Business View Magazine
3
hobby. After a couple of years, he had grown weary
of the garden center industry and decided that it was
time to do something else on his own.
“He had a small inheritance. He had investigated do-
ing a mail order company that sold backyard bird feed-
ing products and the plants that people could plant in
their backyard to create a habitat that would attract
birds. As he did his budget analysis, he realized he
had the opportunity to do either a one-time, mail-order
catalogue and mailing from a purchased list, or he had
enough money to rent a space and start a retail store.
Coming from a family background in retail, he said, ‘I’m
going to go the retail route.’ So, he opened the very
first Wild Birds Unlimited store in a very small space, in
a cool, funky part of Indianapolis called Broad Ripple.
And that’s where the story began.”
Pickett continues: “One of his first employees was
a retired gentleman and that gentleman’s nephew
came for a visit and started talking to Jim and said, ‘I
hate what I’m doing. You always have a huge smile on
your face and there’s a steady stream of customers. I
want to do this too.’ And so Jim began to investigate
franchising, and in 1983, once it became clear that
there were other people who wanted to do this, and
Jim knew that what he could provide was information,
AT A GLANCE
WHO:
Wild Birds Unlimited
WHAT:
A retail chain stocking supplies for feed-
ing and observing birds and wildlife
WHERE:
Headquarters in Indianapolis, Indiana
WEBSITE
:
