I live in Fayetteville, Georgia, and my business is located in Peachtree City, Georgia. I was born in Macon and am the youngest of three siblings with an entrepreneurial dad and a stay-at-home mother. Throughout my childhood, I had a small, private school education and enjoyed sports. I was a successful basketball player and had a passion for water skiing, though fashion also always interested me. I remember getting SO excited when my mom and I would have our big annual back-to-school shopping trip, as this was a major event for us.
When I graduated from high school, I went on to attend Auburn University. It was about this same time, during my early 20s, when I took my first trip abroad and became fascinated with European culture. I love the people, the history, architecture and food, found in both the metropolitan cities and in the countryside. I went on to meet and marry my husband of 28 years and moved to Cincinnati in 1990 where I lived for twelve years, working for corporate America for seven years in the insurance industry. And, while I enjoyed our time in Cincinnati, I always loved the south, so our family moved back to Georgia in 2002 after our daughter was born.
It was about this time that I realized I had a passion for being an entrepreneur. Being an entrepreneur is now my lifestyle—it’s who I am. My business life is very commingled with my personal life—from my hobbies and vacations to raising a daughter (who also desires to be a part of the company when she graduates, upon her completing her international business studies at the University of South Carolina).
I started my first business in 2000 when I was 35 years old and seven months pregnant. Now, I own CobbleStone Living, where I develop niche markets (non-traditional apparel stores) with a focus on one-size romantic, feminine, casually-
elegant silhouettes that flatter most body types. We concentrate on clothes that flatter many shapes, will stand the test of time and are affordable.
One of the best things to happen to the CobbleStone Living brand when we started was getting immediately picked up by the Tango Showroom at AmericasMart. I was very fortunate for this, not just because it’s a great showroom with lots of loyal clients, but because the owner, Vicky Muetterties, completely took me under her wing and mentored me. Tango’s whole staff and customer base were very understanding and forgiving while I was just starting, which I am so appreciative for—it has been a wonderful journey. This partnership was definitely the best thing to happen to CobbleStone Living as it put us on the map. And, when CobbleStone Living reached 1 million dollars in revenue this became my biggest accomplishment in business.
Operating a clothing business like CobbleStone Living, however, does not come easy. My favorite aspect of running a clothing brand is the design, though this can also be one of the most challenging aspects because we have to come up with a new design almost every six months. This can be tricky to do while also maintaining the look that CobbleStone Living represents. Keeping up with inventory demands and developing fresh designs that accommodate our one size fits most strategy has been my biggest challenge in business thus far.
Fortunately, the career path I chose has enabled me to travel and work with entrepreneurs both domestically and across the country and to realize the fact that anything is possible. One of my favorite parts of the business has been traveling the globe and meeting all the amazing women, both at home in Peachtree City and abroad; all but one of the manufacturers I work with are owned by women. My love of travel and exploring different cultures is a huge component of the CobbleStone lifestyle. I typically make a point to travel to Europe two to three times a year, with that being mostly in Italy and in France. I am always just as excited to go back as I was for my first trip.
I recognized a void within the travel category for moderately priced, quality, stylish luggage. Purchasing a full luggage set can come with a large price tag yet having a quality luggage set is so important when traveling the world. We created Deux Pêches to provide adventurers—like myself and my co-founder—with affordable luggage that is timeless and ageless.
With this venture, I have found that being a retailer for luggage and clothing is very different, especially in regards to forecasting quantities. It is so important for us to be able to meet our customers’ demands and properly predict the quantity of luggage we need to have in stock, in order to be able to fulfill orders. Because of the time and expense it takes to get the luggage to our warehouse, we have to purchase more at once. While we receive clothing shipments to the warehouse almost weekly, due to the quick turnaround time, with luggage, we receive only two shipments per year.
We launched the original line of the Cassandra silk banded top with this style over three years ago and have since made it available in eight (and counting) colors. After all these years, it is still my go-to for everyday and travel wear.
