WATER + FAMILY FUN | Readers’ celebrations
celebrates its 50th year of success Bart’s operated at that location for 20 years before building a warehouse on a 44-acre parcel fronted on SR 13 north of town. The business moved into the warehouse in the fall of 1994, and the following year Bart’s opened its new offices and shop. A subsequent addition brought the current building footprint to 35,000 square feet for the warehouse and 5,000 square feet each for the store and office space.
Employees + Culture
Bart’s now employs “six year-round employees and a couple of independent contractors, and we will hire this year probably 12 to 14 seasonal sales and warehouse staff,” said Mike Wilson, manager. “We’ll hire mainly college students, with a few school teachers who are coming back to work in the summer.”
photos: www.facebook.com/barts.watersports/
by Ray Balogh
With his characteristic gratitude and selfless altruism, Bart Culver summed up his half a century of business success in less than 30 seconds.
“T
he cornerstone to our building reads, ‘Dedicated to our customers and staff.’ They are the two things that make this business great. I will always be indebted to the people who work here and have allowed me to live out my curiosities, of which I have many.”
Bart’s Is Born
In 1974, Culver launched his enterprise, Bart’s Watersports, in a two-story house in North Webster. After two years, the business outgrew that location and Bart’s moved to the south edge of town, setting up a warehouse and shop now occupied by Pedals and Paddles.
84
LAKElife Magazine June 2022
Wilson looks forward to Bart’s busiest season in May, June, and July. “I think the most fun part of our corporate culture is in the spring, when the college kids come in with such excitement and enthusiasm for learning… They are coming out of college right when we need them, so the timing and relationships are perfect.” Wilson, a retired school teacher, started his career at Bart’s in 1978 by working summers, and went full time in 1988. In his 44 years with the company, Wilson acquired a birds-eye view of the census of employees and customers who have come and gone over the decades. “Our employees have been dedicated and our customers have been loyal. Some of our customers have been with us all 50 years. We know them by name and they know some of us by name.” Indicative of Culver’s care for his employees, Wilson recounted “probably the biggest decision in our 50-year history.” In the late 1980s, Culver considered moving the entire enterprise to Bloomington, for logistical reasons involving labor availability and proximity to UPS and FedEx hubs.
