Exit Strategy : Portfolio

Knight & Gayle Phillipines provides e-Learning modules partnered with Nursing schools in the Phillipines top 10 Universities to provide an honors program to bring better qualified Nurses to both hospitals and nursing homes in the United States.

Wyland Galleries of Florida
Wyland Galleries is a prosperous chain of (6) beautifully appointed retail art galleries virtually without peer in the industry. The Wyland brand name is extremely recognizable throughout the world. The artist, Wyland, is considered to be the foremost marine-life artist in the world with annual sales in excess of $30 million. Wyland is perhaps best known for his commitment to the preservation of the oceans, and for the gigantic whaling wall murals he paints throughout the world to call attention to the preservation of marine life mammals-particularly whales and dolphins. The combined revenue of the Wyland Galleries of Florida distributorship stores is approaching $6 million with the most successful stores located at Disney's Boardwalk and Disney's Polynesian Hotel. The stores average approximately 2,500 square feet with a product mix of original paintings, lithographs, serigraphs, bronze sculptures, acrylic sculptures and jewelry. Each store is staffed with highly knowledgeable art consultants that are compensated with a blend of salary and commission.

With the success of the Wyland Galleries of Florida we opened an Italian themed gallery, Galleria Portofino, at the Portofino Hotel at Universal Studios. Also, because of the large volume of art framing necessitated by our combined galleries, and with growing concerns regarding quality control and the timeliness of purchase deliveries, we made the decision to form Celebration Art Framing (CAF) and bring the important task of framing our artwork in-house. Framing prices were set at a level slightly below what was formerly charged by outside subcontractors, and our cash flow and quality control issues were positively impacted. With the addition of CAF we are now able to provide high quality wholesale and retail framing to unrelated companies as well. This should result in steadily increasing revenue in the years ahead as we proceed to attract more and more outside framing business in addition to our internal growth. Currently CAF is located in an 11,000 square foot facility with the latest in modern art framing equipment and numerous leasehold improvements to the facility itself. http://www.wylandgalleriesofflorida.com/.

Johnny Love Vodka
The J.L. Vodka LLC was formed as a brand to address the consumer need for new luxury brand spirits. Exit Strategy's decision to introduce a Super-Premium sugar cane vodka at competitive prices was based on the Founder's years of experience as a club and bar owner, as well as the markets need for American luxury vodka at domestic prices with a particular appeal to women, fun and fashion.

Johnny Love Vodka, a Super-Premium vodka founded in 1998, originally launched in late-1999. Limited distributor resources resulted in less than satisfactory sales with a total of over 500 cases being sold.

Over the last two years, the brand has not been supported with consumer or trade advertising, which has led to limited consumer awareness of the product. There's a perception on the part of the trade that the brand is not being supported enough to attract attention from distribution partners, therefore limiting the success of the brand.

Although overall spirits sales have declined worldwide, there are certain categories that have gone against the trend, showing explosive growth. The Super-Premium segment is one, which continues to grow-by over 9% since 1999, generating strong sales and very high profit margins. The re-launch of Johnny Love brand vodka provides an opportunity to redefine the brand and gain the kind of consumer and trade awareness that is critical to the success of any brand in this category. Though the market is somewhat crowded, Johnny Love Vodka is unusual in that it is a 100% sugar cane vodka. Thus, providing a great ability to separate this brand from the rest. In addition to this, the perception of the brand as a "micro" or specialty vodka provides that much more cache, coupled by the fact that it's American-made, by a member of the "trade."

The development of strong on and off premise programs and brand advertising campaigns will provide the entire organization with the support needed to ensure its' success.