one.”
Nationwide Video’s marketing director, Erin Robinson, also points out that “the concept behind the triangular placement of these initial three locations was not simply to expand. Efficiency and increased accessibility to our inventory for our clients is our key driver, it’s what they need, and our goal is always to meet their needs where they are.”
“Three locations worked in 2005. However, three locations today is just ineffective. We put our money where our mouth is by expanding into 11 North American locations with growing demand, again, meeting clients where they are. Each location was created strategically for our clients, and each location provides QC, customer service, logistics and technical support. We are a 24/7, 365 days a year service company,” she emphasizes. “Our lights are always on.”
Foundations, Collaborations and Partnerships
Scott Nayor, VP of business development, opened the Los Angeles office as Nationwide Video’s West Coast sales rep. Before he joined Nationwide, Nayor was a software trainer for IntelliEvent a leading provider of cloud-based business management systems designed for pro stagers when Tracey first met him. “In handling CRM to real time equipment, labor, margins, cash management and financial reporting all built on state-of-the-art technology, we have been a developmental and beta site partner with IntelliEvent since 2000,” says Tracey.
In 2003 Nationwide experienced a massive growth that resulted in multiple large purchases of Christie projectors. “Gerry Remers, COO of Christie Digital, reached out to Gary and asked, ‘Who are you guys?’” Tracey says.
The end result was Christie purchasing Nationwide later that year, though the merge is an autonomous one. “In fact, Christie is so confident in their relationship and products that they did not ask Nationwide to be exclusive to their projectors,” Erin Robinson notes. “Our inventory also includes Panasonic and Barco. We have great width, variety and depth in our inventory.”
Until 2006, Nationwide was still heavily projection- and video-based, as a rental house. Pro stagers began asking if they could expand into lighting, audio, and LED, citing the company’s dedicated adherence to quality control as a foundation. The company did so and more. Nationwide now has over 12 categories of gear from computers, monitors and screens for breakout sessions to everything you need to power a huge event.
“Adding these products to our inventory seemed a natural progression,” says Tracey, and over the next five or six years, Nationwide worked at becoming more of a turnkey gear rental house. “We are the only remaining pure wholesale video sub rental business,” says Tracey. “We don’t do shows — we don’t compete against our clients for shows; there’s no gray area. Even with our growth, we maintain a small business mentality and person-to-person relationships with each client. This is where we’re strongest, and I think our clients appreciate that perspective. They know our people as a key vendor to their business, but also well beyond that as friends.
“And, we have phenomenal relationships with all our vendors as well, which goes deeper than just hearing what new products they offer. We talk ideas, solutions, and how we can collectively help the industry. That is what Nationwide is after, providing real solutions to real challenges. It’s why we do what we do, and the way we do it.
“It’s all a matter of trust,” says Tracey, when asked why he never ventured into the production side of this business. “The stagers are our end-client. That’s what our staging companies want from us as a wholesaler. They want a vendor they can trust who will support them while staying in our lane.”
“We coined the term, ‘AV Seals,’ and our company slogan is ‘We’ve Got Your Gear, We’ve Got Your Back.’ We’re there to service the customer, get the gear to them in phenomenal shape and on time then silently lay low in the shadows ready to serve when called upon, but not visible to their end clients. Just like a hockey jersey has the team’s name on front and the players name on back — the name on the front is what counts. We are wearing the stager’s jersey, and their name on the front is where the importance and focus is, for us.”
Tracey is proud, enthusiastic, and adamant about the people who “don” those jerseys. “The Nationwide team and our clients, all inclusive, are the forefront of what goes on here. We provide a unique service, and we don’t cross the line. We do wholesale subrental to pro event companies, and we are thorough, disciplined, and relentless about our quality of gear and service and support. Our clients are what this is all about and we are so grateful for the support the pro stagers have provided us.
For 20 years, Nationwide has never wavered from the “freight-free” model on all standard shipments. Tracey calls that strategy a “long-term investment in our clients. When a stager rents from Nationwide, our rate is our rate, and our rate is equally competitive with other people renting gear. However, others add freight atop their rental rate. That is the difference; we don’t. So we have greater cost per order to ourselves because we eat the freight, and we’re fine with that, but believe me, there is purpose behind everything we’ve done.
Erin Robinson states, “Though I feel it has come through clearly in this dialogue, I have to say you will never meet a more passionate CEO that puts every ounce of his heart and soul into his clients, employees and his business. I’ve been involved with Nationwide for two years now, and my position puts me in close contact with several CEO’s. On a daily basis, Bret blows my mind in how much he cares and how much effort he puts into his people and this business. He’ll never say that of himself, but it needs to be known.”
The transition from Gary leaving Nationwide in 2008 to pursue another unique venture, Indigo Bluffs, and Tracey becoming president, was very smooth. The Nationwide Team just kept getting stronger and finding all sorts of ways to provide even greater depth of inventory, services, and locations and continue the legacy of industry innovations, such as the hotel camera kit road cases. “What were 15 cases for a single camera became just two cases through Nationwide’s design, so a three camera shoot now was six cases instead of 45. It’s all about saving time and money for our clients. And now we see these cases everywhere,” says Tracey.
The Nationwide in-house staff is comprised of people with years of live event experience in the field. Tracey says, “We have staff technicians who previously worked on the road with such luminaries as the Rolling Stones and Guns N’ Roses. These people have come to us with amazing knowledge and skill sets, and I think that is what I’d like people to understand. When you rent gear but are not seen on show site, people may think you don’t have the experience or skill set — that couldn’t be further from the truth. My point here is that the training we provide stagers encompasses not just the technical breakdown, but live situation experiences. The synergy that comes out of our trainings benefits the technician and the industry, as the shows continue to have more complex designs, technologies and sets.”
“No matter what challenge our staging clients face on site, they never panic, because they’ve known us for so long. Nationwide will find a way to support them. It’s not just a sound bite, it is a known fact.”
“And I don’t want to say we never make mistakes” continues Tracey, “We do, just like everybody else. It happens, for sure. When something goes wrong, the machine stops and we immediately investigate it, fix it, and move forward. We are all about being prepared.”
Recent Developments
In this last year, Nationwide began analyzing camera and camera lens needs in the industry. Realizing a huge demand was not being filled, Nationwide dove in by making a significant investment to solve a major industry problem for their clients.
“Partnering with Sony and then collectively bringing in Canon and Fujinon gave us the two key elements which were a must,” said Tracey. “The cameras and glass are ultra-high quality products, and the manufacturers are truly partners we can count on.”
The company has added numerous Sony HDC-1700 1080P cameras, along with Canon and Fujinon 40x, 80x and 95x sport lenses and plans to add HDC4300 4K cameras later in 2018.
“High quality cameras and sports lenses are the top two requested rental items in our industry, and there is a distinct shortage. So we stepped up and addressed it. These new cameras take our clients’ capabilities to a whole new level, and that’s what it’s all about.” points out Tracey, highlighting the collaboration as another example of Nationwide’s business development and customer service teams continual investment and efforts to create strategic solutions for their clients based on the pro stagers needs first.
Company Snapshot: Nationwide Video
- When Founded: 1998
- Founder: Gary Becker
- Current President: Bret Tracey
- Specialty: Sub-rental gear-only provider of pro AV gear to production partners including video, LED, camera systems and lenses, audio, lighting, computers, monitors and more.
- Known For: Deep inventory, QC, freight-free shipping
- Headquarters: Wixom, MI (Detroit Area)
- Other Metro Locations: Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, New Jersey/New York, Orlando, San Francisco, Toronto, Washington DC
More Info: www.nationwidevideo.com
