Export Lewis Clark Memorabilia

Greetings to the gang!

My wife and I have an interesting situation developing, with an opportunity
to export products from the US related to the upcoming BiCentennial
celebration of the Lewis & Clark Expedition, and want some feedback/ideas.

We operate a manufacturers' representative business selling gifts,
souvenirs, and gourmet specialty foods to independent retail stores,
museums, resort gifts shops, etc in five states, but mostly Idaho, eastern
Oregon, eastern Washington, and western Montana. (As independent
manufacturers' representatives, we work on commission, selling multiple
non-competing lines of merchandise to retail stores, and receive a
commission monthly, after the retailers/stores have paid their account with
the manufacturer or distributor.)

We have been in business just over 1- 1/2 years, and are growing rapidly.
Our specialty is Lewis & Clark/Sacagawea motif products, which are being
produced in droves due to the upcoming Bicentennial commemoration. You may
have seen the recent article in Time magazine or the PBS series about the
event. Two to 20 million visitors are expected along the Trail, starting
with the big national kick-off in Monticello this coming January. The 200
year anniversary will extend through the fall of 2006. (There is already a
significant increase in visitor traffic from St. Louis to the Pacific Coast,
related to LC history and activities.)

We are an Idaho-based company, and work closely with the Idaho Department of
Commerce. During a recent communication they said they are getting requests
for Lewis & Clark products from foreign countries, and I think they
mentioned Germany and Italy in the discussion. (Of course, France and Spain
were among the owners of the western US, only days before the official
Expedition began.) As the only rep firm in the US, to my knowledge,
specializing in LC products, we are in a unique position to aggregate
multiple lines of LC products for container shipments to (mostly) Europe. We
will be meeting with the Commerce folks late this month, or early September,
and wanted to hear any feedback you may have on what questions to ask, or
how to approach this sort of opportunity. Also, how can we best market Lewis
Clark products to importers in other countries to complement what the
Commerce Department is getting. What kind of product category would this
fall under with the NTDB? Souvenirs? Gifts?

Any thoughts or feedback appreciated. It's been a long time since I took
John's class, and my memory is a bit rusty, but looking forward to dusting
off the old notes, reading his book, and getting back into it.

Malcolm (& Sandy) Dell
Lewis Clark Gifts & Souvenirs
"Wholesale Sales Representatives"
PO Box 709
Orofino, ID 83544
(208) 476-3858
(208) 476-7238 FAX
LewisClark@idaho.net

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