About Us
Who’s behind it all?
Terry Friedlander
Founder & Creative Head of State
Terry Friedlander, another old hippie from the ‘60s, is known to his peers as the “Survivor” (having nothing to do with the reality TV show). Terry grew up in California and graduated from Beverly Hills High School in 1960 without honors. He attended several colleges based on his ability to shoot three-point basketball shots, even though there was no three-point line at the time. The distractions at UC Santa Barbara, including hoop practice and a part-time job, made it difficult for Terry to awaken in time to attend many classes. Nonetheless, he did graduate from the University of Redlands (his fifth college) in four years, which, during that era, was a near-record performance. A major in history with a minor in physical education led to a high school teaching and coaching career in the Los Angeles area. Deviating from the norm and community expectations led to a vocational and relocation change to the state of Washington, where he served as the athletic director of the Jewish Community Center for four years.
Seattle, in the 1970s and 1980s, inspired Terry’s entrepreneurial dreams. The dream formed on a typical grey, rainy day there. Terry aimed to open a retail store for professional sports team merchandise. He got ideas from friends and modeled the store after “The Locker Room” in Washington, D.C. To gain experience, Terry spent five weeks in D.C., following the owner, taking notes and pictures. This period of self-employment is commonly called instant poverty.
Starting with practically zero dollars, Terry found a financial partner and a location for the new retail store on one of the busiest prostitution corners in the Pacific Northwest. The Seattle version of “The Locker Room” opened in 1976 on the day the Seattle Seahawks NFL team played their first game. Happily, the store was filled with Seahawks merchandise, and business was good from the start.
Sixteen years to the day later, Terry signed the papers and sold the company (which had grown to 10 stores). Alas, at this moment, Terry’s identity also went missing.
However, Terry’s restless brain and love for the outdoors soon led to a move to Ketchum, Idaho. piclits.com emerged one cold, Idaho night near the turn of the century, from a combination of refrigerator poetry, an interesting article in USA Today, some Sun Valley Pale Ale, and a roaring fireplace.
Go figure.