STAN Cash, the fictitious ’80s ‘tin shed cowboy’ spruiking a chain of retail stores selling discounted electrical and household items, is back.
The business brand reopened in March this year after a lengthy hiatus.
Co-founder Rob Soek, of Ascot Vale, came up with the advertising concept of a cowboy on a horse in the late ’70s to front the chain because he liked playing ‘cowboys and Indians’ as a child.
A migrant from the Netherlands who came to Australia in 1955, Mr Soek says he had always been an entrepreneur, starting off by selling eggs on the side of the road of his parents’ farm. He entered the retail game ‘by accident’ in his late 20s and was immediately hooked.
Even so, he says he never could have predicted how big his brainchild would become.
“My philosophy was to give good customer service,” he says.
“I thought if I’m cheaper than everyone else I’m going to do a bit of business.”
At its peak, the chain had 20 stores across Melbourne and was turning over $100 million a year.
The Stan Cash character, with his horse, blue cowboy hat, red and blue western shirt and denim jeans, became a household name through his entertaining commercials.
Mr Soek sold off the company in 1990 and stayed on as managing director for another two years before parting ways and getting into other forms of retail. By 1995 it had closed down completely. “It was disappointing, but I always knew that would happen,” he says, pointing to a belief that the passion he had for the company was lost once it became public.
Mr Soek’s decision to revive the company this year was based on his gut feel that the economic times were right for the business to prosper once again.
“People are looking for a good deal at a reasonable price. They know what they want.”
Mr Soek and partner George Caval launched their 2000-square-metre superstore in Brooklyn on Geelong Road.
“It’s very exciting,” he says.
“At the end of the day you make a little bit of profit and make it fun.
“You grow with it [the business]. You have to be diligent and have a sense of communing and be prepared to put in the hard yards.”
