If you’ve ever needed an electronic gadget in a United States airport, you might have visited the InMotion Entertainment store or kiosk.
The company was founded in Jacksonville almost 20 years ago, and when it started, it rented DVD players and movies to airline travelers as InMotion Pictures.
Today it sells chargers, headphones, speakers, portable power — anything you need for your flight. Or, as the company says, just for fun.
InMotion is known for selling high-quality products from well-known brands that include Bose, Beats, JBL, Klipsch, and most recently, Apple accessories.
Many of the company’s products are exclusive to InMotion in the airport market. It operates almost 120 locations in 42 airports. P. Jeremy Smith Jr. is the president and CEO of InMotion Entertainment Group LLC.
How important is this time of year for the company?
The holiday season, which we define as November and December, is a big time for us. Sales typically spike during those two months. We put on extra staff.
More airport travelers are traveling this time of year. We also have what we call “military exoduses” from some of the bases that will travel through the airport literally at three in the morning, and we’re open and staffed at that hour.
It’s a very busy time of year, but a good time of year.
Airline delays aren’t necessarily a bad thing for you, are they?
Except when I’m traveling.
No, they’re not, because that’s what creates what we call “the dwell time,” where travelers spend more time in the concessions, be it retail or food and beverage, when there’s a delay.
Jacksonville travelers might not know when they see InMotion that the company is based in Jacksonville, and travelers elsewhere might not realize the company is based here either. What is the public profile of InMotion?
We originally started in Jacksonville back in ’99 and I would classify us in Jacksonville as maintaining a fairly low profile. Not necessarily by design, it’s just the way it happens.
Our customers are spread throughout the country, so we’re not just focused on Jacksonville, although we do have a store here in the Jacksonville International Airport.
We in Jacksonville quietly go about our business, is the way I’d phrase it.
You started with two locations. How many employees do you have and what are your sales?
We have almost 670 employees across the country. We have roughly 55 here in the corporate office and distribution center. Sales next year will run about $140 million.
How did InMotion get its start and how long did it rent those DVD players, which I think you now have in a cabinet for show?
Yes, it’s in our history box.
The concept back then was to rent a movie and/or a DVD player while you were traveling, and when you’re traveling from point A to point B, drop off your movie and player when you arrive at point B.
That concept worked well, but what we found over the years was that more and more people were gravitating toward buying their own electronics.
I would say that from ’99 until 2005, we were 50 percent renting players and movies, but morphing into more of an electronics retailer.
By the end of 2005, we were pretty much through with the rental business.
We’re in the technology business, so over time instead of having to carry a DVD player you could do it on your phone.
More and more of the flights had the in-flight movies, so technology took over, but that’s a good thing.
What is your best seller? And you also have two other brands in addition to InMotion.
Headphones are our primary product. We’re known as the headphone experts in the airport market. We carry a wide line of well-known brands
We’re also known for demonstrating the headphones to customers, so you can testdrive any you wish before you buy it, which is important, because everybody’s ear is tuned differently.
In addition, we’re a full-fledged, full-line retailer for electronics and accessories, be it cameras, camcorders, chargers, batteries, splitters.
The InMotion Entertainment store is our flagship concept, but we also developed a concept called Soundbalance, which is an electronics retail store.
But it also was designed to carry environmentally friendly electronics, accessories, either in the unit itself or because of the packaging. The Marley brand is a good example of that.
The other concept we have is called Headphone Hub. That store specifically concentrates on headphones. It might carry a few other accessories, but not the full line of products that our InMotion stores do.
Do you test-drive all the products?
I have test-driven many, many products.
How easy is it to be on the cutting edge of such a fast-moving industry?
I’m proud to say I have a good group of purchasers. Our purchasing team handles all the new products. It’s interesting now, because of our size and reputation, we’re constantly asked by suppliers and vendors to carry their products.
It’s no longer a situation (like) when we first started and we were knocking on doors.
Everybody’s knocking on our door right now, which is a good position to be in because you do get the latest and greatest, and you’re usually the first one to get it.
It must be interesting that your market is totally airports.
We’re in our own little world. It’s a niche market. It’s a different market than being on the street. It’s sometimes a very difficult market, but I view that as a positive, because it keeps out what then would be your competition.
You have a lot of experience. You were a senior executive for many years with Gate Petroleum Co., which invested in InMotion. How did that lead to you taking the presidency of InMotion?
When Gate made a small investment in InMotion in 2000, I went on the board of directors for InMotion. Over time, Gate’s investment grew as the company grew.
So we funded their growth and in 2005 we made a rather large acquisition of one of our competitors in the market.
Shortly after that, the founders of the company decided to leave and I assumed the role of president on a part-time basis, because I still had duties at Gate.
So I went from director to part-time president, and then when the company was sold in 2013, the new owners asked me to come on board as a full-time president and CEO, and that’s where I am today.
Talk about your growth strategy. Three years ago, two major private-equity investors bought into the company and refocused it. What are your plans?
We’ve had tremendous growth over the past three years. Back in 2013 when the company sold, it had 78 stores, and today we have almost 120. Likewise from a revenue and profit growth.
Having said that, we still have a lot of opportunities in the U.S. airport market. We’re in 22 of the top 25 airports, but within those 22, there are still what I call “infill opportunities.”
While we may have 16 stores in Atlanta, we only have one store in Los Angeles. So that’s a good example of a major airport where we’re underserved.
Aside from the infill opportunities, we’ve identified what I call the “next tier” airports, the “second tier,” and we’re taking a look at the top two quartiles of that tier market, where we can have a store and still be profitable and generate the sales that are necessary.
