Canterbury Books and Tours

By Sean F. Driscoll

BusinessRockford.com

Owner/top executive: David Lemke

Address: 1662 N. Alpine Road

Telephone: 815-398-1454

Web site: canterburytoursrockford.com

E-mail: canterburytours@sbcglobal.net

Opened: Spring 1975

Products and services: Bus trips to Chicago theater productions, plus extended trips; books by special order.

Why did you get into this business? I was a steel salesman, and I lost my job when the steel industry decayed. I like to say I lost my job the same week Nixon lost his. It was a gutsy call at the time — I had four kids in high school, and I was opening a store when I’d never been in retail before. Four years later, all four of those kids were in college, so it must have worked out.

What advice can you offer others who are thinking of entering the business? You’ve got to be competitive, and you’ve got to bend over backward to satisfy your customers, especially those who have been loyal to you over the years.

How has your business grown since opening? We used to be books and tours, now we’re basically tours with a little bit of books.

Where do you see your business in the next five years? I’m going to stick around as long as I can. Janet McGregor has been with us about six years, and she’s just wonderful with clients and customers. We might get into some more extended trips to Washington, and we’re planning to do a spring-training trip for the Cubs. We’re not sure if we’re going to pull that off, but we’re working on it.

What is most satisfying about your business? I have so many loyal customers who have become friends. They call me by my first name. It’s very nice.

What is the biggest challenge about your business? Right now, we don’t have any. I’m pretty satisfied. We’ve been able to compete fairly well. We know we have quite a few competitors, and we’ve been able to hold our own.

To nominate a business for Snapshot!, send candidate’s name, place of employment and phone number to Rockford Register Star Business Desk, 99 E. State St., Rockford, IL 61104; fax 815-987-1365; e-mail sdriscoll@rrstar.com.