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My name is Bruce Dally, and I’ve been with Watson Gloves for 49 years. My journey began on March 11th, 1975, when I started as a truck driver, servicing retail and industrial accounts around the Lower Mainland. From there, I moved into retail sales, looking after garden shops, home improvement centers, and hardware stores. My responsibilities grew over time, expanding to larger customers and the industrial side, including sawmills and pulp mills in the Interior East Kootenays. Eventually, I became the General Sales Manager. In 2007, when we opened the facility in Mississauga, I transitioned into the VP of Sales and Marketing. During this time, I hired the marketing department and oversaw product development, even managing some shipping at one point. I’ve held nearly every position in the company except working directly in the factory, though I did repair gloves. It’s been a wonderful journey, but it’s sadly coming to an end this year. After 49 years as a Watsonator, I’m finally hanging up the gloves, and this is my Watson Story.

This wild ride began with a chance meeting of a man named Bill Hamilton (Sales Rep) in the fall of 1974. I worked at a gas station called Econo in Coquitlam, at the bottom of Blue Mountain and Brunette. Bill worked for Watson Gloves and was setting up a display. I said to him, “I should be pricing those, and you should be out selling more gloves.” Then I asked, “Do you think I could work at Watson Gloves and do this kind of work there?” He replied, “That’s a hell of an idea. I’d rather be selling gloves than pricing them. I’ll talk to my boss.” His boss was Don Fedorak, Watson Gloves’ Sales Manager at the time, affectionately known as the “Glove Father.”

Fast forward to ’75, I reached out to Don and asked, “Now that we’re getting into the garden season, could you use a guy like me to merchandise the product for you in your garden centers and places such as Econo Gas Station?” He said, “Yeah, why don’t you come in?” He suggested we talk to Barrie Moore, the second-generation Moore, and the president and owner at the time, along with Bob Arendale. On March 11th, 1975, I was 18 years old and wore my best clothes—the ones I wore to prom. I was probably a little overdressed for a delivery boy, which was what I was going to be doing. Barrie and Don interviewed me at the old offices at 2nd and Main. Both reminded me of my dad—they felt like good, sincere fellows. We talked for a while, and then Barrie looked at Don and asked, “What do you think? Do you think this guy can deliver gloves?” Don nodded and said, “Yes, I believe he can.” And that was the beginning of my journey with Watson Gloves.

Before I left the interview Barrie threw me the keys to the delivery van and said, “Here, take it home and tomorrow you can start.” In that moment, I couldn’t have imagined how much these two guys would change my life. Don taught me about gloves, and Barrie taught me about life. I always appreciated the things they did for me and always wanted to make sure they knew I was working my butt off for them. I would often say to Barrie, “I’m going to keep you in the life you’ve become accustomed to.” Right after my father, Barrie Moore was my favorite man.

I originally wanted to be an architect because I loved designing buildings and engaging with the public. However, architecture didn’t work out for me. As a second-generation glad-hander, it seems I was destined to be a salesperson. My father, who worked for General Motors, had a long history of interacting extensively with the public and his customers. So, following in his footsteps came naturally to me.

When I started at Watson Gloves, I didn’t have any post-secondary education, which made me feel like I needed to give it a really good effort and push myself to see what I could do with this company. I probably spent about two years delivering, making sure the industrial guys got their products and the retailers had all their products on display. I would repair gloves that had come apart, staple them, and put them back up, making the rack look all fresh and new. I took pride in ensuring the display looked good. Don recognized that in me, and it helped me build relationships with the people at the stores. Even at 19 and 20 years of age, I got along well with the customers I dealt with. They spoke highly of me to the sales reps when they came to take orders, which I believe was passed on to Don and Barrie.

On my route, I serviced retail accounts, as well as industrial and forest companies. Orders would be written up, and I’d have my own section in the back of the warehouse. I’d load the truck every morning, start my day around 7:30 AM, and finish around 4:30 PM. I usually ended with retail customers because they stayed open later—garden centers, home improvement centers, and hardware stores. I looked after and delivered gloves to all the industrial customers in the 1970s from Vancouver to Langley, which was quite a distance. As for the gloves, there were the “Garden Gloves,” many winter gloves, and various styles for truck drivers. It was a lot of work, but I took a lot of pride in what I was doing.

