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. 1 44 Friday, January 10, 1986
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THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
e Entertain
Ilughes and Sheila Potiker's two-for-one
approach has paid big dividends.
BY TEDD SCHNEIDER
Staff Writer
The Potikers at
Entertainment's world.
headquarters in
Birmingham.
t has bee
years since
Hughes and. Sheila otiker first
dreamed up the idea for the En-
tertainment Book late one night
over their Oak Park kitchen` table.
In that time, the pair has become a
kind of living, breathing extension of
the "buy one, get one, free" product
which they now mhrket in 62 North
American cities and three countries
overseas.
Ask him a question, and she
chimes in with an answer while he's
still getting his thoughts together.
Talk to Sheila (pronounced to rhyme
with "smile") about life as a workihg
mother, and Hughes will tell you what
it's like to be a working father. Spend-
ing time with the Potikers is perhaps
.
has been expanded somewhat beyond
the immediate family. Entertainment -
presently employs nearly 450 people,
including more than 200 at its world
headquarters in Birmingham.-
•In addition to the popular coupon
books which offer discounted leisure- ,
time activities for residents and
tourists in the United States, Canada,
England, Denmark and, for the first
time, Israel (see separate story), the
Entertainment doinain includes a
travel agency, condominium rental
bank for vacationers, a direct-mail
magazine for local 'advertisers and a
newly-launched telephone marketing
operation. Projects on the drawing
board include a buying service that
will help consumers find the lowest
available price for a number of pro-
ducts and services and, believe it or
not, an airborne traffic control service
similar to the ones used by radio and
television stations.
So who comes up with- all these
wonderful schemes? Each is quick to
credit the other with being the brains
behind the entire operation. Actually,
the work load is -distributed evenly, a
fact which both will readily admit
when pressed.
"We're sort of an, unusual combi-
nation," Hughes says of he and his
wife. "I think, from a business
standpoint, we form a super, composite
person. We've been able to comple-
ment each other very well.
"Besides," he jokes, "we have a
perfect understanding. I just listen to
her and do whatever she says."
Sheila, whose official title is
executive vice president and secret-
ary, acknowledges that she probably
has more feedback on moves by her
husband/chairman of the board than
she' would if he weren't her spouse.
Most =of the major decisions are
shared ones, she says.
While working together every day
for the last quarter-century hasn't al-
ways been a picnic, the couple has
managed the stress by carving out
separate niches in the company
hierarchy. "'We found that it was bet-
ter to confine our activities to different
areas of the business," Sheila says. "In
the quintessential two-for-one experi-
ence. , ,‘
But it is that interaction between
the husband-and-wife management
team -- bouncing ideas off each other
much the same way a pair of top-notch
tennis'players will rally back and forth
seeking the best opening -- which has
been one of the keys to the phenomenal
growth of Entertainment Publications
Inc.
Oh, it's still just a family-run
coupon business. But as the Enter
tainment Book marks its silver, an-
niversary, the base of operations is no
longer Hughes Potiker's cramped law
office of the early 1960s (with the
kitchen table in Oak Park often pro-
viding auxiliary space). And the staff
L.
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