Industry Stalwart Joe Kuti Dies at 71
Contributed by George Loechl
Joseph F. Kuti, one of the most knowledgeable and sincere executives to grace the sportfishing industry during the last half of the 20th century, died December 1, 2002, in Amelia Island, Florida. He was 71.
Hardly anything germane to the business of fishing tackle escaped Mr. Kuti’s expansive vision. He was one of those rare individuals who understood virtually everything that defined the go-to-market process, from product concept to retail point-of-sale.
Mr. Kuti’s many accomplishments were overshadowed only by his extraordinary humanity. His career paralleled the dramatic, post-World War II boom in the tackle trade. And while some others may have been guided exclusively by the fortunes of opportunity during this period, Mr. Kuti’s business style was always measured by doing the right thing for both the tackle trade and the consumer. His colleagues and those who worked for him valued his forthrightness, his insightful sense of humor, his loyalty and his profound kindness.
Mr. Kuti, who studied at Georgetown University, was passionate about the future well-being of the sportfishing industry. He zealously believed sportfishing had transforming social power and endeavored to expand the participant base through research-informed promotional programs during his tenure with the Sportfishing Promotional Council near the end of his distinguished career.
A salt-of-the-earth personality embraced by outdoor journalists, Mr. Kuti was incisively smart and could quickly cut through pretense to get to the heart of any business issue. During a mid-1980s press conference for Ryobi America Corporation, he scoffed at the popular trend to reduce rod production costs by using EVA foam for rear grips. While holding up a sample of a new graphite rod series, he said, "We’re using genuine cork for the handle. Cork is for fishing rods; foam is for mattresses."
Mr. Kuti’s background in sporting goods spanned five decades. From the mid-1950s through the 1960s, he managed merchandising and buying activities for Hess Brothers, a multi-line retailer in his hometown of Allentown, Pennsylvania, and for the nationwide Treasure Island Division of J.C. Penny in New York City.
In the 1970s, Mr. Kuti worked in sales and marketing management with the Shakespeare Company of Columbia, South Carolina, where he played a key role in increasing brand recognition and advancing market share. He directed sales and marketing for one of the most successful product introductions in the history of the fishing-tackle trade, the Ugly Stik rod. Moreover, during this period, Mr. Kuti befriended Major League Baseball legend and sportfishing expert Ted Williams, with whom he traveled and from whom he received product consultation.
Mr. Kuti moved on to Ryobi America Corporation of suburban Chicago in the early 1980s and continued his "hot streak" of influencing increased sales, parlaying Ryobi’s die-casting know-how into appreciable market-share gains in lower-end saltwater spinning reels and premium baitcasting reels. Most significantly, he helped establish a distinctly new product category, ultralight baitcasting, with the introduction of the hugely successful V-MAG 3 reel. While serving with Ryobi, Mr. Kuti spearheaded highly imaginative and aggressive national promotions, including a fishing-license-fee rebate with the purchase of select product. He rose to the position of president of the firm’s three operating divisions.
Because of his in-depth industry knowledge and his extensive network of executive contacts across various levels of distribution, the American Fishing Tackle Manufacturers Association, which later came to be known as the American Sportfishing Association, recruited Mr. Kuti in the late 1980s to serve as vice president of marketing and sales promotion. From this base of influence, Mr. Kuti established the Sportfishing Promotion Council (SPC), a unique consortium of tackle manufactures, retailers, wholesalers and representatives of state fisheries agencies, who collaborated to stimulate sportfishing activity. Under Mr. Kuti’s direction, this vanguard organization initiated the first national study of sportfishing participant attitudes, broadening market intelligence beyond the demographic profiles derived from periodic U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service surveys. Looking to extol the social benefits and simple fun of angling, the SPC conducted a national radio campaign featuring country music stars George Jones and Travis Tritt. And, perhaps most importantly, Mr. Kuti was the driving force behind the SPC’s national fishing-tackle loaner program, which gave youngsters and families the opportunity to check out fishing gear on a temporary basis from libraries, parks departments, schools, state fishery-agency offices and tackle retailers. This ground-breaking program, now coordinated by a number of organizations, continues today, serving as a legacy to Mr. Kuti’s vision.
Mr. Kuti retired to Amelia Island, Florida, in 1996. He is survived by his wife, Patti; seven children; 15 grandchildren; and one great grandchild. Condolences can be sent to Mrs. Kuti at 2728 Eastwind Drive, Amelia Island, Florida, 32034.
