LYNNWOOD – When Marv Behar sold his business in 1998, he wanted to try retirement and stop worrying about how to keep MyBag Inc. going in the face of overseas competition.
But he’s back in his Lynnwood office with Mazel, his beagle, always nearby.
“We’ve managed to keep going through innovation, creative products and plain old hard work,” the 69-year-old Edmonds resident said.
MyBag makes bags to hold golf shoes, insulated nylon bags to hold lunch and cloth tote bags that hold just about anything. In all, the business makes more than 500 different products, including many customized items, Behar said.
His primary customers are businesses and organizations that want bags sporting their logos, either to give away to clients or to sell.
Most of the bags are made at the company’s 10,000-square-foot headquarters in north Lynnwood. About two dozen employees produce the half-million or so bags and other items MyBag sells each year.
The family-owned firm also sells imported tote bags, a concession to reality in the promotional products industry: more and more are being made overseas.
“We’ve lost a lot of business to outsourcing,” Behar said, adding that production began moving overseas in his industry more than 20 years ago. “There’s just a handful of U.S. companies doing what we do.”
The promotion products industry isn’t small. In 2003, sales of such products reached $16 billion, according to the Advertising Specialties Institute. The same year, 30 percent of promotional products distributors reported buying from overseas producers.
Overseas products, because of cheaper labor, usually cost a customer less. Since promotional bags often are given away, cost is a big deciding factor for many customers, Behar said.
MyBag has tried to firm up its position in the industry by offering products few others make. Those include logo-printed seat cushions, a patented picnic basket that unfolds into a tablecloth, and reflective leg bands for cyclists.
Behar said he’s produced millions of the reflective leg bands, which are sold by bike shops all over Europe and North America, during the past three decades.
Michael Behar, the founder’s son, said customers also often call to request items as exotic as custom-designed jet engine covers. Wind socks, first-aid kits and fleece baby blankets also are among the company’s diversifying product line, he said.
Barbara Deede of Woodinville called MyBag to make a special cloth bag she designed to keep lettuce fresh in the refrigerator. She said she was impressed with how well MyBag made her product, called the Lettuce Keeper, and with its distribution to buyers across the country.
“It’s a wonderful company. They’re really big time,” Deede said.
Behar started MyBag after running a furniture store in Edmonds (he’s not related to the owners of Behar Furniture in Everett). That closed during the Boeing Co.’s slump in the early 1970s.
Then he teamed up with a business partner who wanted to make a biking bag. The partner dropped out, but MyBag emerged out of that idea.
Six years ago, Behar agreed to sell the business, as his wife was dealing with cancer and he felt ready to retire. Under the new owner, however, business fell; eventually, MyBag got into serious financial trouble.
Behar took control again in early 2001, though he’s still dealing with court cases related to his retaking of the business. In the meantime, he’s trying to woo back old customers.
“It’s not like it used to be,” he said. “We’re working hard to build it back up, but it’s tough.”
Reporter Eric Fetters: 425-339-3453 or fetters@heraldnet.com.
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