Sad State of Affairs

I am the “magician who had no retail experience at all” as referred to in your article “A Scary Business, Indeed” on Aug. 23.

After starting two successful retailing companies in 1974 and 1976, in 1978 I founded the Halloween Shop at Sears (which later became National Theme Productions) and was the company’s president and chief executive through early 1984. During this period of time, under my leadership, sales grew to over $10 million a year. I sold my interest in Halloween Shop/NTP for $2.5 million in 1984 to Paul Thomas to pursue a career in feature film directing.

I certainly do not begrudge the current success of National Theme Productions. But it is a sad state of affairs when current management cannot properly recognize the entrepreneurship that originally created their jobs and business opportunities.

CHUCK MARTINEZ

Hollywood