Here's one children's apparel manufacturer many catalogers say they're sweet on. Ever since Berkeley, California-based Sweet Potatoes opened its doors to business 14 years ago, it has done a healthy business with catalogers. But according to Ginny Holmes of the company, it hasn't been a piece of cake.

"When we started out we worked with a lot of catalogs that have since gone bankrupt. But when they were in business and selling product, we said, 'Oh my god, look at all these orders."' says Holmes, adding that she was happy to see new players such as Storybook Heirlooms and Children's Wear Digest surface in their place. Holmes notes that one kids' catalog pioneer, The Wooden Soldier, who was unreachable at press time, is still going strong.

"We love the catalog business," says Anna Tokunaga, also of the company. "We've made really good dollars on that business, but it's always a hard dollar to make."

To work successfully with catalogs, the relationship between vendor and retailer has to be practically a partnership, both agree. "When we work with catalogs, it has to be almost like a team," Holmes says. "They're almost like an extension of our company, and we watch them carefully."

She says one of the reasons Sweet Potatoes has been so successful selling though catalogs is that the company is willing to listen and react to the needs of each specific catalog. For instance, if a supplier commits to a product in a catalog it has to stick with the pricing, as well as the product design for as long as catalog is in circulation, which on average is about four months.

Catalogs tend to buy narrow and deep, Tokunaga says, so it's important to be able to supply that one product, should sales skyrocket. "When sales start to take off, you sometimes have to scramble to make sure that product gets to the customer in time."

While some department and specialty stores get nervous when they see their vendors sell the same items to other retailers, Holmes says this is not the case when Sweet Potatoes sells its products to catalogs. "We don't discount, and our catalogs don't discount, so there's no problem."

Some catalogs, like Children's Wear Digest, note manufacturers' names in their copy, a practice Sweet Potatoes prefers because it's good advertising.

Holmes applauds Philip Klaus at Children's Wear Digest for mentioning manufacturers' names. "Philip is absolutely right in what he does," she says. "'People like to know that what they're buying is Sweet Potatoes because like all brands, we've worked hard to become well known."

While vendors have little control over how the product is presented in the catalog, Sweet Potatoes tries to make suggestions to the retailers as much as it can. "If a catalog is to do well, it's in the best interest of everybody to make it as good as it can be," Holmes says. In addition, the company tries to suggest to its catalogs what apparel pieces sell well.

Even though Holmes says she's really happy with her catalog customers, she still gets the jitters before one of her products is mailed out in a catalog. "I always worry about ‘what if?’ But I have to say I think our catalogs do a brilliant job. They understand us, and we understand them."

-Stan Williams

This excerpt is from Children's Business, March 1993