Bush joins Shell Factory as national sales director
The Shell Factory is known nationally and internationally as having the world’s largest collection of shells and sea life specimens.
Many locals and visiting tourists from around the world visit the attraction, which will now have a new key player to help enhance and promote tourism to the spot.
“New national sales director Jeremy Bush brings many years of experience promoting landmark attractions,” said the Shell Factory’s Pamela J. Cronin. “He has only been here a few weeks but has already hit the ground running.”
“We are very excited to have Jeremy join the Shell Factory and Nature Park team,” said Tom Cronin, Sr., general partner. “The experience he has accumulated will be a great asset to the Shell Factory and help us maintain the reputation of being the world’s largest while providing a superior product at a very obtainable price.
“My priorities are to reorganization the infrastructure of the wholesale and retail departments and reorganize the 30,000-square-foot warehouse, and to generate sales revenue and promote the business nationally,” said Bush.
He is also working with Assistant Store Manager Anne Sheridan to restructure the website and Senior Buyer Kathy Vanderjagt on the retail end.
He also admitted to having personal passion for collecting shells. “All the different types of species of shells excite me about this job, never knowing what you will find.”
He said the Shell Factory imports them from all over the world. “In my personal collection, I also have two of the only albinistic Triton Trumpet Shells known to exist.”
Bush was born and raised in South Fort Myers, he attended Fort Myers Senior High School. Shortly after graduation he relocated to Ocala where he assumed the position as Gulf Coast Regional Sales Manager for World Shells & Company. “I myself handled over 100 different accounts for them. As the regional sales manager there I supplied individual stores and stocked them with shells after traveling the Eastern Seaboard,” he said.
He will be working very closely with both Pamela and Tom Cronin to make sure that the Shell Factory gets the proper attention it requires, he said.
Another primary duty will be the cleaning and processing of uncleaned shells. It can be a dirty job, he said. “People have no idea. You may get shells that still have a remnant of the animal within it,” he said. But it is part of his skill set.
During the past eight years he has learned all the different aspects of the seashell industry from assisting in the direct import and exporting of products from around the world to national wholesale sales and distribution markets.
Bush and his family moved back back to the south Cape area. His family includes fiance Samantha, her two sons Dakota and Justin and their two dogs.
“Taz is a Silver Labrador and Molly is a spunky little six-month-old papillon.”
You have to be an animal lover at his place of employment. The Shell Factory & Nature Park has roaming animals throughout the complex as well as the large Nature Park that is also a key area attraction.
For more than 70 years, The Shell Factory has welcomed residents and visitors with more than 5 million shells and over 18 acres of shopping, exhibits, displays and entertainment. The Shell Factory & Nature Park is located at 2787 North Tamiami Trl. in North Fort Myers. For information, call 995-2141.