NFIB Local Member Profile: Andy Heck of Alpin Haus
Name: Andy Heck
Business: Alpin Haus
Employees: 150-225
Location: Amsterdam, New York
Alpin Haus is all about fitness, family and fun. Andy Heck, president and co-owner of the outdoor recreational retailer, recalled his father was only 23 when he started the business with a high school buddy.
Back in 1964, it was just a small ski shop. Fast forward to 2015, Alpin Haus has become every vacationer’s sanctuary, selling boats, RVs, trailers and hot tubs. Moreover, the Haus has expanded to five locations: another Amsterdam location, Saratoga, Port Jarvis and Clifton Park Center.
Heck, who works alongside his brother and sister to manage the Haus, admits their family has made it a priority to make their customers feel at home in their getaway homes.
He talks bouncing back from the Great Recession and looking forward to what the future has in store.
Last year, Alpin Haus turned the big 5-0. What factors do you think have contributed to your overall success?
We’ve continued to adapt and change. I’ve been back in the business now—since 1992, so 23 years—growing up as a kid, now I see the business. You have to have a long term plan. From our standpoint, it’s about hiring good people and taking care of them, and taking great care of the customers.
You’ve been a part of the business for 23 years. Throughout your two-decade long experience, what would you has been your biggest challenge?
We always have some ups and downs with business. It depends on the economy, being that we sell discretionary. With the economy, if there’s little consumer confidence, or if there’s issues, there might be a little pull back.
Our business has always been kind of stable, kind of steady, but 2008-2009 came in and people just pulled back so much. There were a lot of times going when through business was scary, but that by far was the scariest. All of a sudden, people just stopped spending period. We had to learn quickly how to—what to do to change our business model.
What did you do to change your business model?
We ended up changing each line of our business, changing what we sold. For instance, in the RV business, where a lot of times big motor homes were selling, and now, they weren’t. It became in to be thrifty. People could even afford stuff didn’t want to spend all their money. They wanted to be more budget conscious. And in that line of business, we were selling more travel trailers and stocked a lot less motor homes. We actually closed one store and consolidated with other stores so that we could send business to other businesses to make them more profitable.
We knew business would be there, but we also knew that what we do a lot is based on banking because people that are buying RVs usually take out a loan. All of a sudden we were not even in control to a certain extent because customers weren’t able to buy because banks wouldn’t loan them money. We were forced to look at what will the banks loan money on and work from that angle.
What’s surprised you the most about being a small business owner in this industry?
No matter what we go through—9/11 was another crisis where all of the sudden people were afraid to do anything. We’ve had the stock market crisis. People in America are resilient. People work hard, and they want a vacation.
Maybe business would be off from year to year, but at the end of the day, Americans like to vacation. They want to work hard, and they want to do something in their free time. Everything we sell revolves around vacations and families. We’re an option, an outlet for them. It’s a great stress relief for people who are going through a lot, and we’re part of their family, [part of] bonding experience, part of their vacation, part of their stress relief, part of their dreams and goals. Sometimes, people come in and this is their goal—to own an RV or a boat, going skiing with their family, to own a pool in their backyard. It’s pretty rewarding, and it’s pretty exciting.
What do you hope to accomplish as a business and a business owner that you haven’t yet?
Well, we’re looking at things differently now. We’re growing rapidly again, and from our angle, we’re looking at being more technology-based, as far as analyzing data to make decisions, switching [to be more] process-oriented. We’re going from a small business to a decent, medium-sized business. WE just have to have a more high caliber thinking. That’s where we’re headed—just more capital, so that we could be ready for more expansion. After ’09, [we’re] trying to continue to [have more] control of our destiny. So, if anything happens to the economy in the future, we don’t have to worry.
What advice would you offer to up and coming small business owners?
Learn from others. I constantly surround myself with peer groups, with mastermind groups, with different people. Always reading, always learning. This business, like I said, is constantly changing. There are a lot of people out there that are always willing to help and give advice.
