In the summer of 1997 Alvin had problems operating a computer and things got a little out of hand for him to handle all aspects of the business including all the leads Bobby was bringing in. A secretary was needed. Several people came and went; went mostly because he had to correct the mistakes they made. He saw an ad in the newspaper for somebody offering Quickbooks help. That was my ad. He called me on a Sunday night asked me to come over next day for an interview. I did and stayed ever since. I had worked for other small companies and had experience with a small business I owned.I enjoy and love working for a small company.
A few people have worked for the company, but through the years some of us have stayed longer. The following is the short version of the ones that persevered. In the process, we have all learned new skills and grown along with this organization.
As the business kept on expanding we needed more help not only for delivery drivers and warehouse personnel, but also for office administrative help. One of our customers, who had his own route selling rags, came as a full time employee. We purchased his route and he has been with us ever since. He brings 30 years of selling experience to our company and with him the ability also to learn any new task we give him. Frank loves to play golf; he is his grandchildren’s best fan at the ballpark, loves Civil War History (owns 112 Civil War books), country music and NASCAR.
George has being with us for many years since 2002. He moved from New York, after being an emergency medical technician, to sunny Florida and brought his sunny disposition to our office. George pretty much does anything. He is our facilities manager, driver and sales. He loves the Chicago Bears, fishing and spending time with his family. He also coaches girls’ softball.
Roberto is one of sales representatives; don’t let his name fool you, even though it sounds Spanish, he was born in Brazil; but he came to US early in his childhood and does not speak Portuguese or Spanish, but does speak a little of Indonesian. Robert started with us 2005 and travels all throughout Florida delivering our product.
Erica our latest office administrative assistant came aboard on 2007 and has shown us that she can do and learn anything. She is a great asset to our company. She is the best administrative assistant we ever had. Erica was driving south from Massachusetts her car broke down in Clearwater Beach and had no place to go. She stayed here. After some hard time economically, being the fighter that she is, recovered and made a good life for herself. She responded to our ad, got the job and has been with us ever since. She loves the beach, reading and sun tanning.
Mirtha is our latest addition to our office. She was born in Cuba but lived in Puerto Rico. Mirtha had her own business in the past; she speaks Spanish, has traveled all over the world and has a positive attitude to be admired. She loves to spend time with her four Bichon Frise dogs.
Over the years RFI has grown to cover sales not only in Hillsborough and Pinellas County, but all over the state of Florida, including Miami, Ft Lauderdale and West Palm Beach. We offer our customers the best service, price and quality available in the Florida. Please visit us at http://www.ragsforindustry and http://www.thebestragco.com for your wiping rag needs.
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
Thursday, June 18, 2009
History of RFI Inc.
RFI Inc. was established in 1992 by Alvin who had been self-employed for most his life and had sold among other things used uniforms and dust mats. He came upon some fabric material in rolls, decided to cut them and sell them as rags. Things were kind of scarce for him then, and did not own a pair of scissors, went to his neighbor and borrowed them.
You could probably say that was the true beginning of our company. Being the entrepreneur that he was, and still is, decided to add blue huck towels and white terry towels to his inventory to sell out of his truck to small body shops in the Tampa Bay area. His business started expanding and needed more help. He had rented a small warehouse and hired a couple of helpers to cut, sort and bag his rags. Around 1993, Alvin hired a tire salesman named Robert who came aboard as his first delivery man. Soon after he started, he showed Alvin that he had a great ability to sell, therefore expanding his business much more. Bobby, as we call him, got so many sales leads that a computer was needed to keep track of them, making the small shoe box method of filing obsolete.Computers at that time were just beginning to be used in small businesses and for Al, who had never used one, found himself learning how to operate the machine. He also bought the program Quickbooks and have been using it ever since.
Bobby can sell, of that we are sure! He has been a great investment in the expansion of our company. Bob likes spending time with family and friends. He was actually born in Florida, he loves fishing, NASCAR and most of all the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
To be continued..........
You could probably say that was the true beginning of our company. Being the entrepreneur that he was, and still is, decided to add blue huck towels and white terry towels to his inventory to sell out of his truck to small body shops in the Tampa Bay area. His business started expanding and needed more help. He had rented a small warehouse and hired a couple of helpers to cut, sort and bag his rags. Around 1993, Alvin hired a tire salesman named Robert who came aboard as his first delivery man. Soon after he started, he showed Alvin that he had a great ability to sell, therefore expanding his business much more. Bobby, as we call him, got so many sales leads that a computer was needed to keep track of them, making the small shoe box method of filing obsolete.Computers at that time were just beginning to be used in small businesses and for Al, who had never used one, found himself learning how to operate the machine. He also bought the program Quickbooks and have been using it ever since.
Bobby can sell, of that we are sure! He has been a great investment in the expansion of our company. Bob likes spending time with family and friends. He was actually born in Florida, he loves fishing, NASCAR and most of all the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
To be continued..........
