Grayling Arrow

Posted July 10, 2010 By admin

Grayling Arrow

Bear Archery – Making Some of the Best Youth Bows in the Country!

Bear Archery Is Aiming To Be Better Than The Best
On entering plants of Bear Archery in Gainesville, Fl, visitors will find a huge statue of a bear greeting them. This gives a clear message that even after the death of the founder Fred Bear; his influence still drives the company.
Bear Archery was born of necessity; when he started taking interest in bow hunting, only hobbyists used to make archery equipments. Fred Bear initiated in having his first Bear Archery opened at the doors of Detroit, Michigan, with a staff of hardly seven people. They were a bow-maker, a superintendent in the leather department, a couple of women to sew arm guards, a woman to make arrows, Frank Scott (who now runs the Bear Museum), and finally Fred Bear himself.

He had a dedicated and devoted staff and every one of them did a little bit of everything. The first person to open the office in the morning was Scott. His job was to build a fire in the furnace so that building becomes warm before everyone else came to work, and than he used to sweep the floor. After that he used to work in the leather department cutting leather and punching out tips for gloves.

In 1947, the company moved to Grayling, Michigan, where it stayed for quite a long time until it finally moved to Gainesville. Scott was the first man on the road send by bear as an outside salesman.

In the last 35 years, this company had an incremental growth. Every time it reached the limits of its space, Bear added onto the building somewhere, which resulted in highly inefficient 100,000 square foot of work area where manufacturing processes was awkwardly flowing. Until than Bear decided to move south as he felt that warmer climate would be conducive to an all-year-round manufacturing setup.

Their President Mr. Smith Jr. revealed that they all did not take a single day break due to snowstorms and ice storms. With a recent facility of 160,000 square feet they have a contempt that they carry their business in more systematic manner as ever in this, and that is what a bow manufacturing company needs today. It’s always easier to set up something new than to add on.

Future Plans of Bear Archery
Keeping exact need that had been in the mind of the officials of Bear Archery, they have designed the process, and fashion the space in accordance to that, for the next decades. Setting up the plant in a better manner so as to make the best use of space available gives them a plan out for coming decade, no matter what the volume could be. The plant designers succeeded beyond their expectations and for the past 14 years, Bear Archery has grown within the same building.

Loss of A Legend
Over past 14 years Bear Archery have seen many changes in the company. One, obviously, was Fred Bear’s death. His passing was a loss not only to Bear Archery but also to the industry as a whole. Smith now runs the company the way he thinks Bear would have wanted him to.

“Bear Archery always had a good image, especially as a result of Fred,” Smith said. “We would never do anything to tarnish that image. We’re very protective of it.”

About the Author

Bear Archery is a popular manufacturer of Youth Bows. This is a great squidoo lens on Bear archery:
Bear Archery Youth Bows
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