I think that work ethic went a long way to helping me get to the next level. Don trusted me enough to start looking after some of the smaller hardware stores in town. I looked after a little grocery chain called “High Low Foods.” There were stores in Coquitlam, Surrey, and Burnaby. I also looked after a garden center, some hardware stores, and some Home Hardware stores. I got my feet wet in the heart of small retailers. I lived off the thrill of the sale and loved when my customers were happy. Whatever they needed, I did. I would make sure to go that extra mile on Friday afternoon calls to ensure retailers had the gloves they needed for Saturday and Sunday. I kept up repairing displays and even repaired gloves. Don also got me to assist with Eaton’s Department Store, Woodward’s Department Store, and Woolco. It was quite the project. We would go into these stores and merchandise the whole place. It wasn’t just filling racks; we’d help with $1.49 Days at Woodward’s on Tuesday. We’d go in on Wednesday with garden gloves, toques, and winter gloves, and they would sell them for $1.49. That was in the late ’70s, and it was exciting times. I wasn’t looking after the sales part for those bigger stores, but Don introduced me to all the buyers, and I was able to understand how department stores worked, which maybe helped with Marks later.

Those were the days. Watson Gloves was a small organization at that point—just a grouping of two buildings that not many people outside of the organization knew about. Throughout my time at Watson, we purchased a couple more buildings on either side and continued to grow. The main building was from 1918, and there weren’t many renovations. We did some in the boardroom, which was a special place in its day. We had many of our brainstorming meetings there. The original factory was there, and it was amazing with so much history. There were also floors above the factory where some people lived, which eventually got torn down. That’s why, when you look at the really old pictures, it was a bigger building!

Now, we work with distributors, which is great because maybe that distributor has 500 salespeople and access to the whole country. Watson Gloves has never had 500 salespeople. It’s a different philosophy now, but that’s the magic of it—it’s a different way of going to market. It’s funny in retrospect because Don and I both thought the distributor route wasn’t going to work. We thought we would lose control. And then, yeah, our guys met with some pushback from distributors out of the gate because we sold direct, so we needed to stop that if we wanted to go the distributor way. This was a tough change for us. It was a little easier in the Prairies and in Ontario because that was a fresh start for us. In any case, we stayed at it, and it worked out well and was the right choice. You have to learn from and listen to the people you hire.

Kasey Whitman, our current President, was key to that change in distribution. He really took us to the next level. He began as an inside sales rep here in Vancouver, and Marty (current CEO and Chairman) sent him to Calgary to look after the Calgary sales and operations. He really evolved things out there, got the facility going, and it wasn’t long before we knew he was going to be an integral part of our company moving forward. He had the smarts, attitude, and drive, and that’s why we all worked together so well. We all wanted to win, which usually meant just listening, learning, and trusting.

Throughout my career at Watson Gloves, I was always learning. As I got into selling, I made it a point to really get to know the gloves inside and out. Don was one hell of a teacher, but I also picked up a lot from other sales guys. There was Terry Photo (sales rep) on the island, a couple of guys down here in the Lower Mainland, Roger Westlake (sales rep), Don’s brother-in-law, Harry Hargreaves (sales rep) working the Prince George area, and Bob Dale (sales rep) in Edmonton. We had a facility in Calgary at the time, and Bob worked for us in the ’70s before leaving in ’82 to start his own company. I learned invaluable insights from these colleagues all over BC and Alberta.

Don and Terry would go into the interior periodically, and as I got to know things better, Don thought I should take over places like the Okanagan, West, and East Kootenays. He began taking me with him, and I would take notes fiercely. Don was a stickler for making sure you had files on everyone. We needed to know what the person ordered last time, all their receipts from previous orders, and all the notes I had. I’d spend Sunday reviewing my notes, then hit the road Monday morning and come back Friday night. The notes were essential. This was before computers or cell phones. We didn’t make any phone calls prior to going up—we’d just show up! Barrie did have these advance notice cards that they would sometimes mail out before I went up. Those were handy, basically saying that a Watson Glove guy would be in their area, but it doesn’t happen that way anymore. Now you have to have an appointment; otherwise, you don’t get anywhere.