Friday, June 5, 2009
The History of Rags
Who would have thought that the business of recycling is an old idea and not a new concept as many of us think. The history of recycling textiles started with the invention of paper. It is believed that the Egyptians used a material named “tapa” which was made with figs, daphne and the inner bark of paper mulberry to create paper. Later, the Chinese invented the spinning wheel therefore the creation of woven clothes. Ts’ai Lun is credited for the invention of making paper with waste from textiles using rags in AD105.
http://www.paperonline.org/history/history_frame.html
Gutenberg invented the printing press in 1450 and used paper made out of linen rags to print the Bible. This paper was called cloth parchment. Previously he had used parchment paper to print the Bible and it would take the skin of 300 sheep to print just one book.
http://www.conservatree.org/learn/Papermaking/History.shtml/
According to the Salvation Army’s website, in the 17th century in England, a man named Benjamin Law, used old clothes, re-spun them and made them into yarn to be used again into new clothes. Later in the 20th century also in England, the term “Rag and Bone Man” was given to men who would take old stuff and clothes in exchange for different items. These “Rag and Bones Men” would drive their horses and carts around the cities collecting stuff and the old clothes to be used as “Mungo and Shoddy”.
“Rag and Bone Man is a british phrase for junk dealer”. (Wikipedia). The rag part of the name was given to them because they collected old rags to make paper and more textiles; the bone part of the name was given because they collected bones to make glue. (I imagine the bones where from animals such as pig, chickens, turkeys, etc.).
The definition of Mungo is the process of turning old clippings from tailors and combined them with shredded wool and turning them into a new type of yarn.
Shoddy’s definition is the process of taking old shredded rags and re-spun them into another type of rag called Shoddy.
http://www.maggieblanck.com/Land/Shoddy.html
There are some interesting results if you do a search for Rag and Bone Man in the internet. One of them is about David Beckam, the famous soccer player from England, being the son of a Rag and Bone Man.
In 1690, the first paper mill in Philadelphia used rags to manufacture paper. In the 1600’s the creation of newspapers started what was called “the rag wars”. Newspapers were used to communicate political information, therefore, the demand for newspapers increased and the supply for rags decreased and several countries instituted laws that prohibited rags from being taken out of their countries and so, the smuggling rag business made a lot of people rich during this time.
http://www.conservatree.org/learn/Papermaking/History.shtml/
Today, according to the Council for Textile Recycling, about 75,000 tons of textile waste, is recycled each year into raw materials for many industries, including the rags that our company sells. An approximate 20% of these materials becomes wiping and polishing cloths.
Our industry is contributing to reusing waste material to be incorporated into our daily lives, by utilizing these “rags” in any type of business that requires polishing, wiping, staining, painting, cleaning and many other uses. For all your “rag needs” go to:
htpp://www.ragsforindustry.com
http://www.paperonline.org/history/history_frame.html
Gutenberg invented the printing press in 1450 and used paper made out of linen rags to print the Bible. This paper was called cloth parchment. Previously he had used parchment paper to print the Bible and it would take the skin of 300 sheep to print just one book.
http://www.conservatree.org/learn/Papermaking/History.shtml/
According to the Salvation Army’s website, in the 17th century in England, a man named Benjamin Law, used old clothes, re-spun them and made them into yarn to be used again into new clothes. Later in the 20th century also in England, the term “Rag and Bone Man” was given to men who would take old stuff and clothes in exchange for different items. These “Rag and Bones Men” would drive their horses and carts around the cities collecting stuff and the old clothes to be used as “Mungo and Shoddy”.
“Rag and Bone Man is a british phrase for junk dealer”. (Wikipedia). The rag part of the name was given to them because they collected old rags to make paper and more textiles; the bone part of the name was given because they collected bones to make glue. (I imagine the bones where from animals such as pig, chickens, turkeys, etc.).
The definition of Mungo is the process of turning old clippings from tailors and combined them with shredded wool and turning them into a new type of yarn.
Shoddy’s definition is the process of taking old shredded rags and re-spun them into another type of rag called Shoddy.
http://www.maggieblanck.com/Land/Shoddy.html
There are some interesting results if you do a search for Rag and Bone Man in the internet. One of them is about David Beckam, the famous soccer player from England, being the son of a Rag and Bone Man.
In 1690, the first paper mill in Philadelphia used rags to manufacture paper. In the 1600’s the creation of newspapers started what was called “the rag wars”. Newspapers were used to communicate political information, therefore, the demand for newspapers increased and the supply for rags decreased and several countries instituted laws that prohibited rags from being taken out of their countries and so, the smuggling rag business made a lot of people rich during this time.
http://www.conservatree.org/learn/Papermaking/History.shtml/
Today, according to the Council for Textile Recycling, about 75,000 tons of textile waste, is recycled each year into raw materials for many industries, including the rags that our company sells. An approximate 20% of these materials becomes wiping and polishing cloths.
Our industry is contributing to reusing waste material to be incorporated into our daily lives, by utilizing these “rags” in any type of business that requires polishing, wiping, staining, painting, cleaning and many other uses. For all your “rag needs” go to:
htpp://www.ragsforindustry.com
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