On Monday, October 29, 2007, Jinny Corp. celebrated the grand opening of its newest branch, located in Dallas, Texas.
Dallas is Jinny Corp.’s fourth facility location, preceding Chicago, Atlanta and Miami. The event was an evening of dinner with a Texas flair, live music and entertainment that all of the guests could enjoy. Eddie Jhin, president of Jinny Corp., opened the facility with a speech; below is the transcript:
October 29, 2007
First of all, I would like to thank everyone for coming to Dallas to celebrate our Grand Opening celebration. This was the same building that my father had looked at almost two years ago and was in the process of negotiating the building price until he fell ill, and everything had to be placed on hold. But I am so glad that everything worked out the way he wanted. There are so many people to thank for this happening – from my real-estate broker Steve Berger, to our contractors CJ and his crew, and so many others who made this all come alive.
There are mainly three groups of people that I want to thank from the bottom of my heart: first is the Jinny staff members – those who are here today and those at the three other locations. Currently, we are 244 strong under our Jinny umbrella and now growing with the addition of our Dallas branch. I consider them to be the best in this industry, period! Because of them, within the two-and-a-half months that we have been working on opening Dallas, they have accomplished all of this! Without their support, Jinny could not have accomplished our current goals, or what we have set out to do for the future. My people know that I will always be behind them in whatever they do and that I am always there for them, to the end (but I try not to mention this to them too often to avoid them getting a big head)! But truly, I thank you for being who you are and for giving me the opportunity to be your top manager.
The second group that I want to thank is our vendors, brokers and sales reps. I do know that it is just part of your job to do the things you do for our company, but I know that if it wasn’t for your new ideas, products, services and the support that you give to our company, Jinny would not be a part of this industry. Although we sometimes fight, truthfully, I look forward to them so that our relationship can grow stronger by giving us the opportunity to know each other better. I know that we can work out any issues on the table because at the end of the day, we all have the same common goal: to sell and to bring the beauty in all of us.
The third group that I want to thank is my father and my mother, whom, without them, I would not be here talking to all of you and making this speech! My father and mother went through many hardships, both mentally and physically – more than I could ever imagine – and because of them, I was given the silver-spoon treatment and the life that I have now. I know this very well. Because I believe in knowing my past and understanding what was given to me, especially by my father, I do not take anything for granted. This was the first year that I have been in charge of running Jinny United in every aspect, without the advice and guidance of my father, and it has been the toughest year of my life. I know that some of the Jinny staff worry about my mental and physical health and that some of my vendors worry that we may be able to pay our bills on time, but to all of them, I say “don’t worry.” We have not been late this year one time with any payments to our vendors and I will try my best to keep this going…but I may need a little help for this first order for Dallas.
But honestly, I feel that I am getting stronger and stronger and this is getting easier and easier with what we have to do. And especially with my brother coming in to our company, I am much more at ease. In regards to that, we will be having another Grand Opening celebration in Chicago on January 21, 2008. We will have the key for that new building on November 1 of this year…so here we go again!
Lastly, I want to say thank you to all of our current and future customers for coming to this event. Please know that we will try our best to serve you in the best way possible. Please teach us, for we do not know your city or your business history. I ask for your support only when you see that we have earned it, and we will do our best to always earn it. Also, I do realize that Seven Dollar is having their trade show next week; I respectfully ask you to support their show. We come to your city in peace. You will notice that all the service levels from the distributor side will increase and you will see products that you have never seen before – this will be good for all of us.
I do not view my company as a destroyer of a market, but as a liberator. Look at our past records in places like Atlanta and Miami; we have more distributors in Atlanta than anywhere else in the country, and this tells you that we have created a marketplace where we all can make it and be successful. In Miami, our competitor is doing well, being more organized than ever before and still growing.
There are three things that we will all go through in life, no matter who we are: one is death, two is taxes and three is changes. We all change with time, but I also know that we fight change on a daily basis to keep what we are used to and what we spend so much time, energy and money on. But if you can accept and adapt to the changes that occur in your life, then you will have the upper hand in the short life we have on Earth.
The opening of the Dallas branch is all about creating change and how we can better ourselves in every way. There will be things that the Dallas branch will need to do that you are not used to doing – even different than what others have done – but I humbly ask my fellow vendors and customers to please give us an opportunity and the time, to see what changes we have coming up and to not make rash decisions based on silly rumors and different things that you are not accustomed to. Nurture and watch us as you would do to your young, growing child because he/she may or may not know what they are doing; give this child a chance to prove to you that he/she is going to a place that even you have not gone before. I seek support and service from our vendors and guidance and patience from our customers. With this, I promise all of you that this child will grow up to be a fine adult and represent you and bring you changes that you will eventually accept. In God we trust; thank you for being here and for supporting Jinny United.
Eddie Jhin – Top Manager of Jinny United.
