Last Modified November 17th, 2011.

Harry Eberlin, Employee Number #0001 Stories

The man, the legend, the creator of Super Shops.

 

You know, it is pretty tempting to judge something by how it ended. That really isn't so fair. I know a lot of people who were touched in some profound way by Super Shops existing as it did, when it did, and it is sad to see so many bad things now being said online about the entity, about the people, and ultimately about Harry. Isn't that a little bit like bitching and moaning about your ex-wife, instead of remembering how great things were and how in love you were when you first got married? I know that everybody is entitled to say what they will, and I understand how important that right to free speech is in our world. But I'm just saying.

Personally, I think that what Harry created, grew, and ultimately lost was nothing short of amazing, in the truest sense of the word. And to me, the way it ended, although unfortunate and awful, does not define my Super Shops experience.

Nothing about how it ended will ever cancel out the good times I had, what I learned, how I was shaped, the valuable place in my life that Super Shops held. Nothing will ever cancel out how incredible the organization was and how well Harry communicated his message to the crew. Nothing will ever reverse my opinion of what a juggernaut the company was in its heyday.

Don't you think that's fair?
 
Here is a letter I sent to Harry recently. I thought it would be appropriate to share it here.

 

From: Ed Steele
Sent: Monday, November 14, 2011 3:03 AM
To: Harry R. Eberlin
Subject: Hello from Ed Steele

 

Harry,

 

Ah, the miracle of the Internet! I spoke with Jeff Highland today while I was fixing up his PC and he gave me your email address – I hope it is OK for me to send you a note.

 

I just wanted to thank you. For Super Shops, for Mallory, for Erson, for changing my life, for transforming me personally through your place and your message and your people. I’m sure that many of the people whose lives you have touched have thanked you before now, but I feel the need to do so today.

 

Super Shops was a magical place – not just because of the speed parts. It was magic because you found a way to motivate people close to you, and those people believed in you and believed in your goals and aspirations in a most powerful way. Those people then did an amazing job of reaching out across the country and creating the same magic for those they hired – during a time when methods of communication were much more primitive. I am sure that somebody like me has a very different perspective than some of the old timers, because I came up as a labor man in one of the far reaching outposts of the empire, and that was a totally different pathway as an employee. Somehow, that fact made me feel more special. It made me want to work even harder to prove myself to the old guard, to the guys from the first 20 or 30 stores, and to you.

 

So much of how I behave and what I know about life I learned through Super Shops. And when I say that, I mean that your people brought me your message – all the way from the new employee indoctrination to the story of Super Shops to the sales and business skills they taught me (or helped me discover within myself) and these skills persisted throughout my life. I am aware that life is what you make it and that I get to take some credit for who I am and how I turned out, but I also firmly believe that there are pivotal key events, key moments in time, key people, and those things profoundly affect somebody’s path through life.

 

I know it to be true. And Super Shops was such a prime example. You, and eventually I, changed a lot of lives over the years. Besides all the fun and all the technical knowledge, I treasure the emotions and the feelings that came from accomplishing a sale, to winning a contest, to being treated a certain way as a manager and an upper manager. Being taught to do so many different things and feeling loyal to a company and a man is a powerful thing. I always felt like what I was doing was important – that I was helping employees become better people, helping customers find happiness in their pursuits, helping the company be a great place, helping you prosper and continue to grow and do all the good things you did out of the kindness of your heart and out of your desire to be great and to be successful. Harry, that is powerful stuff, to feel like your work has meaning.

 

I took away many rewards. My work ethic, my moral compass, my selling personality, my technical bend, my love for cars, my love for competition, and oh so many stories. So many good times.

 

I hope, sir, that you are proud of yourself. You should be.

 

Thanks. And thanks can’t even begin to cover the debt of gratitude I have for you and what you have accomplished in your life. And having lost it all just makes you human, a mere mortal. You are a person worthy of admiration. And I know there are a great many people out there who truly admire you and are grateful for how you touched their lives. Count me as one of them. I sincerely hope that you have found peace and happiness in your life now, and that you swell with pride from knowing what you did was something truly out of this world.

 

Thanks.

 

Ed Steele

 

Electronically,

Description: cid:image001.jpg@01CB515F.4A9A24B0

Ed Steele

Systems Engineer

RT Software Systems, Inc.

http://www.RTSoftwareSystems.com

http://www.RTSoftwareHosting.Com

 

 

Not sure if you can see this from the image - but this is a shrinkwrapped card, done in 1989 at Erson during the Managers' Meeting.

Not sure if you can see this from the image - but this is a shrinkwrapped card, done in 1989 at Mallory during the Managers' Meeting. Quick, I need to TELEX Harry today!