Business & Professional

ENTREPRENEUR

Relax the Back from page 47

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Turn your old GOLD into CASH!
We will buy ALL of your precious
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(At 1-t Mile Rd. in the Broadway Plaza)

Come see us Today.

Farmington Hills, Nfichigan
WWW. greis.com

(248) 855-1730

The in-store oxygen bar is available for customers to experience.

"They don't have to tell me they have back
pain. I see it by the way they walk, their
posture and the expression on their face."

- Relax the Back owner Gavbin Hertz

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SPRING TERM • April 12-June 13

SPRING BREAK
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Grades K-5 • April 5-9

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248.644.0866

Birmingham Bloomfield Art Center
1516 S. Cranbrook Rd., Birmingham 48009

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contact RI ,1 tr r tier,

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39 mo. lease, 10,000 mi r. allowed with 250 over limit. $4000 due at si nin . Tax and fees additional.

48

March 25 • 2010

Constant traveling kept him away
from home, his wife, Wendy, and two
young children. When the subprime
mortgage crisis hit, Hertz knew he had
to make a drastic change.
"I always knew I was an entrepre-
neur at heart:' said Hertz. "So I began
researching franchise business oppor-
tunities that provided some need or
necessity"
He looked at numerous franchise
operations until he came across an
article about the Relax the Back fran-
chise, a retail store that specializes in
ergonomic products that help to ease
back and neck pain. He saw in it a
personal need and a business oppor-
tunity.
Hertz, who suffered from back pain,
became intrigued with the company's
pain-relief offerings and began to do
his homework. He visited the closest
Relax the Back store, which at that
time was in Chicago. "I sat in their
Zero-Gravity chair and felt instant
relief from my back pain:' said Hertz.
"And I saw the need to bring their
products to Metro Detroit and help
others!"
With an estimated 80 percent of the
U.S. population suffering from back
or neck problems, Hertz knew the
venture would address a serious and
widespread need not currently being
fulfilled by any other store.
He underwent three weeks of

intensive product training, learning
to properly address customer's issues
with Relax the Back products; in May
2008, he opened his Relax the Back
store in Bloomfield Township.
He has been able to put his sales
background and customer service
skills to use. "People drive by and see
the catchy name 'Relax the Back' and
will drop in to see what we offer;' he
said. "And they don't even have to tell
me they have back pain. I can see it by
the way they walk, their posture and
the expression on their face!'
Hertz said a local judge stopped by
the store recently in search of relief
from back pain. She complained that
the pain was so bad that she couldn't sit
in her chair in the courtroom, she was
having trouble concentrating at work
and was even having difficulty sleeping.
Hertz asked her to demonstrate how
she was sitting in her chair and sug-
gested some products to alleviate her
pain. She left his store with a lumbar
support, a memory pad for the seat
and a rocking foot stool to improve leg
circulation and to ensure her legs are
at a proper 90 degree angle.
Hertz also asked her to call him if
the pain persisted. It's been more than
a month since she visited and the
judge seems to be comfortably back
on the bench.
According to Hertz, one of the
unique advantages of his store is that