OK- everyone - here it is. I hope it all posts correctly. Quite lengthy.
To fellow shareholders:
Yesterday I went to the Green Fest at Kean University and spoke at length with Ken Glynn. I took a list of questions which were submitted by Ihubbers and asked him those questions.
My initial reaction to Ken was positive. I enjoyed my discussion; he welcomed all questions gladly and gave me what I felt were honest answers (see below). I was also impressed with his “green” products; I even bought a very cool solar flashlight for only $20; which our SUN charged for me and it looks great.
He did tell me some things “off the record” which I will not present here. I promised him.
First think, he sketched out where the new retail store would be in Flemington Mall in NJ; it will be located strategically in a high-foot-traffic area close to Burlington Coat Factory, Panera Bread, Cold Stone Ice Cream and Kohls. The store is being prepared now and he is optimistic it will open by July 1.
So, here are the questions and a rough summary of his answers to the best of my memory.
1. Why are his products extremely over-priced compared to the competition? He said “baloney” and proceeded to show me examples at the Green Fest of the same products from other vendors who prices were OVER Ken’s prices. I can vouch for this.
2. Why is his website so juvenile and non-professional?. He disagreed. He said if someone (any fellow shareholder out there?) would care to design a better one, he would pay for it. The website is greensmartstore.com. It is being worked on now and he is looking for it to be ready by 12/15/11.
3. Why does he make tremendous boasts & claims following through with absolutely zero? Obviously he disagreed. He was very optimistic about the Green Fest (products were selling well) and he feels the Green Fest exhibit and publicity will be a catalyst for more growth in the future. He said: “Growing a business takes time”
4. Why does he intentionally use big name brands to attract attention in his PR’s? He quickly admitted the “Walmart mistake” and he said that he publicly said so.
5. Why has the share structure bloated beyond imagination – when is the R/S? He said he has NEVER sold a share of his personal stock. He said something about 10billion shares were authorized before he bought the company (SpeechSwitch). Also he said there would definitely be a reverse split within 3 years.
6. Why does he continue to PR useless patents and manufacture nothing? He said “NOT TRUE” at all. He said that most inventors are lucky to get 1 out of 100 submitted patents; he said his record is 1 out of 6 products he invented are now patented.
7. Why does he continue to string along the storefront issue when he could have simply moved along down the street, the next day? He said: “that is an absurd charge”.
8. How many people work for the company? I sent Ken an email that he answered 3 months later…claimed his “IT guy” was busy? He said he has over 5,000 emails he hasn’t had time to answer. I did meet his wife and two other employees at the Green Fest. He said his IT guy’s name is Mike Johnson and Mike still works for him.
9. What happened to the “Wal Mart deal” for selling iphone chargers at walmart.com? See # 4 above. I don’t own an Iphone so I didn’t quite understand what he was talking about – something about his battery pack didn’t fit(?) or wasn’t compatible?
10. Ken: are you going to have anything that you PR actually happens? He said “YES”. Personally I can vouch for the products – he had quite an array of products for viewing/sell: shirts, backpacks, quirky purses; flashlights, etc. All green products and all valid products (in my opinion)
11. Why not open an Ebay storefront to sell merchandise thru? He said: “we have one – PayPal is in the works”
12. How did the greenest guy in kindergarten feel about receiving his prestigious honor as well? He said that was a “joke” question. He then proceeded to show me the actual paper with the award. I can vouch that it was legitimate and not a joke.
13. [this morning]: Someone just asked if there was significant interest at the exhibit. I couldn’t say for sure – I was talking to Ken the entire time and I didn’t “stroll around” the other exhibits. There were quite a few people at the Fest. Ken said that Saturday’s attendance was even larger than Sunday’s. While I was there, there were several customers who wanted to know more about the products and were interested to learn further details (especially the solar-charging backpacks)
End of the day: We promised to keep in contact. He said I could call him any time, visit his office any time, and I promised him I would try to keep in touch and be at the store opening this summer. We exchanged email address also.
I thought he was a stand-up guy – no BS. As I said, he welcomed all questions; didn’t avoid any issue or question and I thought he was more than honest and open. I hope the company succeeds; not only because I hold a lot of shares and want them to go higher, but I think his products are relevant for our day and age.
I hope this was helpful; let’s hope his products “take off” and, in turn, get that share price back up.