With regard to fashion, I’m always inspired by European women’s approach to fashion, or rather, their style. No matter their age or size or where they are, they always look chic, confident, and put together without much effort and worry. They do not wear loud and fussy items that look uncomfortable, and, additionally, they are not “logo” driven with their purchases. This approach to getting dressed is the inspiration behind the CobbleStone collection.|
Our goal is that when wearing our silhouettes, the end consumer loves how they feel so much that they end up purchasing their favorite style in all colors.
Our collection is designed with both retail shop owners and end consumers in mind. The designs are timeless, feminine, effortless, ageless and in most cases, are appropriate for all seasons. The individual pieces display beautifully as a collection within shops, and they are versatile in design to be worn casually or dressy.
Depending on what they are paired with, CobbleStone pieces appeal to different age groups. CobbleStone Living pieces are silk, linen or knit. We use loose fitting, flowy and forgiving fabrics to focus on comfort and style. All of our pieces are one size fits most with the cuts and styles being designed to be figure flattering.
I want the women who wear CobbleStone Living to feel confident and beautiful when they’re in our clothing and to spend less time worrying about the act of getting dressed and what size they are wearing and spend more time enjoying what they are doing after getting dressed. Our clothes are designed to flatter all shapes, so women will know before they put one of our pieces on that they will feel comfortable and stylish wearing it throughout the day.
Over the next five years, we have many things in the works for CobbleStone Living. We recently merged our two brands (Deux Pêches and CobbleStone Living) to the CobbleStone Living name and are hoping to expand our retail distribution and travel accessory offerings. Currently, CobbleStone Living is sold in over 700 retail locations across the country including gift shops, nurseries, spas, hotels and apparel shops. We hope to continue to increase the number of locations our products are sold in, as well as, try to expand internationally.
Overall, I have been very lucky in that I truly haven’t had too difficult of a journey. But, it wouldn’t be entrepreneurship without a few bumps in the road. I hope the following masterclasses will help you with a few of the hurdles we have faced, and some key items we have learned to live and learn by at CobbleStone Living.
YOUR GUIDE TO OVERCOME IMPORT CHALLENGES
As I import all of my clothes from Italy, it can produce some challenges. One of my biggest mistakes starting out was not fully understanding the importing process. We did not realize the impact of duty charges; we didn’t understand it in depth enough. When we did our first pricing release, we priced based on our initial charges and assumed that they would apply consistently. The first time we wired money to our manufacturer, the exchange rate was very good, and we didn’t take into consideration that would not always be the case. Thus, we based our prices on the fact that it would stay steady, but in reality, that can go in any direction at any point. Also, when speaking with manufacturers in other countries, you have to be very precise and cannot use any slang language. I’ve become close with the people I work with, and we exchange on social media, so it feels like I can be casual in communicating with them professionally, but the language barrier can sometimes be tricky. You just have to be very precise and effective with how you communicate your design ideas.
When we launched in Tango, we grew much more quickly than anticipated, which is definitely not a bad thing. But, just like anything else, you can grow a little too fast. It happened to be in July when our first big order was placed at the apparel show, and we didn’t take into account that Italian manufacturers close down for almost the entirety of August. We oversold and under delivered our very first order. Once you understand how to work with the overseas manufacturers and their schedule, you won’t make that mistake again. Because of our fast growth, we have had to move our warehouse five times now. Luckily, we found a great spot now that we can grow into.
