Today we’d like to introduce you to Doc Miller.
Thanks for sharing your story with us Doc. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
The business was started by my friend Michael Bafundo in 1982. Two years later as the business grew, I became his partner. This was in Northlake. We eventually moved the store to Roosevelt Rd. in Lombard at which time we developed an e-commerce website www.1starmy.com. Well the website business really took off. This gave us the capital to expand. So, we moved further west on Roosevelt Rd. to our present location, which is more than 3x’s the size of our last.
We now have a 5000-sq. ft. showroom featuring over 4500 military pins and patches on our walls. All of which are for sale! Our basic “bread and butter” however, are more utilitarian items. This includes all manner of Military, Camping and Survival Gear. Such items as Camouflage Clothing in many patterns, Backpacks, Boots, Extreme Cold Weather Clothing are very popular. For Active Military and Veterans, we have over 150 styles of Ball Caps and 50 styles of tee shirts with Military logos.
And it’s not just Military. We do business with local Police Departments, often outfitting their SWAT Teams. (active Police get 10% discounts every day.) This also applies to Boy Scouts and Civil Air Patrol… So, there’s something for everyone here.
Along the way we became Department of Defense Contractors, marketing to the U.S. Government and have outfitted movie projects for Warner Bros, including the entire Army and police force for “Batman, the Dark Knight” with Heath Ledger. So, it’s been a wild and fascinating ride.
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc. – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
While the business is great fun, it has not always been easy. Overall, we move the business 4 times looking to improve exposure and revenue. Moving an entire business is a big, big deal. Lots of mind bending logistics. Remember that we’re a small family owned business. With our last move we got over 17 friends to show up and help load the trucks! That’s the good news. The BAD news was that, we underestimated our overall expenses and our nest egg started to disappear at a breathtaking pace. But with dogged determination and a lot of ingenuity we survived to still be around for 36 years and counting.
So, let’s switch gears a bit and go into the 1st Army story. Tell us more about the business.
We are a small family owned business and our niche is Military and Survival Gear. Our customer base is broad in that it covers Active Military, Police, Hunters Campers, Construction Workers, Paint Ballers etc. Anyone who wants Clothing and Gear that will hold up under severe conditions.
We are known to local military as a go to place if they need some essential item to complete their kit or a last-minute award medal or ribbon for their Dress Uniforms.
We are also the go to place, when things get dicey. We are proud to be here to help out with Survival Gear. Be it Meals Ready to Eat. (MRE’s) or Sand Bags when the creek rises.
Our being in business helped allay people’s concerns from Y2K, through 9-11 and Desert Storm up to these now uncertain times.
But we have much more fun selling colorful Military Tee Shirts and Ball Caps and especially Halloween Costumes! We have Camouflage Kids Clothing all the way down to “onesies’ for your baby G.I.
Has luck played a meaningful role in your life and business?
Undoubtable when we moved to our current location and expenses were overwhelming us, we unexpectedly got a call from a Marine Gunny Sgt from Camp Lejeune needing 150 duffle bags ASAP. Now, we didn’t HAVE 150 duffle bags… but we did have a telephone! So, with a great big bunch of phone calls we found enough duffels to cover his urgent need. Apparently, he was appreciative and “did us a solid” because right after that The Defense intelligence Agency (DIA) was looking to purchase a large quantity of Drop Leg Holsters from us. If not for those two “out of the blue” orders, I’m sure we would not be here today. Thank you, Gunny!
Contact Info:
- Address: 1st Army Supply
310 W. Roosevelt Rd.
Lombard Il. 60148 - Website: www.1starmy.com
- Phone: 630-916-7380
- Email: FIRSTARMY@MSN.COM
- Facebook: 1st Army Supply
- Yelp: 1st Army Supply Lombard Illinois
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