the sign. Bob said it would be taken down. Then Bob gave Mike a challenge, ‘Do you want me to teach you how to buy the property?’ Mike listened. He said, ‘Buy it “As-Is.” Do not try and change a thing.’ Michael Shooster - I’m staring out the window, one day at the office, and I see the land across from us, 32 acres. The real estate for sale sign was falling over and weeds were growing in the field. Around that same time, we started the fulfillment business and it was outgrowing our space. We had an exciting new fulfillment client, Lever Bros the makers of Wisk laundry detergent, and it was really busy. As it turns out, the government found that side-loading washing machines were more effi- cient than top-loaders and they mandated all the new machines to be side-loaders. Not only were the new machines more efficient, but they also required a different type of soap. Because there were so few side-loading machines when the mandate started the regional supermarkets refused to use their shelf space before there was a market. To solve the problem it was decided that Lever Brothers would use a call center and fulfillment center. We were the answer! Large trucks started arriving to deliver the palettes of soap. More specifically, 80 palettes of deter- gent at a time were dropped off at our build- ing. However, our building did not have truck bays, so the palettes were left in the street. Once on the ground we would scoop them up with a forklift and drive them into the call center. I still have nightmares thinking about what would happen if it rained with all those soap boxes sitting on our street. To make matters worse when the fire marshall saw how we were using the office space with a forklift he said we better put a fire sprinkler in the building, a very expensive task. To solve this, I wanted to build a ware- house in the empty lot next door. To explore the idea, I visited The City of Margate, where I met Bob Meehan, in the land planning office. He explained that the land was not zoned for a warehouse. Around the same time, I got the price, 2 million dollars. I reported all of this to dad and he thought about it but wasn’t on board. He also reached out to a broker who said it wasn’t worth the
Micheal Shooster with Hardhat
2 mils. I told dad, What if I can buy it for 1 mil.? Thinking I couldn’t do it he said, “Come back to me if you figure out how to make that happen.” Four months later, signs went up on the empty land pointing towards us, not even the busy street we were both located on. It showed a picture of a large warehouse. The caption said, “Coming Soon, 24 foot. Warehouse Space.” I was shocked. So, I called Bob Meehan and was about to yell, when he told me, “Sometimes a broker will put up a sign and then try and change the zoning for the land afterward.” He went on to say it’s not going to happen. Bob, also encouraged me with some simple advice. He said if you want to buy the land, ‘ Buy it, As-Is.’ Don’t try to change it. I decided to pursue buying the land for 1 mil. Bob helped write a letter of intent. Surpris- ingly, the offer was accepted. So, I went back to dad for help. He said it was the perfect oppor- tunity to use his life insurance policy’s cash value. So, we bought the land. In 2000, there was an election. It was just before we closed on the land. Bush vs. Gore
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