USING LIMITED SKUS TO MAKE A BRAND STATEMENT
We keep our SKUs (Stock Keeping Units) limited because we target retail shops that typically carry little to no apparel goods with limited retail space. It is advantageous for us to keep our SKUs limited and versatile because it makes a statement as a brand. We want to be identifiable—when people walk into one of these retail shops, we want them to recognize our product. The easiest way to do this is to keep styles consistent and limited. The one size approach makes our silhouettes appropriate for gift shops because it takes out the guesswork for both the retail shop buyers, as well as, the person purchasing the silhouettes as gifts. As for our apparel shops, it is advantageous for them to have a new brand and new styles in stock that have not oversaturated the fashion market. Fortunately, we have not experienced this problem, but the disadvantage of having a limited number of SKUs is the actual limited number of styles available for purchase each year. If you select a few unpopular designs, that will lead to a significant decrease in your revenue for the year. We typically offer 15–20 designs in multiple colorways each season, and if five were not purchased, that would be a big hit to our bottom line. It can be challenging at times to continue coming up with enough new styles each year that can accommodate a range of sizes.
DEFINITION: SKU
In the field of inventory management, a stock keeping unit (SKU) is a machine-readable bar code printed on a product label that allows vendors to scan and track the movement of inventory. This identification is established by the merchant and is usually alphanumeric and representative of all attributes associated with the item for sale, clearly distinguishing it from other items. These attributes could include manufacturer, description, material, size, color, packaging and/or warranty terms. These codes are not regulated or standardized so when a company receives items from a vendor, it has a choice of maintaining the vendor’s SKU or creating its own. This makes them distinct from Global Trade Item Number (GTIN), which are regulated and standardized: Universal Product Code (UPC), International Article Number (EAN) and Australian Product Number (APN) are special cases of GTINs.
I live in Fayetteville, Georgia, and my business is located in Peachtree City, Georgia. I was born in Macon and am the youngest of three siblings with an entrepreneurial dad and a stay-at-home mother. Throughout my childhood, I had a small, private school education and enjoyed sports. I was a successful basketball player and had a passion for water skiing, though fashion also always interested me. I remember getting SO excited when my mom and I would have our big annual back-to-school shopping trip, as this was a major event for us.
When I graduated from high school, I went on to attend Auburn University. It was about this same time, during my early 20s, when I took my first trip abroad and became fascinated with European culture. I love the people, the history, architecture and food, found in both the metropolitan cities and in the countryside. I went on to meet and marry my husband of 28 years and moved to Cincinnati in 1990 where I lived for twelve years, working for corporate America for seven years in the insurance industry. And, while I enjoyed our time in Cincinnati, I always loved the south, so our family moved back to Georgia in 2002 after our daughter was born.
It was about this time that I realized I had a passion for being an entrepreneur. Being an entrepreneur is now my lifestyle—it’s who I am. My business life is very commingled with my personal life—from my hobbies and vacations to raising a daughter (who also desires to be a part of the company when she graduates, upon her completing her international business studies at the University of South Carolina).
I started my first business in 2000 when I was 35 years old and seven months pregnant. Now, I own CobbleStone Living, where I develop niche markets (non-traditional apparel stores) with a focus on one-size romantic, feminine, casually-
elegant silhouettes that flatter most body types. We concentrate on clothes that flatter many shapes, will stand the test of time and are affordable.
One of the best things to happen to the CobbleStone Living brand when we started was getting immediately picked up by the Tango Showroom at AmericasMart. I was very fortunate for this, not just because it’s a great showroom with lots of loyal clients, but because the owner, Vicky Muetterties, completely took me under her wing and mentored me. Tango’s whole staff and customer base were very understanding and forgiving while I was just starting, which I am so appreciative for—it has been a wonderful journey. This partnership was definitely the best thing to happen to CobbleStone Living as it put us on the map. And, when CobbleStone Living reached 1 million dollars in revenue this became my biggest accomplishment in business.
Operating a clothing business like CobbleStone Living, however, does not come easy. My favorite aspect of running a clothing brand is the design, though this can also be one of the most challenging aspects because we have to come up with a new design almost every six months. This can be tricky to do while also maintaining the look that CobbleStone Living represents. Keeping up with inventory demands and developing fresh designs that accommodate our one size fits most strategy has been my biggest challenge in business thus far.
