Man Cave kicks off its first MEATings in Wisconsin! Check out the press coverage.
Pete and Greg "clean" the grill after a successful Man Cave MEATingFrom Left to Right: Brandon Miller, MEATing Guest, Pete Keiner (Advisor), Greg Holst (Advisor)
SHEBOYGAN PRESS
Click Here for link to article in the Sheboygan Press
http://www.sheboyganpress.com/article/20090926/SHE0101/909260566&referrer=FRONTPAGECAROUSEL
APPLETON POST-CRESCENT
Click Here for link to article in the Post-Crescent
http://www.postcrescent.com/article/20091005/APC03/910050469/1028/Meet-Inc.-Innovator-Kevin-Carlow-
SHEBOYGAN PRESS ARTICLE
Back to the Cave
'Man Cave' similar to Mary Kay for men has taken off
By Dan Benson
Sheboygan Press correspondent
More than a dozen suburbanites gathered Friday night on the patio of a Town of Sheboygan home and
oohed and aahed as a demonstrator showed off the latest from a company's product line.
It's the same thing that happens at dozens of suburban homes each week, except that Friday's event
was attended solely by men and the products being demonstrated were strictly for men – meat, grilling
tools, poker chips and items related to beer, among others.
It was the first local MEATing of Man Cave Worldwide, which was founded a year ago by five
University of Minnesota grads, one of whom is Brandon Miller, a 2003 Sheboygan North grad. His
father, Michael, hosted the Friday night event at his home.
"Don't call them house parties," said Brandon Miller, 25.
Man Cave is following the business model of companies like Tupperware, Mary Kay Cosmetics and
Avon that have been demonstrating and selling products to women in their homes for decades.
Except that Man Cave claims to be the only company that does so for men.
"Man Cave is not a leader in its industry — it is the industry," the company's Web site declares. "It's
about damn time."
At these "manly gatherings," a host brings together friends and acquaintances to hear an "advisor" give
tips on grilling and show off the company's products.
Friday night, Greg Holst and Peter Keiner of Elk River, Minn., were the advisors. They had ribs,
steaks, beer-can chicken and brats on the grill (hence the name MEATing) and showed off poker
supplies and grilling tools, such as a meat brander, that allows a griller to sear a word — up to 5
letters — into a piece of meat.
"If you want to label your steak with your ex-wife's name, you can do that," Holst said to those
gathered around, some of whom nodded and smiled appreciatively.
There also were bar and drinking accessories, like the Beer Pager, which helps a guy find his beer if
he forgets where he set it down.
The men at Friday night's party listened attentively as Keiner explained spices, rubs and other secrets
of the grill.
For instance, he said, "Don't use an aerosol spray inside the grill," warning that an explosion could
ensue.
After being formed just a year ago, Man Cave "has really taken off," Miller said, with 55 advisors
around the country and in Australia and Canada.
About $600 worth of product was sold at a party in Neenah on Thursday night, Holst said.
"If we sell $1,000 worth, the host gets a gold beer mug," he said.
The Man Cave product line is geared to men age 30 to 60, Miller said.
"It's not about frat parties, like some might think," he said.
Women are some of the company's biggest customers and promoters, Miller said.
"It's clean and wholesome," he said. "We don't bring dancing girls."
Friday night, Miller's mother Leslie left the house just as the MEATing was getting started. But she
didn't mind.
"We wouldn't expect men to stick around our Pampered Chef parties," she said. "I know they won't get
into trouble."
The company Web site also contains a list of "Top Man Caves" around the cave, definitions of what
makes a real man, and a list of "Man Laws."
POST-CRESCENT ARTICLE
Man Cave in Appleton, WI
By Maureen Wallenfang
Post-Crescent staff writer
Q First things first. You're from Neenah but now living in Minnesota. Packers or Vikings?
A That's not even a contest. Packers until I die. I bleed green and gold.
Q You're back here in Neenah for one of your Man Cave parties. Can you explain what that is?
A Firstly, we call it a "meating," spelled m-e-a-t-i-n-g, not a party. The host of the party is any average
Joe who invites his friends over for a poker night, a football game or a man cave grilling demonstration.
Anyone who wants us to come in and grill up some meat for free. That's what the advisor does. The
advisor is an independent sales agent. They get a commission.
Q No women allowed?
A It's designed for men, but we won't turn women away.
Q How are you marketing your company?
A We've already done events, like the Minnesota State Fair. We had a booth. It's about the
face-to-face interaction. There are lots of way to market to men. We prefer the face-to-face rather
than a billboard. We're building a brand and a people organization. We're building a massive network
of sales people.
Q It's a party-based sales organization much like Pamper Chef. Guys are looking at the products you
sell for grilling, including meat. You have a shopping cart on your Web site. Do sales come in that way
too?
A The advisors can place their orders by entering that data online. We will have a ridiculous majority of
our sales coming in on our Web site very soon. We are having an entirely custom built back end to the
Web site to manage all our inventory. Advisors can log on and have their own portals.
Q You estimate sales of $150,000 in the first fiscal year. And $1 million for 2010. Is that accurate?
A That's an accurate estimate. It's really hard to say. We feel we're in uncharted territory. We are
setting a precedent and almost defining an industry in a way. The business models we have to learn
from are all oriented to women. So we're not even sure how many lessons apply as we're building an
organization of men. I don't know if it's a linear relationship to our business.
Q And men are responding?
A That was one of the biggest skepticisms we faced. Are guys going to buy the products? Women are
more group oriented. Are men going to get together and pull out their pocketbooks? We figured there's
only one way to find out. Lo and behold, if you have a good brand, products guys desire and they're
not overpriced, they don't mind.
Q How many guys come to the parties?
A An average of 12. The one tonight has 25.
Q How many have you done so far?
A I think it's around 100 parties.
Q What's the average sales total for a gathering?
A Our average right now is $800.
Q You have a warehouse and inventory. How'd you swing the investment?
A Nick and I started out doing businesses other than Man Cave. In collegiate publications. We still do
those and we generated quite a bit of income. We have a holding company that operates multiple
businesses, one of which is Man Cave.
Q Did you have to take loans?
A No. One of the things we've been good at is doing a lot with relatively little. There's shared
overhead.
Q You'll have parties going on tonight during the Packers/Vikings Monday Night Football game?
A Yes. It might be the busiest day in the history of the company.