When you’re on the road, you have your regulars who would always see you, but the cold calls with new clients were difficult. My goal with new customers was just to get in there, get them to listen, and at least get some gloves in for trial purposes. Once they had the gloves, they could see that they could save money and reduce hand injuries with Watson Gloves. For my regulars with notes prepared, I would say, “You ordered ten dozen of these. How many do you have on hand now?” I would try to understand any challenges if the gloves weren’t selling or get an order if they were! One thing Don always said was, “Make sure you come out with an order no matter how small it is. You’ve got to pay for your trip.” But you don’t want to overload these guys. It was about building trust. They needed to know you weren’t a one-night-stand kind of guy. They needed to know that you cared and that you would see them again.

I loved these trips into the interior. I got to see mines, sawmills, and every kind of industrial company and retailer in BC. I often didn’t want to come back home, so I’d sometimes spend the weekend in Kelowna or head up to Kamloops early. I’m from Kamloops, so we’d camp, and I’d have an early start on Monday. It was absolutely fabulous being a road warrior. It must have been what I was born to do because I enjoyed every aspect of it. I don’t remember any pain from being a road warrior—except the pain of not getting the order. That pain was only because I was rather impatient, as many of my colleagues will tell you. I was adamant that I would supply everything they needed and couldn’t understand why they wouldn’t deal with Watson Gloves. But that’s part of life, right? You don’t get every sale. At the same time, I enjoyed the challenge of someone who didn’t want to deal with us. I’d show them a bunch of good stuff from Watson Gloves and how we could reduce hand injuries and costs and do everything to change their mind. It was a good challenge.

One example of a changed mind was a sawmill in Cranbrook. They would never see me, but I was persistent and finally, he said, “Ok, you’re not giving up. Come in and let’s see what you got.” I knew what they already used because I was prepared with my notes. I had a new pair of gloves with me—some very new technology from a Japanese company. It was these innovative palm-coated gloves that I knew he could use, and I got an order from him. That was the thrill. When all that preparation paid off and you can see that they finally understand what you’ve been trying to show them. They put aside their allegiance to your worthy rival and truly listen to you. Then you present it, and they give you a try because that’s all you’re asking for—just give it a try.

The thrill was big for me, but when you’re on the road, it also comes back to the people. I really liked the people I dealt with on the road and the team we had here. It’s the people who keep you engaged, and Barrie Moore was really good at this; he kept us engaged. We would have business meetings at Barrie’s cabin on Bowen Island. We’d go out on Wednesday afternoon, catch the afternoon ferry, and stop at the grocery store in Snug Cove on Bowen to get all the groceries we’d need for a BBQ. Huge steaks—we’d cut them into pieces and BBQ them. There’d be six or seven of us. We’d make salads, vegetables, and of course, the steaks, and we’d talk about gloves all night. After dinner, we’d stay up late, still talking gloves but listening to music as well. Barrie loved music, and he had an unbelievable collection of vinyl, which he’d continue to play all night. We would sit around with a drink in our hand and just talk gloves and gloves. We’d wake ourselves up early enough to make the first ferry back to the office on time for the bell the next morning. That was part of the family way of Watson Gloves and of Barrie Moore, and I think Marty Moore (current CEO and Chairman) and Michele Moore (Senior Director of Corporate Social Responsibility) have continued it through our fun ups and our AGM boat cruise. Work hard, play hard, something that stands even to this day.

I remember Marty and I making a call on Marks Work Warehouse in Calgary, which was selling a lot of our gloves. We were seeing Richard MacMillan, and we were selling him “Abominable Snow Mitts,” which was one hell of a snowmobile glove made in our Canadian factory. After the meeting, we got into the elevator—just a couple of youngsters—and Marty said, “I think we sold a few gloves there.” I did some quick math in my head and said, “We just sold $600,000 worth of gloves.” Marty still reminds me of that. That was pretty cool.

We’ve always had a good relationship with Marks Work Warehouse, now just “Marks.” We’ve been their primary glove supplier since 1978, and that’s unheard of. Normally, billion-dollar companies look to see if they’ve missed something elsewhere in a commodity, but we’ve been with them for 46 years, and I’ve been involved with them for 44. A wonderful relationship, but we’ve worked hard at it.

It has always been about the added value Watson Gloves offers, and our unique marketing has always been an integral part of that value. This unique marketing was ushered in first by Dinty Moore in the 1920s, then continued by Barrie Moore, and I think that’s where I get my love of marketing from.

