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ee ae ee A I a Get Marlin Travel Marlin Travel was originally founded in Edmonton, Alberta in Oc- tober of 1967. Owned by a Marlin family holding company and headed by Rod Marlin the company expanded to a total of four offices in Edmonton and Calgary in 1976. At this time Rod Marlin and his very close friend Gary Elliott purchased Marlin Travel and the family holding company and along with several Managers and staff formed the Marlin Travel Service (1976) Ltd. The next six years were a time of rapid expansion for Marlin Travel in Western Canada. Through acquisitions and new openings, a total of forty-one offices existed making Marlin Travel the largest travel chain in Western Canada. In the spring of 1982 an opportunity for Marlin to expand into the large Ontario market was presented with the demise of the giant Cal-Trav organization and subsequent sale to Marlin of the twenty- one branch Calladine & Baldry chain, which included O.K. Johnson Travel offices in Midland, Barrie and Orillia. In the fall of 1983, lan Almond, manager of the Red Deer office in Alberta approached Rod and Gary to buy the office he was managing but still operated as Marlin Travel. After months of plan- ning and negotiations, Rod and Gary thought that perhaps they should give their Managers in the smaller communities the op- portunity to run their office as a franchise so they could benefit from the profits. The offices in the smaller areas were run much different than those in larger cities. After setting up the necessary agreements, Rod and Gary invited other already established of- fices in good standing to join their force, not as a money maker but to increase their network. By doing this, it would increase their buying power and enable them to pass the benefits on to the con- sumer. They set a goal of 200 offices by June/87 and to date there are 191 Marlin offices across Canada. In Sept./84, Rod and Gary approached Carol Merkley who had been working at the Midland office since Jan. 1976 and manag- ed the office since Oct. 1983, to join the franchise team. With much consideration and full support from her husband Bob, Carol joined the Marlin network in Apr. 85 and operates as Marlin Travel, a division of Merkley Travel Ltd. Because Carol is part of the Marlin team, she can offer her staff members special training courses, familiarization tours and special incentives. Carol and Bob have a great deal of respect for their staff members, Lynn Lyons, Julie LeClair and part time sales rep Betty Laurin and are happy they are able to pass on some of the benefits to their staff members. Carol and her staff appreciate the support the community and surrounding areas have given them, so they in turn try to support the community with their fund raising events. The office has provided prizes for schools, hospitals, service clubs and many other private organiza- tions. They put a float in the Santa Claus parade, they sponsor the Midland Marlin Travel Peewee Hockey Team in Midland and as of May will be sponsoring a baseball club in Penetanguishene. "We all work together on our projects and have fun doing ia Advertisement to the Heart of it... says Carol. By Apr. 20/87, the Marlin office will have a new computer system and a ticket printer installed to enable the staff to service the client more efficiently. They will be offering a full line of travel ac- cessories and clients will also be able to purchase travellers che- ques and foreign currency. Some foreign currency has to be ordered two to three weeks prior to departure but Marlin can get it in about three days. Free courier service to the passport office is also available. Carol and Lynn are full time wives, mothers and travel consultants. Julie is a full time travel consultant and as of June 6 will be a full time wife. Says Carol, "Several people ask us how we cope with the demands of all three and our reply is, yy 'when you love being all three you make time for them all'. romans cy sate et ae Ht Wty tons gn tame ee, had * nla?" Eo, Ce ieee PURO tl Aa call: The business started in the late thirties by George and Mary Haskill. At this time it was an electrical business only. In 1945 George's brother in-law, Les Barber joined them. As rural hydro was introduced and more ships required winter refits, furnace sales and service were added. Barber & Haskill were the first business in Midland to sell televisions. Ue Pip In November of 1956 they moved their Yonge Street location to larger quarters at 298 King Street. George Haskill retired in 1971 and the wiring business ended in 1978 after 40 years. Many of our local electrical businesses got their start at Barber & Haskill. With the closing of A. Barrie & Sons, H.J. Thompson and Yj Y Shulmans, it was decided to expand into home furnishings in 1985. Barber & Haskill Appliance and T.V. sales and service has a staff of eleven employees which include, Les and Tom Barber, Lawrence Bellehumeur, Martin Bogo, Walt Denne, John de Mun- nik, Lorraine Hook, Tom McNamara, Terry Quesnelle, Larry Richardson and Neil Rutherford. ---- J Yj Z Yj --Yfyyy Tuesday, April 14, 1987, Page 9