america - MIXT Studio

MADE IN
A
C
I
R
AME
With the
right marketin
g and
promotions,
retailers can
take advanta
ge of the
renewed inte
rest in
U.S.-made g
oods.
S
R
E
T
T
A
M
Q
By Megy Karydes
uick: Where are American Girl dolls
made? Would you be surprised to
learn the tag says China? How about Fourth
of July products? One Florida woman was
shocked to find everything she wanted to
buy for Fourth of July—a holiday specifically
meant to celebrate American independence—
was made overseas. She gave up and decided
not to buy anything.
Stories such as this are becoming more
common as shoppers actively search for
U.S.-made gifts, jewelry, home decor and
apparel and come up empty. Although many
popular items are made in other countries,
LEFT: Apron, Alice’s Cottage, 800-288-7977,
www.alicescottage.com.
BELOW: Flying Turtle Scooter, Mason Corp.,
800-821-4141, www.masoncorporation.com.
digPLUS
digPLUS
Watch a video
interview with
Deborah Leydig
of Norton’s USA
36 Smart Retailer MAR/APR 2013
ABOVE: Classic Helicopter Toy, Maple
Landmark, Inc., 800-421-4223, www.
maplelandmark.com.
the industry is seeing a renewed interest in
merchandise made in the United States. And
retailers are working hard to provide highquality and affordable products to meet that
customer demand.
Deborah Leydig took five years to
research and find a great selection of madein-America products before opening up her
general store, Norton’s USA, in Barrington,
Illinois, in 2007. Her shop carries more than
2,500 products, including can openers, garden shoes, toys, clothing and stainless-steel
cookware—all of which are made in the
United States. Yet, Leydig admits her biggest
challenge is still finding products to buy
since not enough companies are producing
in America. The consumer demand is there,
although supply lags.
“I hope to convince some of our biggest
companies to bring products back to the
USA, and that is why I started my ‘Bring One
Home’ campaign,” says Leydig. “To bring all
the manufacturing back is huge, but if companies brought one product back at a time,
they would see that people want Americanmade and it is a win-win for everyone.”
In the meantime, retailers such as Leydig
insist that there are still plenty of great
American-made options, and Margit Price,
co-owner of The Bird in Hand in Holliston,
Massachusetts, says she’s more than happy
to show customers options. In fact, her store,
located 35 miles from Boston, is becoming
known as “the” place to find U.S.-made
products. “Although we don’t carry only
made-in-America products, more than 50
percent of our items are from the USA, and
we really make it a point to call out those
items,” says Price.
LEFT: Camo Bucky Deer
Trophy, Cardboard
Safari, 877-895-9453,
www.cardboard
safari.com.
BELOW: Striped Bass Grille Ornament,
Grillie, 855-447-4554, www.grillie.com.
ABOVE: Art & Soul of America Prints,
MarketShare Gifts / Anderson Design
Group, 888-262-6088, www.marketshare
gifts.com.
LEFT: Reusable Wine Bags, Mixt Studio,
310-698-3653, www.mixtstudio.com.
Top Tips for Selling
American-Made Products
1. Highlight your Made-in-America section with special signage
and unique decor.
2. Include biographies of artists
Making it easy for shoppers to find such
products is key, so if a customer comes in
looking for a gift in the $20 range and made
in the USA, Price has a list prepared to share.
Education and reinforcement are key
parts of the plan, too. “We have bio cards on
our artists that we display with their items on
the sales floor and that we give [to customers] with their purchases,” she says. “When
we’re wrapping a gift, we thank our customers and remind them that they bought
American today. Even our gift-wrapping is
made in America. We share items on our
Facebook page and in our e-mail newsletters. On Facebook, we include inspirational
quotes about buying American.
“We need to remind shoppers that what
they buy has an impact on someone, somewhere,” she says. “What they buy matters.
And most of our customers want to make a
positive impact.”
near their products, or go one step
further and show videos of how
the products are made.
Keeping Jobs Local
National news is helping to spur interest,
too. A series called Made in America on ABC
World News with Diane Sawyer challenged
Americans during the past two holiday seasons to spend just $64 on U.S.-made holiday
gifts. According to the program, if consumers redirected their spending from buying
imported products to American items, it
would create 200,000 U.S. jobs. It even has
attempted to create a “master” list of madein-the-USA retailers online to help shoppers
find them easier.
Besides keeping jobs within country
boundaries, retailers also choose to stock
American-made products because of their
workmanship. “American-made products
have wonderful quality,” notes Leydig.