In addition to the U.S. market, we are looking internationally. I have several trips planned to explore that.
And because of our reputation in the airport, and we’re known as good tenants with good customer service, I think that if the opportunity came up for us to explore another concept within the airport, be it non-electronics, we would probably look at that, as well.
What sort of concept would that be?
If I knew the answer, I might have already opened a store.
I’ll use the general term wellness and health, which is a concept that’s not fully developed in the airport market.
We’re also looking at an electronics concept that caters to the female traveler. It may be a little known fact, but half of the travelers that go through Atlanta are female.
When you walk into an InMotion store, it has products available for the female traveler, but we think that the market is underserved and that maybe a store that focuses primarily on the female traveler will do well. That’s another concept we’re looking at. Again, more growth.
What sort of concept would attract the female traveler?
What I’ve noticed at some of the tradeshows lately, more and more of the products are geared toward the female (traveler), such as with color in the headphones, as opposed to black or white, maybe more colors in tune with the female market.
I’ve seen pocketbooks and handbags now that have a charger inside, so you just put your phone inside the certain pocket and it’ll charge.
There are lots of things that are coming out.
Your operations are off of Philips Highway in the Center Point Business Park. The company keeps a low profile, but so do you. Talk a little bit about yourself.
I do maintain a low profile. You know, I enjoy doing my job and getting the job done, and doing the job efficiently.
I won’t say that a profile is not important to me, but it in the scheme of things just has not risen to the top.
When I was growing up, I can’t really say what I wanted to be, because I didn’t know. I can tell you I’ve always liked numbers.
So I went through Dartmouth College, graduated in ’73, then went on to get an MBA from Boston College. When I graduated in ’76, I went out to the job market.
I actually looked at banking first. I came from the Northeast, so naturally I looked at New York City banks. But I also had a feeling that maybe I’d like to get into a warmer climate, so I did some job interviewing in Florida and had a couple of opportunities.
I took a job with Barnett Banks, and was with them for five years from ’76 to ’81, and then went over to Gate to help them in their finance area.
I was with Gate for 32 years, and then InMotion now for three years.
What roles did you play at Gate?
Well, being there for 32 years, suffice to say I did a little bit of everything except run the cash register at the gas station.
How would you describe your leadership style?
I would say quietly and gently persuasive.
Do you want to share a little about your family?
Yes, because they are so important to me. My wife, Martha, has put up with me for 42 years now. Another little-known fact — and when I say this, people find it hard to believe — but we actually met in high school and started dating then. That’s a rare thing these days.
She was from the Northeast and we both decided to move South.
Then we’ve been blessed with two children — a son and a daughter. They both live here and they both have families.
My son has two children — a daughter and a son. And then my daughter gave birth to her daughter three months ago.
So yeah, we offer free babysitting now.
Where in the Northeast did you grow up?
Martha grew up in Rhode Island and I grew up in Tarrytown, N.Y., which is The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, Washington Irving and all that good stuff.
But then I moved to Rhode Island and started attending the same high school she did when I was a junior in high school.
In addition to babysitting, what do you do for fun?
I think the most fun I have is exercising. I know most people would say this and I have to classify myself as addicted to exercise.
A long time ago I played a lot of tennis, a lot of soccer in school and right now I focus on running and triathlons. I try to do a mix, but I’ll exercise six out of seven days a week.
Last year was the 40th Gate River Run, a 15K race. Do you run it?
I do run the Gate River Run. I’ve made every one of them except for three — two because I didn’t start running until the third year of the Gate and one year I got snowed in. It’s been quite an event.
I just got through running the (TCS) New York (City) Marathon. I accidentally got into the marathon through the lottery.
I didn’t think I’d get in, but when I was accepted I said, “Well, I guess I have to run it now.”
But I justified it by saying, “Well, I turned 65 this year, so let’s do that in your 65th year.”
Whether I do another one or not, I don’t know, but that was my 26th marathon.
What else would you like to share?
I’ve very much enjoyed the Jacksonville community. We came down here, we didn’t know a soul in Jacksonville.
We’ve always thought, “Well, if we don’t like it, we’ll just go back up North.”
And we’ve been here since ’76, so that’s been a great experience — experience with the bank, with Gate and now with InMotion.
I don’t know that I could have asked for a better complement of businesses to work with and for.
And of course having family the way I do and having them here is also another blessing.
@MathisKb
(904) 356-2466
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First Coast Success: P. Jeremy Smith Jr.
The Daily Record interviewed Smith for “First Coast Success,” a regular segment on the award-winning 89.9 FM flagship First Coast Connect program, hosted by Melissa Ross. These are edited excerpts from the interview.
The interview was scheduled for broadcast this morning and will replay at 8 p.m. on the WJCT Arts Channel or at wjct.org/ondemand.
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Name, Age
P. Jeremy Smith Jr., 65
Position
President and CEO, InMotion Entertainment Group LLC
Hometown
Jacksonville. “I’ve been here more than half of my life.”
Education
Dartmouth College, A.B., 1973; Boston College Graduate School of Management, MBA, 1976
Career path
Barnett Banks, 1976-81; Gate Petroleum Co., 1981-2013; and InMotion Entertainment, since 2013
Hobbies/avocations
Reading, running and triathlons
Family
Married to Martha for 42 years; two children, Brian and Sarah; and three grandchildren
Community positions
SunTrust Bank Northeast Florida, director
Best advice received
Listen well, think well, then speak.
Biggest career surprise
My current position and type of business.
Spark of wisdom to share
Have goals and stay focused on them.