Fortunately, the career path I chose has enabled me to travel and work with entrepreneurs both domestically and across the country and to realize the fact that anything is possible. One of my favorite parts of the business has been traveling the globe and meeting all the amazing women, both at home in Peachtree City and abroad; all but one of the manufacturers I work with are owned by women. My love of travel and exploring different cultures is a huge component of the CobbleStone lifestyle. I typically make a point to travel to Europe two to three times a year, with that being mostly in Italy and in France. I am always just as excited to go back as I was for my first trip.
I recognized a void within the travel category for moderately priced, quality, stylish luggage. Purchasing a full luggage set can come with a large price tag yet having a quality luggage set is so important when traveling the world. We created Deux Pêches to provide adventurers—like myself and my co-founder—with affordable luggage that is timeless and ageless.
With this venture, I have found that being a retailer for luggage and clothing is very different, especially in regards to forecasting quantities. It is so important for us to be able to meet our customers’ demands and properly predict the quantity of luggage we need to have in stock, in order to be able to fulfill orders. Because of the time and expense it takes to get the luggage to our warehouse, we have to purchase more at once. While we receive clothing shipments to the warehouse almost weekly, due to the quick turnaround time, with luggage, we receive only two shipments per year.
We launched the original line of the Cassandra silk banded top with this style over three years ago and have since made it available in eight (and counting) colors. After all these years, it is still my go-to for everyday and travel wear.
With regard to fashion, I’m always inspired by European women’s approach to fashion, or rather, their style. No matter their age or size or where they are, they always look chic, confident, and put together without much effort and worry. They do not wear loud and fussy items that look uncomfortable, and, additionally, they are not “logo” driven with their purchases. This approach to getting dressed is the inspiration behind the CobbleStone collection.|
Our goal is that when wearing our silhouettes, the end consumer loves how they feel so much that they end up purchasing their favorite style in all colors.
Our collection is designed with both retail shop owners and end consumers in mind. The designs are timeless, feminine, effortless, ageless and in most cases, are appropriate for all seasons. The individual pieces display beautifully as a collection within shops, and they are versatile in design to be worn casually or dressy.
Depending on what they are paired with, CobbleStone pieces appeal to different age groups. CobbleStone Living pieces are silk, linen or knit. We use loose fitting, flowy and forgiving fabrics to focus on comfort and style. All of our pieces are one size fits most with the cuts and styles being designed to be figure flattering.
I want the women who wear CobbleStone Living to feel confident and beautiful when they’re in our clothing and to spend less time worrying about the act of getting dressed and what size they are wearing and spend more time enjoying what they are doing after getting dressed. Our clothes are designed to flatter all shapes, so women will know before they put one of our pieces on that they will feel comfortable and stylish wearing it throughout the day.
Over the next five years, we have many things in the works for CobbleStone Living. We recently merged our two brands (Deux Pêches and CobbleStone Living) to the CobbleStone Living name and are hoping to expand our retail distribution and travel accessory offerings. Currently, CobbleStone Living is sold in over 700 retail locations across the country including gift shops, nurseries, spas, hotels and apparel shops. We hope to continue to increase the number of locations our products are sold in, as well as, try to expand internationally.
Overall, I have been very lucky in that I truly haven’t had too difficult of a journey. But, it wouldn’t be entrepreneurship without a few bumps in the road. I hope the following masterclasses will help you with a few of the hurdles we have faced, and some key items we have learned to live and learn by at CobbleStone Living.
YOUR GUIDE TO OVERCOME IMPORT CHALLENGES
As I import all of my clothes from Italy, it can produce some challenges. One of my biggest mistakes starting out was not fully understanding the importing process. We did not realize the impact of duty charges; we didn’t understand it in depth enough. When we did our first pricing release, we priced based on our initial charges and assumed that they would apply consistently. The first time we wired money to our manufacturer, the exchange rate was very good, and we didn’t take into consideration that would not always be the case. Thus, we based our prices on the fact that it would stay steady, but in reality, that can go in any direction at any point. Also, when speaking with manufacturers in other countries, you have to be very precise and cannot use any slang language. I’ve become close with the people I work with, and we exchange on social media, so it feels like I can be casual in communicating with them professionally, but the language barrier can sometimes be tricky. You just have to be very precise and effective with how you communicate your design ideas.
