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Aero Leather Clothing trial update

ProteinNerd

My Mail is Forwarded Here
Messages
3,902
Location
Sydney
Really enjoying getting the real details after all the speculation, thanks Sloan.

I always try and assume the best of people until proven otherwise.....
In my mind I was trying to give WL the benefit of the doubt maybe that it was something that he just did once or twice initially (anyone can make a mistake) and it then got out of hand but this paints a very different picture. It appears to be a deliberate and systematic operation, even pausing when scrutinised, then restarting.

What a stark contrast in character between KC and WL. Ken holding out on selling because he wouldn't be able to give the existing staff a big enough bonus.....what a great guy, makes me even happier to be a regular customer.
 

bretron

Call Me a Cab
Messages
2,519
Location
NW
Sloan, thx for putting this all up here. It's incredibly interesting to read how this all actually played out after all this time. Great job.
 
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tnjyoung

A-List Customer
Messages
435
Location
Tennessee
I hope someone hasn't already asked this question (if so, I haven't seen it), but I wonder what all this does to AL? Specifically, will they still exist? Will existing AL jackets become more/less valuable? Will AERO be able to seek damages against AL? So many questions...
 
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Messages
16,822
What was happening was... tragic. I feel genuinely sad right now, Ken and his wife had to go through this, when they could've been enjoying their retirement.

Cally bit had me chuckle, though.
 

dan_t

Practically Family
Messages
950
Location
Sydney, Australia
Wow, actually getting a new staff member to spend 6 months copying patterns....... not making 'similar' patterns mind you, copying them.
That's about as blunt as it gets.

The eBay stuff is just a stupid employee stunt that could happen most workplaces (albeit it not on this level, or with this much forethought).

Thanks Sloan.
 

AdeeC

Practically Family
Messages
646
Location
Australia
Never around when this first blew up. And I read talk that KC was some sort of overbearing control freak and that's why everyone left. Looks like the opposite. He had too much trust and left total control to someone who has zero integrity. I am now convinced that a lot of disinformation may have been posted here in the past.
 
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Messages
16,822
Sadly, now that the whole pattern copying business is out in public, I'm afraid that AL's chances of survival have just sunk to zero. Incredible what some people think they could get away with. Man, they had the machines, machinists, access to some premium hides, everything; all they should've done was bought two dozen old cheapos on the bay that were no longer made, and copy those for a start, instead of being so damn incredibly stupid to rip off designs from a company that's just few miles away.

Anyone ever saw any of these Aero jackets with distinctive heavy zippers?
 
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jlanderson

One of the Regulars
Messages
245
Location
Lynchburg, Virginia, U.S.A.
Wow. My heart just aches for Ken and Lydia Calder, discovering what they did, being betrayed by people they trusted implicitly and then having to come out of retirement to save their legacy. I can't fathom how a person who had known the Calders since he was 18 could so heartless betray them like this.
 

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