“They have a certain heft to them, and
3. Note with an icon or special
wording which products are U.S.made on your e-commerce site.
4. Feature inspirational quotes
or articles about American-made
items on your website or socialmedia sites.
5. Work with U.S. companies to
create special products that are
exclusive to your shop.
6. Remind customers that they are
doing more than buying a product; they are contributing to the
local economy.
7. Practice what you preach. Use
American-made gift wrap and
bags for customers’ purchases.
www.smart-retailer.com 37
when you walk in my store, you can just
feel the difference. Even the smell of the
store is different than when you walk into
my store as opposed to a store that is all
made offshore. We make great stuff!”
Is American-Made Really
More Expensive?
Hot Peppers Sprout ‘n Grow Greenhouse,
DuneCraft, 800-306-4168, www.dunecraft.com.
Who’s More Likely to Buy U.S.-Made Goods?
An Adweek Media/Harris Poll survey from a few years ago
found that three in five Americans were more likely to purchase a product when the ad emphasized that it was made in
America. The survey also found:
• 75% of U.S. adults age 55 and older were more likely to buy
a product that emphasized it was made in America; 66% of
those 45–54 said the same thing.
• 67% of Midwesterners were more likely to purchase a product promoted as made in America. In the South, it was 61%; in
the East, 60%; and in the West, 57%.
Source: Adweek Media/Harris Poll survey of 2,163 U.S. adults surveyed online July 2010 by Harris Interactive.
Honor the men in your life
with a sign from
Kitty Swingle, co-owner of Kitty’s, Ltd., in
Millsboro, Delaware, recognizes that some
American-made products cost slightly
more than their import counterparts, but
she says, it’s not hard to find great products
at affordable price points. Sometimes, that
means working with artisans to create those
products. “One of our artisans had these
great table toppers that were large, so I asked
her if she created smaller versions,” Swingle
says. “Not only did that bring the price point
down, but we have more styles for customers
to choose from.”
That’s just one of the benefits of working
with artists in the United States. Retailers
can’t make those specialized products come
to life if they are only working with large
manufacturers importing mass-produced
items from China.
To boost sales, Swingle makes a point to
share artists’ names with customers. She says
that it reminds customers that the products
are made by a person’s hands and makes the
purchase more personal.
To combat the pricing obstacle, Kitty’s,
Ltd., offers layaway, which Swingle says is
huge for her shop. “We’ve always offered
layaway, and we have customers who have
increased their purchases because they know
they can put everything on layaway,” she says.
“It’s just another way we want to tell customers that you can buy American and afford it.”
And what about the Florida resident who
couldn’t find Fourth of July decor? She says
that she wishes more retailers would not
only sell U.S.-made items but call them out
better in their shops with signage or a separate section dedicated to made-in-America
products. “The confidence of going into a
department and knowing that everything
in it was made in the United States would
make life as a consumer so much easier,” she
says. “I think it would also promote sales of
products made in America.”
When it comes to stocking their shelves,
most retailers successfully find products
Pedal Firetruck Ornament,
ChemArt Co., 800-521-5001,
www.chemart.com.
by searching online. Others attend
trade shows such as Market Square’s
Gallery in Oaks, Pennsylvania,
which only features one-of-a-kind and
limited-edition pieces made in America,
or visiting dedicated handmade sections
within larger trade shows in Atlanta, New
York City and Chicago. Still, others receive
great recommendations from customers
who share the same mission of finding and
supporting American-produced products.
To some, “Made in the USA” is a lifetime
commitment. To others, it can be the deciding factor when making a buying decision.
Find More
Products Online
The Made in USA Challenge blog
(www.madeinusachallenge.com) offers
a variety of resources for U.S.-made
products. The writer developed the
site as a resource for consumers,
but many of the companies
listed also sell wholesale.
“We don’t try to appeal to everyone,” says
Swingle. “But if someone comes to our
store and can only spend $5 or $10, we have
something for them.”
Experience the handmade
quality of goat milk soaps, lotions,
body butters, lip balms & bath salts.
Brochures and samples available.
Windrift Hill
PO Box 592 • Conrad, MT 59425
Phone: 406-278-5872 • Fax: 406-278-9187
Proudly Made in the USA
Call us for a brand-NEW catalog!
937-643-1695 Fax: 937-643-1666
www.jonesrusticsigns.com
38 Smart Retailer MAR/APR 2013
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