When we launched in Tango, we grew much more quickly than anticipated, which is definitely not a bad thing. But, just like anything else, you can grow a little too fast. It happened to be in July when our first big order was placed at the apparel show, and we didn’t take into account that Italian manufacturers close down for almost the entirety of August. We oversold and under delivered our very first order. Once you understand how to work with the overseas manufacturers and their schedule, you won’t make that mistake again. Because of our fast growth, we have had to move our warehouse five times now. Luckily, we found a great spot now that we can grow into.
USING LIMITED SKUS TO MAKE A BRAND STATEMENT
We keep our SKUs (Stock Keeping Units) limited because we target retail shops that typically carry little to no apparel goods with limited retail space. It is advantageous for us to keep our SKUs limited and versatile because it makes a statement as a brand. We want to be identifiable—when people walk into one of these retail shops, we want them to recognize our product. The easiest way to do this is to keep styles consistent and limited. The one size approach makes our silhouettes appropriate for gift shops because it takes out the guesswork for both the retail shop buyers, as well as, the person purchasing the silhouettes as gifts. As for our apparel shops, it is advantageous for them to have a new brand and new styles in stock that have not oversaturated the fashion market. Fortunately, we have not experienced this problem, but the disadvantage of having a limited number of SKUs is the actual limited number of styles available for purchase each year. If you select a few unpopular designs, that will lead to a significant decrease in your revenue for the year. We typically offer 15–20 designs in multiple colorways each season, and if five were not purchased, that would be a big hit to our bottom line. It can be challenging at times to continue coming up with enough new styles each year that can accommodate a range of sizes.
DEFINITION: SKU
In the field of inventory management, a stock keeping unit (SKU) is a machine-readable bar code printed on a product label that allows vendors to scan and track the movement of inventory. This identification is established by the merchant and is usually alphanumeric and representative of all attributes associated with the item for sale, clearly distinguishing it from other items. These attributes could include manufacturer, description, material, size, color, packaging and/or warranty terms. These codes are not regulated or standardized so when a company receives items from a vendor, it has a choice of maintaining the vendor’s SKU or creating its own. This makes them distinct from Global Trade Item Number (GTIN), which are regulated and standardized: Universal Product Code (UPC), International Article Number (EAN) and Australian Product Number (APN) are special cases of GTINs.
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I live in Fayetteville, Georgia, and my business is located in Peachtree City, Georgia. I was born in Macon and am the youngest of three siblings with an entrepreneurial dad and a stay-at-home mother. Throughout my childhood, I had a small, private school education and enjoyed sports. I was a successful basketball player and had a passion for water skiing, though fashion also always interested me. I remember getting SO excited when my mom and I would have our big annual back-to-school shopping trip, as this was a major event for us.
When I graduated from high school, I went on to attend Auburn University. It was about this same time, during my early 20s, when I took my first trip abroad and became fascinated with European culture. I love the people, the history, architecture and food, found in both the metropolitan cities and in the countryside. I went on to meet and marry my husband of 28 years and moved to Cincinnati in 1990 where I lived for twelve years, working for corporate America for seven years in the insurance industry. And, while I enjoyed our time in Cincinnati, I always loved the south, so our family moved back to Georgia in 2002 after our daughter was born.
It was about this time that I realized I had a passion for being an entrepreneur. Being an entrepreneur is now my lifestyle—it’s who I am. My business life is very commingled with my personal life—from my hobbies and vacations to raising a daughter (who also desires to be a part of the company when she graduates, upon her completing her international business studies at the University of South Carolina).
