Fad-Driven Japanese Market Kept One Firm on the Ball

It can be boom or bust for a U.S. fad in the mercurial Japanese market.

Take the example of Murrey & Sons Co., a Los Angeles billiard table maker.

When the film “Color of Money,” starring Paul Newman and Tom Cruz, hit Japanese theaters in January, 1987, the Japanese went crazy over billiards, the game played in the movie. They wanted Murrey pool tables in particular.

“We supplied our tables to Disney/Touchstone for the movie,” explained Patrick W. Murrey, vice president, sales and marketing. “The Japanese are very name-brand conscious. We had our name on all four sides of the table in the tournament scene in the movie.”

The Japanese noticed. For two years, Murrey couldn’t keep up with the orders from Japan. “Given the situation when it was a frenzy, we had to have the product yesterday,” Murrey recalled. “We were doing well over $1 million (in sales) a month at the peak of those 24 months.” Murrey, who has been selling bowling equipment to Japan since the 1950s, had to turn away business, so Taiwanese imitators moved in with cheaper tables.

The Los Angeles company moved cautiously because “knowing the Japanese market, we thought it would an 18- to 25-month run,” Murrey said.

“The Japanese seem to be somewhat faddish. They go into a fad, bingo overnight it goes crazy; but there’s no telling when it will be over. We were hoping it would go five years.”