Barrie really changed the industry in many ways. He came up with the idea of identifying gloves with a name. He knew that a consumer couldn’t go into a store and just see a glove with a generic tag on it because it doesn’t say anything about the glove. Having a description is great, but it’s really the name that identifies that glove—“Man Handlers,” “Mean Mothers,” “Gung Ho,” all this kind of stuff. All these names we came up with, people thought were either cute, cool, or risqué. And taglines were absolutely brilliant; “Better than Nothing” – if you know, you know. That specific glove ended up on Jay Leno, and that was our 15 minutes of fame. But it wasn’t just about being edgy; it was the idea of identifying a glove by a name. It’s not just a glove—it’s a “Man Handler,” and it’s something a customer can ask for by name, and the retailers loved it.

We had a glove called “Get a Grip.” It was a reversible glove—you could use both sides, which was very state-of-the-art in its day. Japanese companies put these lines of PVC across the gloves, producing a phenomenal grip, which is why we called it “Get a Grip.” The image on the tag was one of our guys, Clarence Brosnikoff, wearing a hard hat and using the gloves while being dragged down a hill by a beer truck. That was the original tag, and it was just goofy, but people got it. We all worked on these tags and names together, and we were a tight-knit family, which we still are—just ten times bigger!

We were good at what we did but archaic in the way we did it—clip art and that sort of stuff. We struggled with the technical part—it was the ’80s, and we didn’t have any way of getting pictures onto documents. We had typewriters and made these goofy things; it was working but we knew we needed to do better in that aspect. So, I got involved in marketing in the mid 2000’s, finding and hiring talented people to do these things for us. I stressed to Marty that we needed three things: a marketing department, a product development person, and someone to do video.

Product development was so crucial. We needed someone who could design gloves because the only way we got new gloves was if one of our manufacturers in Asia showed us something new—a new leather glove, a new coated glove, a different color. Nothing new had been in gloves for the longest time except with coated gloves from the Japanese companies.

Marketing is particularly a love of mine, and I probably got that from Barrie Moore just because again, his identification of product and importance of the images involved. We started with Clip art and the Marketing department now likes to laugh at us, but there’s so much the Product and marketing departments do now that we could never have done in our day, especially with guides and compliance testing.

Laura Whitlock (Senior Director of Marketing and Innovation) and Christina Yeung (Director of Product Development) have become pillars in these teams. I’m very proud to have been part of hiring them. The entire group is wonderful, and they’ve elevated our brand, adding huge value for our customers. You have to trust the people you hire. That said, I think I often pestered them. One of my biggest faults is impatience and needing things done sooner rather than later. They gave me the nickname “Hair On Fire Bruce” because everything needed to be done right away.

I think I was impatient because I really cared, and I believe you must truly care about what you’re doing. Imagine going to a bar, and someone says, “Hey, what do you do for a living?” “I sell gloves.” They’ll say, “What? You do what? You sell gloves?” But what I know is, if you care about selling gloves, you can do anything. Caring about what we did was the driving force behind our success. Marty, Barrie, Don, and I all learned on the streets how to sell gloves and worked hard at it. When Marty joined, we talked about how we needed to step up our game to stay competitive. Because we cared so much, we knew we needed to invest in ourselves. We joined the CPSA (Canadian Professional Sales Association), took courses, and then went on to Dale Carnegie. Kasey connected with more training providers like Base-Over-Apex and Negotiations Ninja. It was all pretty cool and became part of Watson Gloves’ culture. The Moores have always supported this; they’ll make any educational opportunity available if it shows you care. I admire that so much about them. As long as they see you care and want to improve, they’re all in with you.

I was lucky to have gotten to work with four generations of Moores. The newest generation, including Jordan Moore (Purchasing Manager), Kailen Gill (Director of Operations), and Austin West (Hand Protection Specialist), are wonderful, and I’ve been able to see them grow up. Marty and Michele, the third generation, and Barrie, the second generation, who I originally started working for. Then, in the ’80s, things were tough, and I briefly worked with Dinty Moore—yes, that Dinty Moore, the original.

We almost closed the doors in ’82. Interest rates were 22%, we were overextended on our loan, oil companies weren’t going full-tilt, sawmills were closing, and we had all this inventory with no place to put it. The bank said we needed to change and suggested we bring Dinty Moore back into the business.

