6
Wednesday, July 23, 1997
UN I V E R S I T Y D A I L Y K A N S A N
NATURALWAY
The combination of fun and business sense is a characteristic Sisson said he's had since he was a child.
Ashleigh Roberts / KANSAN
"Since I was a kid, I'd buy a crappy 10-speed, fix it up and sell it for three times the amount I bought it for," he said.
Jenson's hobbies are shared by others. "They've got something for everyone," said Julie Lipe, Tulsa, Okla., junior. "They've got jewelry, paraphernalia and clothes. It's hard not to like the store."
Fresh locally produced edible-pod peas, onions, greens, broccoli, new potatoes, cut flowers, home baked breads, honey, jams, goat cheese, strawberries, and desserts for
Sisson's store, located at 1405 Massachusetts St., reveals his eclectic interests. The shop has everything from snowboards to smoking accessories.
"Everything I do and everything I like is in this store," he said. "If I find something I like, and I think it's cool, I'll buy one for myself and get some more for the store."
The store is the result of creativity and an open opportunity. As an advertising student at the University of Kansas, Sisson said he took his sales skills outside the classroom and made a deal with the owner of a condemned building.
$2 admission with student ID Free Admission on your Birthday!
✝
Wednesdays are STUDENT NIGHTS
"I told the owner, 'I'll restore the building if you give me cheap rent,'" he said.
Tuesday and Thursday afternoons 4:00 to 6:30pm
Saturday mornings too...6:30 to 10:30am
Open at 7:30 everyday until 2:00am 913 N. Second
From Grateful Dead hats to glass cases filled with pipes, The Phil Zone is a compilation of Sisson's hobbies.
Sisson's hobbies are shared by others.
your dinner table.
Stop by on your way home.
Pipe dream gives way to windsurfing
Phil Zone owner high on life
The window to Phil Sisson's soul can be found on the front of his store.
By Tamara Miller Kansan staff writer
Between 10th and 11th on Vermont Street... at the bottom of the hill.
"The loan was supposed to be for a computer, because it's illegal to use student loans for a business," he said.
Sisson supported himself by selling tie-dyed T-shirts with the KU National Championship logo. Sisson said the shirts sold so well that he decided to take out a student loan and start a business out of his home.
The Phil Zone brought in enough revenue in 1993 that Sisson dropped out of college with only 20 hours left to earn his degree. Sisson said he wasn't interested in having a 9-to-5 job.
"It's called The Phil Zone because it's Phil's own, get it" he said.
The store immediately became well-known for its smoking accessories. Sisson said The Phil Zone was the first business in Lawrence to sell water pipes, pipe screens and rolling papers. However, when stores like 7th Heaven and Creation Station caught on to the trend, Sisson said his business suffered.
"Phil's gone from the store a lot, so it's important that he really trusts his workers," said Sam Osterhout, Hutchinson junior and store employee. "He even has video cameras recording during business hours to make sure no one is stealing from him."
Sisson is content with his success and doesn't think he'll change as he gets older. He plans to stay in Lawrence and to keep bringing more of his toys and hobbies into his store.
Sam Ostrouth, Hutchinson junior and Phil Zone employee, helps customer Callinn Drouin, Lawrence resident, with a purchase while Chris Long. Hutchinson senior, inspects incense. The Phil Zone, 1405 Massachusetts St., sells a variety of knick-knacks, clothes and athletic gear.
He now has three employees, and Sisson said that he received job applications every day. However, he is selective about who he hires.
Sisson said aging was his only fear. At 31, Sisson lives alone with his cat, Riff, and said his biggest flaw was personal relationships.
Sisson said he decided to add a surfer shop, fully equipped with snowboards, windsurfing boards, wet suits and skateboards. Sisson said the windsurfing boards were his biggest seller.
"I don't really care if sales have gone down with the pipes," he said. "Because now I want to sell windsurfing and educate everyone on how fun it is."
So Sisson introduced Lawrence to a new toy. "I had to expand to keep up. A demand for windsurfing was starting to hit Lawrence," he said. "Where there is a demand, I supply. I learned that much in school."
"Everyone copies my ideas," he said. "It's like Big Joe corporation moved into town."
"Riff is about the only consistent friend I have in the world," he said.
"If I had a traditional life, I would have a boring life, and I wouldn't be happy," he said.
Ashleigh Roberts / KANSAN
Sam Osterhout, Hutchinson junior and Phil Zone employee, shows Chris Long. Hutchinson senior, an enlarged water bong.
Geeks on Wheels to expand aid
By Crystal Honores
Kansan staff writer
Computer users throughout the Midwest who are tangled in their computer cables can pick up the phone and call Geeks on Wheels for help.
Technicians for Geeks on Wheels, a 1-year-old company, makes house calls for computer owners and untangles hairy computer cable messes, installs programs and consults for $45 an hour.
The company already services Lawrence, Kansas City, Topeka and surrounding areas. They also have technicians in Fort Collins, Colo., and Greeley, Colo. They are cur-
reently looking for employees in Manhattan, Columbia, Mo., and Boulder. Colo.
Director David Greenbaum said that the company's goal was to become a major chain.
Geeks on Wheels was started by Dan Simons and is owned by the same company as the Lawrence Journal-World and Sunflower Cablevision.
Customers said that Geeks on Wheels was fast and convenient.
Stacy Scafe's computer manufacturer told her that her computer was irreparable unless she added more memory. Others recommended the Lawrence resident buy a new computer.
"I felt that that was incorrect information," she said. "I don't have five grand for a new computer, with three small children."
Scafe said that she was fortunate to find Geeks on Wheels, and that they were able to fix the problem in one hour.
Greenbaum said most of the technicians had not studied computer science in college.
He said Geeks on Wheels average five to six calls a day in Lawrence and three to four calls a day outside of the city.
Installation accounts for approximately 50 percent of their calls, while emergency breakdowns were about 25 percent.
Based on the number of calls and price per hour that Greenbaum cited, Geeks on Wheels' gross revenues are averaging about $105,000 per year.
Most calls require some advanced computer knowledge, but Greenbaum said that they have been called to some homes and discovered the owner did not plug in the computer.
But no one should feel like an idiot just because they don't understand their computer, he said.
"Some professor may not have much experience with computers but can split an atom," he said.
Greenbaum would not cite revenues, but he said that Geeks on Wheels had already surpassed last year's earnings.
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