I started my first business in 2000 when I was 35 years old and seven months pregnant. Now, I own CobbleStone Living, where I develop niche markets (non-traditional apparel stores) with a focus on one-size romantic, feminine, casually-
elegant silhouettes that flatter most body types. We concentrate on clothes that flatter many shapes, will stand the test of time and are affordable.
One of the best things to happen to the CobbleStone Living brand when we started was getting immediately picked up by the Tango Showroom at AmericasMart. I was very fortunate for this, not just because it’s a great showroom with lots of loyal clients, but because the owner, Vicky Muetterties, completely took me under her wing and mentored me. Tango’s whole staff and customer base were very understanding and forgiving while I was just starting, which I am so appreciative for—it has been a wonderful journey. This partnership was definitely the best thing to happen to CobbleStone Living as it put us on the map. And, when CobbleStone Living reached 1 million dollars in revenue this became my biggest accomplishment in business.
Operating a clothing business like CobbleStone Living, however, does not come easy. My favorite aspect of running a clothing brand is the design, though this can also be one of the most challenging aspects because we have to come up with a new design almost every six months. This can be tricky to do while also maintaining the look that CobbleStone Living represents. Keeping up with inventory demands and developing fresh designs that accommodate our one size fits most strategy has been my biggest challenge in business thus far.
Fortunately, the career path I chose has enabled me to travel and work with entrepreneurs both domestically and across the country and to realize the fact that anything is possible. One of my favorite parts of the business has been traveling the globe and meeting all the amazing women, both at home in Peachtree City and abroad; all but one of the manufacturers I work with are owned by women. My love of travel and exploring different cultures is a huge component of the CobbleStone lifestyle. I typically make a point to travel to Europe two to three times a year, with that being mostly in Italy and in France. I am always just as excited to go back as I was for my first trip.
I recognized a void within the travel category for moderately priced, quality, stylish luggage. Purchasing a full luggage set can come with a large price tag yet having a quality luggage set is so important when traveling the world. We created Deux Pêches to provide adventurers—like myself and my co-founder—with affordable luggage that is timeless and ageless.
With this venture, I have found that being a retailer for luggage and clothing is very different, especially in regards to forecasting quantities. It is so important for us to be able to meet our customers’ demands and properly predict the quantity of luggage we need to have in stock, in order to be able to fulfill orders. Because of the time and expense it takes to get the luggage to our warehouse, we have to purchase more at once. While we receive clothing shipments to the warehouse almost weekly, due to the quick turnaround time, with luggage, we receive only two shipments per year.
We launched the original line of the Cassandra silk banded top with this style over three years ago and have since made it available in eight (and counting) colors. After all these years, it is still my go-to for everyday and travel wear.
With regard to fashion, I’m always inspired by European women’s approach to fashion, or rather, their style. No matter their age or size or where they are, they always look chic, confident, and put together without much effort and worry. They do not wear loud and fussy items that look uncomfortable, and, additionally, they are not “logo” driven with their purchases. This approach to getting dressed is the inspiration behind the CobbleStone collection.|
Our goal is that when wearing our silhouettes, the end consumer loves how they feel so much that they end up purchasing their favorite style in all colors.
Our collection is designed with both retail shop owners and end consumers in mind. The designs are timeless, feminine, effortless, ageless and in most cases, are appropriate for all seasons. The individual pieces display beautifully as a collection within shops, and they are versatile in design to be worn casually or dressy.
Depending on what they are paired with, CobbleStone pieces appeal to different age groups. CobbleStone Living pieces are silk, linen or knit. We use loose fitting, flowy and forgiving fabrics to focus on comfort and style. All of our pieces are one size fits most with the cuts and styles being designed to be figure flattering.
I want the women who wear CobbleStone Living to feel confident and beautiful when they’re in our clothing and to spend less time worrying about the act of getting dressed and what size they are wearing and spend more time enjoying what they are doing after getting dressed. Our clothes are designed to flatter all shapes, so women will know before they put one of our pieces on that they will feel comfortable and stylish wearing it throughout the day.
