Barb Holtz – Avon saleswoman extraordinaire

By Kelly Terpstra, kterpstra@charlescitypress.com

Barb Holtz knows how to sell Avon.

A phone call made and a doorbell rung and Holtz was at your door.

There were no confirmation codes or buttons to click, just a warm, friendly smile and plenty of time to talk.

That’s customer service to a T.

Some 42 years after she started, the long-time Charles City resident has decided it’s time to call it a career after delivering Avon’s signature beauty and personal care items to her beloved customers in the area.

Since 1976, whether it was lipstick, lotion, hair care products or the latest accessories, Holtz had you covered.

“They’re not clients or customers — these people are my friends,” said Holtz.

She remembers the start to her side venture and part-time business like it was yesterday.

Holtz, who was born on a farm just outside of Charles City some 77 years ago, decided it would be a perfect opportunity to start selling Avon door-to-door while her husband worked at the White Farm Equipment plant.

“I just wanted to be home with the girls and it was a way to get out and meet people and make a little extra money,” she said.

Holtz had no idea her relationship with Avon would touch five decades.

“Never, never dreamed I would stay in it for so long,” she said.

Holtz took a job as a receptionist at the front desk of the Department of Human Services in Charles City in 1981. She worked there for almost 21 years before she retired in 2002, all the while still peddling her products for Avon.

“Back then the products we were selling were way different than today,” she said. There were no clothes offered for sale then. “No vitamins and a lot less of everything.”

Avon was founded more than 132 years ago in 1886 and is still the second-largest direct-selling company in the world behind Amway.

A lot has changed in that time.

Holtz recalls buying around 10 books for ordering products years ago and knocking on people’s doors. Once inside the customer’s house, they could then take the time to look at a catalog and decide what items to purchase.

As time went by and she became more familiar with her customers, Holtz said she would order about 60 books a year and drop them off at each house. She said the “little books” she receives now to order have about 140 pages in them.

“They either call me or I call them,” Holtz said. “Everything was done by mail. I’d mail in my order and they’d ship the products to me. Now it’s done all on the computer.”

Holtz was a member of Avon’s President’s Club program for several years. That’s for Avon members that sell at least $10,000 in sales a year. She was also awarded at a regional banquet in Ankeny a few years back for 40 years of service to the company. 

“We earned trophies for that and so forth,” she said. “I think it’s still going pretty strong. It’s amazing.”

Holtz remembers the routes she would take on her trips to drop the products off at each house.

“When I first started, you were assigned a route. You had to stay on that route and that side of the street,” said Holtz. “My route divided right in the middle.”

It didn’t take long for her to learn each customer’s routine.

“Through the years, I know my people so well I almost know when they’re going to be home,” laughed Holtz.

It wouldn’t take long for closets and rooms to pile up with packages as they’d arrived at her doorstep every two weeks.

“I just love it. It’s kind of like every two weeks was Christmas,” Holtz smiled.

Holtz has two daughters, Kathy and Sandy. They said they vividly remember getting plenty of gifts through Avon and that trend continues to this very day.

“My sister and I grew up with her selling Avon. We probably have enough soap-on-a-rope or Skin So Soft to last the remainder of our lives as well,” Holtz’s daughter, Kathy Luppes exclaimed.

Holtz’s first husband passed away from brain cancer in 2001. She married her current husband, Merlin Holtz, in May 2016. Merlin’s former wife had also died from brain cancer.

It’s that dreaded “C” word that Barb is now fighting herself. After a diagnosis of uterine cancer in March 2017, Holtz said the cancer returned a few months back and has now metastitized to her lung.

She just received word on Tuesday that she was approved for a clinical study to help slow down the cancer. She’ll travel to Woodbury, Minnesota, today (Thursday) to find out more information about the process and treatment options. Holtz said she’ll begin taking pills that are a form of targeted therapy for the cancer.

“They can’t cure it, but hopefully can slow it down,” said Holtz. “It’s definitely not going to take it away.”

She said she’s focused on quality time, not quantity. Whether it’s 15 months or 15 years, she’s  not worried about how much time she has left.

“Nobody knows,” she said.

Holtz said there’s a plan for her, regardless.

“God is bigger than all of that,” said Holtz. “We have strong faith.”

In the meantime, she and Merlin, who is a truck driver, plan to travel as much as possible. They are planning a trip to Branson, Missouri, soon.

“He’s been to lots of places that he wants to show me,” said Holtz.

Barb and Merlin recently got the family together for a dual celebration of Thanksgiving and Christmas at her daughter’s house in Apple Valley, Minnesota. Holtz said they combine the two holidays together every other year. She also has six grandchildren that are spread out in Texas, Louisiana and Wisconsin.

Holtz, a 1959 Charles City High School graduate, is looking forward to the next stage in her life, now one without Avon.

“My first husband used to say, ‘when are you going to stop selling Avon?’” she laughed.

She said her daughters backed her retirement from Avon, 100 percent.

“They’re all for it,” said Holtz.

Barb said she’ll miss plenty about Avon, especially the friends that she’s gotten close to over the years.

“One thing I’m not going to miss is the bad weather in the winter time of delivering,” she giggled.