Windsor Greetings - Chapter 5: A Hallmark Deal
Cooking up a secret plan of his own, Tyler Windsor meets with a competitor to discuss a potential buyout.
Hey, Friends! Today marks the halfway point of the Windsor Family saga. Thanks for following along. Let’s get right into it.
Previously On Windsor Greetings
Alex met his cousin, Kenny, at a Milwaukee tiki bar, expecting a quick and easy buyout of his shares. When Tyler emerged with paperwork and a grin, Alex realized he’d seriously miscalculated his brother.
Table of Contents
Chapter 5: A Hallmark Deal
Chapter 5: A Hallmark Deal
In the months leading up to the big announcement, Tyler had been busy cooking up his own secret plan. While he might have been handed his lot in life, born on third base thinking he hit a triple, he wasn’t a dummy. Tyler graduated with honors from business school. His dad didn’t do that for him, and while he hadn’t come up with all those “strategies” way back when, he recognized them for what they were, and he was the one who implemented them, ushering in an era of prosperity for the company.
Tyler may not have earned his position in life, but he didn’t squander the opportunity either.
What Alex couldn’t understand by reading quarterly reports from the West Coast alone was that for the last three years, while the company was experiencing its decline, it was his father, Henry Windsor, who had been the one who let the ship go adrift. He’d been hamstringing Tyler, getting in the way, and prohibiting him from making the critical decisions that needed to be made.
Fortunately for the business, Henry’s looming decision to step down amid his progressively worsening health issues meant Tyler would be able to call the shots.
That transition hadn’t occurred yet, though, so when the largest greeting card company in the world asked Tyler for a meeting, he arranged it in secrecy, behind his father’s back.
To say that Tyler was impressed by the meeting would be an understatement. They flew him first class from Milwaukee to their Kansas City headquarters. The boardroom where they met was like something out of a movie, and given that in addition to making greeting cards, they also produced dozens of movies every year, Tyler figured that made sense.
Having crossed paths with most of the executive team at various industry events, Tyler had always admired their operation, but he barely even considered them competition. They made tacky, low-cost, mass-market greeting cards you buy at drugstores. They were the opposite of artisanal—everything Windsor Greetings wasn’t.
And yet, their offer was staggering: a one-time buyout of their intellectual property, including the Windsor name, large enough to erase all of their financial troubles and leave them in a cushy position for years to come. The deal also meant Tyler would stay on in an advisory capacity, a position that included a healthy salary and generous signing bonus.
The numbers were dizzying. Tyler had to take a moment to steady himself.
Financially, this was the silver bullet he knew his family needed. It would come at a cost, though. It would effectively be the end of the family business. Their employees would have no place to report to work once the deal was done. The generous severance packages would make that a bit easier to swallow, but Tyler knew his father would be furious.
At the rate they were burning through money, though, they’d lose the business anyway. So Tyler verbally committed to the executive team, promising he would execute the sale when he took over.
Tyler hadn’t blown the Kroeger deal out of incompetence. He tanked the meeting intentionally to pave the way for a deal of his own.
Stay Tuned
Want to see what happens next? Check back every Tuesday — and don’t miss my weekly creative roundup on Friday.
Until then,
-Mike
The twist!