Content node.tpl.php

I've created Content type Product which can be accessed at .../drupal/?q=product. I've tried everything imaginable, but I'm unable to access any nodes on the page. If I promote it to the front page I am, but I don't want it on the front page, so this is useless. In a custom module, I can edit the nodes with the hook_nodeapi, but in my template.php file switch ($hook) { case 'node':... never gets called. I want access to the $node variable via a node.tpl.php, but nothing works. the node.tpl.php never gets called on .../drupal/?q=product. Any insight would be most appreciative.