Over the next five years, we have many things in the works for CobbleStone Living. We recently merged our two brands (Deux Pêches and CobbleStone Living) to the CobbleStone Living name and are hoping to expand our retail distribution and travel accessory offerings. Currently, CobbleStone Living is sold in over 700 retail locations across the country including gift shops, nurseries, spas, hotels and apparel shops. We hope to continue to increase the number of locations our products are sold in, as well as, try to expand internationally.
Overall, I have been very lucky in that I truly haven’t had too difficult of a journey. But, it wouldn’t be entrepreneurship without a few bumps in the road. I hope the following masterclasses will help you with a few of the hurdles we have faced, and some key items we have learned to live and learn by at CobbleStone Living.
YOUR GUIDE TO OVERCOME IMPORT CHALLENGES
As I import all of my clothes from Italy, it can produce some challenges. One of my biggest mistakes starting out was not fully understanding the importing process. We did not realize the impact of duty charges; we didn’t understand it in depth enough. When we did our first pricing release, we priced based on our initial charges and assumed that they would apply consistently. The first time we wired money to our manufacturer, the exchange rate was very good, and we didn’t take into consideration that would not always be the case. Thus, we based our prices on the fact that it would stay steady, but in reality, that can go in any direction at any point. Also, when speaking with manufacturers in other countries, you have to be very precise and cannot use any slang language. I’ve become close with the people I work with, and we exchange on social media, so it feels like I can be casual in communicating with them professionally, but the language barrier can sometimes be tricky. You just have to be very precise and effective with how you communicate your design ideas.
When we launched in Tango, we grew much more quickly than anticipated, which is definitely not a bad thing. But, just like anything else, you can grow a little too fast. It happened to be in July when our first big order was placed at the apparel show, and we didn’t take into account that Italian manufacturers close down for almost the entirety of August. We oversold and under delivered our very first order. Once you understand how to work with the overseas manufacturers and their schedule, you won’t make that mistake again. Because of our fast growth, we have had to move our warehouse five times now. Luckily, we found a great spot now that we can grow into.
USING LIMITED SKUS TO MAKE A BRAND STATEMENT
We keep our SKUs (Stock Keeping Units) limited because we target retail shops that typically carry little to no apparel goods with limited retail space. It is advantageous for us to keep our SKUs limited and versatile because it makes a statement as a brand. We want to be identifiable—when people walk into one of these retail shops, we want them to recognize our product. The easiest way to do this is to keep styles consistent and limited. The one size approach makes our silhouettes appropriate for gift shops because it takes out the guesswork for both the retail shop buyers, as well as, the person purchasing the silhouettes as gifts. As for our apparel shops, it is advantageous for them to have a new brand and new styles in stock that have not oversaturated the fashion market. Fortunately, we have not experienced this problem, but the disadvantage of having a limited number of SKUs is the actual limited number of styles available for purchase each year. If you select a few unpopular designs, that will lead to a significant decrease in your revenue for the year. We typically offer 15–20 designs in multiple colorways each season, and if five were not purchased, that would be a big hit to our bottom line. It can be challenging at times to continue coming up with enough new styles each year that can accommodate a range of sizes.
DEFINITION: SKU
In the field of inventory management, a stock keeping unit (SKU) is a machine-readable bar code printed on a product label that allows vendors to scan and track the movement of inventory. This identification is established by the merchant and is usually alphanumeric and representative of all attributes associated with the item for sale, clearly distinguishing it from other items. These attributes could include manufacturer, description, material, size, color, packaging and/or warranty terms. These codes are not regulated or standardized so when a company receives items from a vendor, it has a choice of maintaining the vendor’s SKU or creating its own. This makes them distinct from Global Trade Item Number (GTIN), which are regulated and standardized: Universal Product Code (UPC), International Article Number (EAN) and Australian Product Number (APN) are special cases of GTINs.
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