Two local promotional product businesses in Fountain Hills have decided to partner to serve the community in a new way. After 36 years of business, owner of BOGO Promotions, Julie Ewald, has begun …
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Two local promotional product businesses in Fountain Hills have decided to partner to serve the community in a new way. After 36 years of business, owner of BOGO Promotions, Julie Ewald, has begun passing on her clientele to Connie and Eric Johnson of Promo Scout.
“The truth is I’m still very much here working, but passing the business off to Promo Scout,” Julie said.
BOGO’s and Promo Scout’s partnership began after co-owner of Promo Scout Connie Johnson had a chance encounter with a BOGO client. Not wanting to compete with each other, Connie and Julie connected over the phone and came to a solution to help this client, as well as a plan to help many more.
“It’s really two people who set aside any ego differences and said, ‘Let’s take care of this customer,’ and ‘How can we do something bigger together?’” co-owner of Promo Scout Eric Johnson said.
After sharing a meal, Julie not only found a new business partner, but also a new friendship with Eric and Connie Johnson.
“We have just hit it off tremendously and I’d just love to continue a partnership and transition my clients here from the town since 2002 to [Promo Scout].”
After opening in 1986, BOGO Promotions moved to Fountain Hills from Illinois in 2002 when Julie and her late husband, Jeff, purchased their current building on Saguaro and later expanded into a U-Haul business.
“With Jeff’s passing, I wanted to take on new adventures for myself,” Julie said, whose husband was very involved with the community. “BOGO Promotions is still here. I’m not going to 100 percent shut it down, but the work side, really everything, is going to be going to Promo Scout.”
Connie Johnson has been in the promotional products industry as a distributor for over 20 years primarily servicing corporate accounts. Connie worked from her Minnesota home office until she and her husband Eric moved to Fountain Hills in 2020 where her business has grown.
Eric Johnson spent 30 years in his family business as a promotional products manufacturer and recently sold the family business to his nephew to work alongside his wife at Promo Scout.
“Combined, we have 50 years of experience that we’re bringing in to help carry on [BOGO Promotion’s] business in this community,” Eric said.
New and current BOGO clients will be directed to Promo Scout, whose mission is to provide clients with the best promotional products possible. Connie and Eric Johnson work with premier supplier partners and are dedicated to delivering high-quality promotional products to the community.
Ironically, BOGO Promotions and Promo Scout are titles based on dog names. Bogo, short for Bogart, was a stout English Bulldog and Scout was a loyal Yellow Labrador named after a 1965 International Harvester Scout off-road vehicle owned by Connie’s father, who passed away in 2019.
“When my dad died, my brother took his other vintage pickup and I took the scout and I’m going to restore it and it’s going to sit in front of my place [of business],” Connie said.
Since Julie’s father also passed away in 2019, the new partners feel they met for a reason, sharing a bond of beloved family members and pets.
“We’re just taking care of each other,” Connie added. “Our dads, our dogs and us.”
As she passes on her BOGO Promotions clientele to Promo Scout, Julie has new plans on the horizon.
“I’m still here, but I’m taking on new endeavors and new life,” Julie said, who sold her U-Haul business and has been chosen as the president-elect at the Four Peaks Rotary Club. Plans are in the works for Julie to open a crystal shop that focuses on the healing properties and modalities of crystals and other minerals.
“I've participated in a lot of mergers, acquisitions, partnerships…and all the ones that I've seen that have been successful have shared a similar culture, a similar philosophy,” Eric added. “[BOGO Promotions and Promo Scout] share such a similar philosophy of how to take care of the customer and that’s really what it boils down to. Will end-customers talk to somebody new? Yes. But they're going to get the same experience that they've had for years.”
For information on BOGO Promotions, visit bogopromotions.com or call 480-440-2001. For information on Promo Scout or to see its list of services, visit promo-scout.com. For questions, call Connie Johnson at 602-562-4050 or email connie@promo-scout.com.
