What Sealed The Deal For Tehama

Third in a three-part series

The fun that Nancy Haley injected into the golf industry came as naturally as her smile inside the Tehama booth each year at the PGA Merchandise Show in Orlando, but her gregarious personality seemed somewhat diminished at the 2009 show, despite her best efforts to mask her emotions.

Haley admitted that her mom had just passed away and it wasn’t long after the show that her dad died as well, so her enthusiasm level being down, although certainly not absent, was completely understandable.

Add to that factors such as the faltering economy and her own frustrations with the business, which we discussed in yesterday’s blog, “I’m disillusioned and I’m tired,” she admitted recently.

It wasn’t a typical show for Haley, who was usually laughing with clients inside the Tehama booth in years past, but in 2009, she was meeting with suitors for the brand.

Haley had actually put the brand out there a couple of years earlier, but says she didn’t want it falling into the hands of venture capitalists, so she took it off the market until last January.

The deal didn’t actually start cooking until after the Orlando show, when she met with Canadians Steven Banks and Gord Peters on a matter to do with the Arnold Palmer licence, which the company held.

When Banks and Peter heard about Tehama, according to Haley, they asked what about us? “I said, `I don’t know. What about you?’” recalled Haley, who says the Canadians brought a vision that matched her own to the table.

Over the years, Haley had built Tehama as a lifestyle collection, with pieces that were as appropriate in the office or a social setting as they were on the golf course.

In the United States, Tehama could easily be found in department stores and specialty retail shops outside of golf, which appears to be a direction it’s headed in here under the new management.

Such a move to the mainstream opens new avenues with all the focus in golf on the megabrands, which Haley discussed yesterday,

“In the case of Gordon and Steven, their expertise way back to their great grandfathers has been in the garment business, not in the golf industry, but in the mainstream garment business,” said Haley.

“They still keep the golf business. We’ve worked for 11 years building it and we’re still one of the top brands in the industry,” she added.

“I think that Gord and Steven are the perfect choice to take over because we were looking for a strategic partner, somebody who could take the brand and expand it outside the golf business,” said Haley, who will certainly slip into the shadows in a role yet to be determined.

“I think when you get Steven and Gord, they’ve got a lot of enthusiasm. I think it’s good to back off,” she said, confident that they are taking Tehama in the direction she had visualized.

“I won’t be full-time,” she added. “I told Gord and Steven whatever they need, I’m there to help them. I said, `Don’t put me in any position where I have anything to do with internal operations because that’s what I really don’t want to do,’” said Haley.

While building brands, rocking with legendary bands, being a business partner with a Hollywood icon or hitting golf balls left-handed, it’s been a roller-coaster for Haley, but she leaves with plenty of fond memories..

“It was an awesome run,” she said.

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