[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 24 (Wednesday, February 24, 2010)]
[Senate]
[Pages S738-S739]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         ADDITIONAL STATEMENTS

                                 ______
                                 

                      RECOGNIZING BULL MOOSE MUSIC

 Ms. SNOWE. Mr. President, each day we read too many stories of 
small businesses unable to weather the current economic storm. 
Countless small firms both in Maine and across the Nation have been 
unable to compete with large chain stores and have been literally 
priced out of the market. Thankfully, today I wish to tell an 
inspirational success story and recognize a local retailer in my home 
State of Maine that

[[Page S739]]

has met the challenges of this difficult economic climate head on and 
continues to grow and thrive.
  Bull Moose is a small retail chain originally founded in Brunswick, 
ME. The company initially focused on providing its customers solely 
with music but has now branched out into many forms of entertainment 
and media, including movies, games, and books. Its founder and 
president, Brett Wickard, characterizes Bull Moose as selling 
``inexpensive fun stuff.'' Twenty years ago, when Mr. Wickard was a 
college student at Brunswick's Bowdoin College, the local record store 
closed down. Now many of us would have just found another place to buy 
cassettes or records, but this young Bowdoin entrepreneur had a 
different idea. With just $7,000 of his own money and a small loan, 
Brett Wickard launched Bull Moose Music in the summer of 1989, and a 
truly homegrown business success story began. Mr. Wickard arranged his 
course schedule around his new store hours and had friends work in the 
store while he was in class.
  The Bull Moose business plan began by looking up record distributors 
in the Yellow Pages and ordering one album by every artist and band 
that had released at least two albums. The thought process was if you 
made a second album, you must be a good band. In the first summer, Bull 
Moose Music had sales of barely $100 a day, and Brett was forced to use 
his credit card as a tool to survive. But with dedication and 
perseverance, Bull Moose has grown from these humble beginnings in 
Brunswick to include 10 stores in both Maine and New Hampshire with 
over 100 employees. To keep up with the added demand, the company has 
now produced its own software to analyze which albums and artists it 
should carry based on the purchasing history of each of the store's 
customers. Mr. Wickard actually designed the Bull Moose purchasing 
software as his senior project while still a Bowdoin student--quite an 
upgrade from scouring the Yellow Pages!
  Bull Moose recently celebrated its 20th anniversary and is on track 
to have its best year ever despite the current recession. Nevertheless, 
it continues to face the challenges confronting many small businesses. 
Beyond the severity of the economic downturn, large chain stores make 
it increasingly difficult to compete, and digital downloads of music 
have reduced the number of customers buying music in stores. As a 
result of these overwhelming roadblocks, many small businesses have 
been forced to cut staff and eliminate bonuses. In contrast, Bull Moose 
has tripled Christmas bonuses and continues to hire more staff, 
including a location in Bangor, ME, that has tripled in size. Mr. 
Wickard credits Bull Moose's commitment to customer service and 
convenience to their unprecedented success and growth.
  It is indeed refreshing to see a superb small business overcome the 
many obstacles it faces in today's market. Stories such as this should 
renew our focus to help small entrepreneurs succeed because as small 
businesses like Bull Moose continue to grow, they provide a substantial 
positive impact on the health of the local community and our overall 
economy. My home State of Maine has benefited greatly from Bull Moose's 
success, and I wish Mr. Wickard and everyone at Bull Moose continued 
success for years to come.

                          ____________________