Dinty was old school, especially compared to Barrie and Don. Don and I had challenges working for Dinty because he always asked how many orders we got today, and he’d get mad if I didn’t bring any in. It was tough hearing that, but I was taught well by my parents to be respectful and laid it out for Dinty: “We’re not always going to get an order when we go into a customer. It’s just not that way.” I continued; “We’re preparing them for the next time, showing them samples they may have to trial or test.” Dinty understood, but he was under a lot of pressure to keep the company solvent. At that time, we didn’t see Barrie as much—he was sidelined, taking a bit of a break. Don and I were involved in getting the other sales guys on board. It was a challenging and scary time. There was one Monday we came into the office at 7:30 am wondering if the keys would even fit. But we came together, pushed through it, and now here we are, stronger than ever. Dinty helped get us there.

After things settled down, Barrie re-engaged with the business. As I said, Barrie taught me a lot about life, was always very curious and eager to learn what was going on. He could meet anyone, anywhere, and strike up a friendship. He was one of the first glove guys to venture into China. Many did Hong Kong, but Barrie went further into China. It was quite archaic traveling the countryside in trains with no heaters, dressed in suits and ties. They were on an adventure, going to far-off places to try and find gloves, and they did! They were among the first to start importing gloves from China into North America. They learned a lot, and so did I when they took me in the ’70s. We were always learning. Seeing how gloves were made there compared to our factory on Main and 2nd was eye-opening, and it changed our business a lot. That’s when we brought in leather combo gloves—a new glove for us where it wasn’t just a full leather glove but a glove with leather components, cotton components, and a safety cuff. That was really the beginning.

Gloves were different back then. PPE wasn’t mandated, and many companies didn’t supply PPE. Now, there really isn’t an industry that doesn’t supply their workers with hand protection, and gloves are more advanced. Barrie and Don were astute glove guys. They knew when they saw something in China, Hong Kong, or Japan, whether it was going to work or not. I saw this because I got to go to Hong Kong early in my career. Only two years into the job and Barrie said to me, “You got a passport?” I said, “What? What do I need a passport for?” He said, “We’re going to Hong Kong. You better get one.” Holy crap, this is just two years in, but that was Barrie Moore.

Barrie knew how to bring people together. I remember in the early days having meetings at Puccini’s Restaurant on Friday afternoon, Nick’s Spaghetti House, The Cobalt Hotel, The American Hotel—all those places. We’d go for lunch at noon and get back to the office at four. Susan Lim was our office manager then, and she would tear a strip off of us, including Barrie Moore. In fact, Barrie got the worst of it. “Where have you been? I’ve got cheques for you to sign,” and we all thought this was just hilarious. It was the kind of thing that brought us together, just like the BBQs on Bowen. We’d be talking gloves. Some great glove names came from those lunches.

Marty Moore, our current CEO, started in 1986, Expo year, and Barrie started him doing deliveries, which was a good idea. Marty was going to learn from doing deliveries, getting to know the people involved, and working his way up through the ranks, just like everyone else. So, Marty did what I started doing—looking after deliveries and merchandising displays in the Lower Mainland. He was good at it. He’s a glad hander like me, so just like me, he got to know all the people involved. Marty was involved in all aspects of the business, including procurement, like Jordan, his son and current Purchasing Manager. Marty has done trips all over the world, understanding each level of the business.

Marty and Michele have a wonderful handle on things. They come by it naturally from their father, Barrie. Marty and Michele have that same ability to bring people together, and so does Kasey. I look forward to hearing how they progress within the company. The company is in very good hands. The people Kasey has hired over the years have turned out to be fabulous, and the family continues to grow. We’re a family, and we play hard together, we work hard together, and we hurt together, but we all come out better because of it. I’m excited about every department—they all have good leadership.

What do athletes say the most when they retire? They miss the feeling and energy of the room, the camaraderie! The people at Watson Gloves are wonderful, and I will miss them, and I’ll miss the times we’re all together, like at the AGM boat cruise. During the AGM, our entire company is together for two days. It’s family, and I’m honored to have gotten to see this family grow from a shop on Main and 2nd to our Calgary and Ontario operations to what it is now, a North American company. I’ve seen the kids, Jordan, Kailen and Austin who are now learning the business, grow up from the water fights at the tailgate BBQ. I’ve seen them all grow up and Watson grow up, and I know this is how Barrie would have wanted it to happen.

I’ve asked Marty and Michele if I could have an exemption and come back for the AGM. And they did say yes, so I don’t fully have to hang up my gloves yet.