Ira Riklis Blog

With so much need in the world and so many worthy causes, how can one person, even if they are blessed with wealth, possibly make a difference? It’s easy to fall into the trap of feeling helpless in the face of it all. Ira Riklis certainly feels that way at times. He gives generously of his time and money (not to mention the blood he donates), but even he can’t respond to every request for his support.  And he sometimes regrets he can’t do more.

When those feelings arise, Ira Riklis reflects on a story his Rabbi once related to him. A man standing on a beach sees someone walking towards him along the water’s edge. Every so often, the person bends down to pick up something then throws it into the ocean. Eventually, he realizes that the person is a young boy who is picking up starfish and throwing them back into the sea. As the boy approaches, the man asks him: “What are you doing?” “Saving the starfish,” the boy replies, “They’ll die if they remain on the shore.” “Yes,” the man says, “But there are many starfish and you are just one boy.  You can’t possible make a difference.” After the boy reaches down to pick up another starfish and toss it into the water, he then turns to the man and says, “I made a difference to that starfish.” Is there a starfish you could save today?

During the 1968 Winter Olympics in Grenoble, France, Jean Claude Killy became only the second man in history to capture all three gold medals—the downhill, slalom and giant slalom—in men’s downhill skiing. (And no one has duplicated that feat in the years since then.) In doing so, he became Ira Riklis’ personal skiing hero. In trying to emulate him, Riklis traded in the skis he was using at the time for a pair of Dynamic VR17s—the skis Jean Claude used.

The move was a bit premature. At the time Ira Riklis was still learning the sport and hadn’t yet mastered the skills he needed to become an expert skier. Unable to handle a true racing ski like the VR17s, he broke his leg within a week of getting the new skis. Since then he has become an expert skier, and has moved on to newer and more modern skis.

Ira Riklis and his family donate money to many worthy organizations. Some receive large amounts, others more modest sums. And some receive a check for just $18.00. Why such an odd number? It comes from Hebrew concept of gematria, an exercise of calculating the numerical equivalence of letters, words or phrases. Such calculations provide insight into interrelationships between numbers and between words and ideas.

One of the best-known examples of these equivalences is Chai, the Hebrew word for life, which is composed of two letters which add up to 18. This has made 18 a “lucky number” among Jews. So while Ira Riklis leaves the calculations to those more mathematically adept, he usually makes donations in multiples of 18. For him, it’s a not only a way to participate in helping charitable organizations realize their goals but also a reminder to himself and others to celebrate at all times the gift of Life.

Ira Riklis firmly believes in keeping customers happy. So if a customer comes in to a Charter Sports ski shop to report a bad experience caused by equipment they’ve rented there, the shop staff spring into action to solve the problem. If the problem is serious enough, they will often comp the skier with free rentals for the week. In more severe cases, they’ll even provide the skier’s entire family with free rentals during their stay. And once the problem is resolved, customers leave with small gifts like hand warmers or lip balm as the shop’s way of offering an apology.

As a result of this focus on service, these customers often end up as Charter Sports’ strongest advocates. Many even go so far as writing letters to the hotel or condo association extolling their service. This is one reason why Charter Sports shops a

Rabbi Karlibach once stated the belief that: “Every child needs one person who believes in him.” Yehudah Kohn, director of the Emunah Bet Elazraki Children’s Home and his wife, Riki, take that observation seriously. For four decades they’ve been caring for—and believing in—at-risk children who come from families unable to meet even their most basic needs. But their Home is more than just a home, they welcome each child as a part of an extended family. That was the thing that most struck Ira Riklis when he visited the home to attend the Bar Mitzvah of the son of friends.

The home is staffed by a team of dedicated professionals see to every detail of the children’s development, providing the care, guidance and support they need to grow into healthy, loving adults. Ira Riklis decided to become a donor after noticing a small detail during his visit. The staff was taking pictures of the children, just as parents do. He learned that pictures were taken throughout the stay of each child. When the children grow old enough to leave, they take those pictures with them as a reminder of their enduring connection with the home… and their extended family.

Mike Bartasuis and Ira Riklis credit part of the success of their Charter Sports group of ski shops to how they view and treat their customers. To be sure, the skiers who come to their shops for rentals and merchandising are their end customers. But in some respects their true customers are the resorts. Skiers don’t come to Vail or Beaver Creek just to rent from Charter Sports. And if they have a bad time on their vacation, they don’t go home and blame the rental shops.

So the skiers are really the customers of the resorts. And as Ira Riklis will tell you, it’s the job of the resorts to put “butts in beds” (or BIBs in industry parlance). Once a BIB is in place, then the Charter Sports shops have the opportunity to meet their needs and make their ski excursions a bit more enjoyable. And by keeping the resorts’ customers happy, they encourage repeat visits, and that makes everyone involved happy.

Ira Riklis attended the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania. His wife, Diana, got her degrees from Penn’s Graduate School of Education. Both are grateful for and have fond memories of their experiences there. So it’s only natural that they have chosen to offer their support in order that new generations of students can receive an equally high-quality education. They’ve directed most of their support to the GSE, since that’s where they perceive the greatest need lies.

The Graduate School of Education leads the nation as a premier research education schools and one of the few to offer doctoral degrees in education. Over the years, Diana and Ira Riklis have funded several scholarships, term professorships, a student lounge and other facilities, including the Dean’s office. And over the past fifteen years, they’ve watched the GSE excel in areas including quantitative research, policy studies, evaluation, higher education and psychology and human development.

In addition to renting skis, most ski shops also push sales of gear and equipment. But the Charter Sports chain of shop owned by Mike Bartasuis and Ira Riklis take a different approach. For them, the focus is on providing ski rentals. Other merchandising is incidental to the rental gear and they don’t sell ski equipment. They carry sales items ranging from ski gloves and jackets to lip balm, T-shirts and scented candles. One key to their success is that none of our merchandise is seasonally based, which means they don’t take losses from year to year as fashions change.

This strategy helps protect them during bad years. Ira Riklis cites the 2008-2009 season as an example. That year, during the depths of the Great Recession, saw a drop in skier visits at resorts on the mountains of Vail, Lionshead and Beaver Creek of more than twenty-two percent. As a result, those resorts suffered a corresponding loss of Operating Earnings. In contrast, the Charter Sports shops experienced less than a ten percent drop off in earnings. In fact, in 20 years of operation, Charter Sports has never had a losing year.