Marty Allen Biography
Marty’s entrepreneurial skills were apparent by the age of 15 when he successfully ran a booming business at the local country club concession stand increasing the profits with lower costs margins. The writing was on the wall, the world needed Marty.
After graduating from Nichols College in New England, Marty was the youngest hire to ever be employed by Josten’s, the country’s largest producer of yearbooks and class rings and quickly learned the art of a commission based only sales position, which was either feast or famine. Marty made some of the highest commission percentages in the company. During his four years there he set sales records and produced some of the best looking yearbooks in the country. He was also in-demand throughout the industry, speaking at seminars and workshops across the country. His success did not go unnoticed by Josten’s competitors, and he was soon hired away by Hunter Publishing Company, a direct competitor of the giant Josten’s.
After four years with Hunter, Josten’s convinced Marty to rejoin them at their corporate headquarters in Minneapolis and within two years, he was running all of marketing, new product development, and college/university sales, reporting directly to the president. Fast forward seven years later, Marty decided to do something on his own by creating his own company, Scholastic Video, striking an exclusive deal with Sony Corporation, and selling out to his partners within two years.
Marty’s reputation in the business was being noticed, which paved the way for Howard Lester, the CEO and Chairman of Williams-Sonoma to offer Marty the position of president to run his newly purchased California Closet Company. This became the first of four highly successful turn-arounds and the beginning of a new career. With a five-year run of achieving record sales while returning CCC back to profitability, Marty was ready to move to a new another challenge, yet before he left, he completed the successful sale of California Closet Company.
The challenge unfolded when Marty decided to accept the role of CEO for Party America. Unbeknownst to him, Party America was months away from posting a loss of millions of dollars. Marty led Party America through a Chapter 11 restructuring, and did so in record time; six months from start to finish. He was able to secure new financing through, Gordon Brothers, and successfully executed on his plan and lead Party America through eleven consecutive years of increased sales and profit. He also led the company through two mergers, buying companies twice Party America’s size each time, growing the company from 24 stores to over 300 from coast to coast. As with many good stories, Marty and Gordon Brothers were able to sell out to their number one competitor, providing a financial home run and happy ending for everyone.
Marty is now enjoying his time by catching up on the many activities he missed while doing non-stop turnarounds, acquisitions and mergers. He can be found sailing his 40′ sailboat along the California coast, driving his 1966 Austin Healey (which he completely restored) on the backroads of the central valley wine country, skiing or hiking in Sun Valley, where he splits his time between his two homes or in Santa Barbara, where he also enjoys hiking, biking along the mountain trails, traveling and dining al fresco in Santa Barbara.
Marty currently sits on several boards, consults with a few select companies and does angel investing while he decides when and what his next adventure in life will be. And, based on his track record, it is sure to be a fun and adventurous one.
FUN FACTS:
Marty has always loved cars, boats and planes. As he said, all high maintenance hobbies.
He has always loved aviation and soloed his first airplane on his 16th birthday.
At 22 he took up jumping out of airplanes and over the next decade completed over 100 jumps.
After college he began racing Hobie Cats on the east coast and later in the mid west, consistently achieving multiple wins in the Division A class. His love for boats continued and was followed by over 20 years of sailing San Francisco Bay, which is some of the toughest sailing in the world. And, that gave him the opportunity to enjoy being the sixth man on Sweden's Artemis Sailing Yacht in the America's Cup races in San Francisco with Skipper Nathan Outteridge.
When it came to cars, the love continued. Marty restored a 1966 Austin Healey 3000 and owned it for over 35 years and restored it three times. He also was president of the Austin Healey Club for Northern California for many years and brought many new and fun events to that organization. But, his true love was always with Porsches which he has owned many over his lifetime and has raced them on both coast. Besides owning his 911 Cabriolet, he admits that he also owns a Macan, as he says, it’s an age thing.
When asked what was one of his most memorable experiences, it was not trips to all 50 states numerous times or even to countries outside the United States. It was spending ten days whitewater rafting down the Colorado River through the Grand Canyon. He thinks there just is no better place to be.