New Jammies Makes Bedtimes Comfy AND Organically Educational
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Nicole Johnson has logged countless hours creating her cozy, colorful and playful New Jammies organic sleepwear collections. The sleepless nights that were spent making bedtimes better for children have resulted in sweet dreams for her business. Join The Giggle Guide® as we take a look “under the covers” and reveal how New Jammies has successfully managed to expand its product lines, sales force and national appeal.
When was your brand born, and what was the initial inspiration?
“The concept of New Jammies was born in 2004. At the time, my step-son was 9 and we had a difficult time finding good quality cotton pajamas for him. As I looked and looked, I realized that most of the pajamas available for children were treated with chemical flame retardants or were made of synthetics such as polyester. As a life-long hobby artist and doodler, I started sketching out some ideas for cotton “jammies”. One of them was big, bold prints of apples and bananas. Since bedtime ritual for us always included a healthy bedtime snack and reading a book, I thought why couldn’t the jammies include a learning aspect and include a story book to go with them.
Everything started to come together with the idea of teaching children about healthy foods through colorful imagery on their jammies and bedtime stories. Of course the “New” in Jammies came from the idea that there are always “new” children being brought into this world and there are always “new” things to learn!
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What was your experience prior to the brand launch?
“My background was actually as an organic chemist working in agricultural product development. I spent a few years as a chemist and went on to pursue my MBA at Rutgers University. When I decided to develop a cotton clothing line for children it made me step back and look at what was involved in growing cotton specifically and processing it into fabric. Despite the great strides that conventional agriculture has made in some areas, cotton is still one of the most heavily treated crops with some of the most acutely toxic compounds. I realized I could not in good consciousness create a product for children that would pollute the environment they were going to inherit. This set off my search for high- quality certified organic cotton, which is the only fiber we currently use in New Jammies. In addition, all of our dyes and prints are certified organic as well.
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What was the biggest challenge you faced when starting?
“The biggest challenge for me was my lack of experience in the apparel industry. It took me over a year to source my materials and the high-quality manufacturing facilities that help us produce New Jammies. In addition, I had to learn how to reach retailers and let them know our product was available. We continue to work to improve our product line with feedback from retailers and provide them with the best customer service.
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What is one thing you would have done differently?
“I wish I would have learned about safety standards early on. It was really hard to find anyone that knew anything about them, because honestly five years ago they were not talked about like they are now. I was a couple years in the development process before I actually knew specifics about the safety standards. I also wish I would have known more about manufacturing and organic products. Don’t forget to have people use your product and be open to suggestions. It is amazing to see how people find uses you did not even think about for your product. Do not box yourself in.
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What are the three biggest keys to your success?
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Persevering to develop a great organic cotton product. It would have been less expensive and easier for us to develop a conventional cotton product. I continued to search until I found a way to produce an organic cotton product. When we launched at MAGIC in February 2007, we were one of the only organic product lines for children at the show.
Responsiveness and reliable delivery. We aim to respond to all of our customers as soon as we receive questions and develop a solution or answer within 24 hours. Communication between our sales reps, management, and our warehouse is open and allows us to fulfill orders for immediates and seasonal deliveries in a timely manner.
Quality of our products. New Jammies has received many reviews and responses from moms that are extremely happy with the quality of our product. New Jammies have been praised for washability in lack of shrinkage, loss of shape or brilliance of color as well as size and fit. That being said, as a new designer, I am constantly looking for areas we can improve our products and offerings.
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Describe a typical new product development cycle for your business?
“For me the product development starts with a print theme. What things can we teach children about through visual imagery and is there a story that can be told about these images? This mostly begins with sketching and doodling, moving into graphic and color development for a collection. From there styling and product offering with samples developed for our sales reps to take to the retailers. As of now, we continue to carry our most popular prints and will discontinue others to make room for new products.
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Do “green” or eco-friendly concerns influence your business decisions?
“Of course! Not only are New Jammies certified organic cotton, but we use as little packaging as possible. Our Jammies are individually packaged for shipping in biodegradable cellophane packaging. We also use recycled paper products as much as possible for promotional materials and other shipping packaging. As we grow, reducing our carbon foot print on every level is a top priority for us.
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What is one new trend you’re seeing in the marketplace?
“Well, since our launch I’ve seen the number of green products grow exponentially which is fantastic. We believe being green is “common sense” and although it still makes our product offering unique we believe our styling, offering of fresh bold designs and educational bedtime stories, is our strength.
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How does your business make use of the Internet?
“New Jammies Web site is two-fold. It is designed to be educational for retailers and consumers. For retailers we provide links to wholesale pricing information, press, tradeshows, sale reps contacts, as well as information on our community involvement. For consumers, we provide educational resources about organics, natural products, articles of interest, direct links to all our online retailers, listings of all our retailers, recent press and a link to our own online shop.
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What is the biggest challenge your business faces today?
“Encouraging retailers to invest in a new brand. It takes time to prove the worth of a brand in any industry, especially in apparel. As the economy took a downturn, retailers tightened their orders and became more tentative about taking on new lines. New Jammies is eager to prove itself in the marketplace through high quality product offerings, reliable delivery, and outstanding customer service. We are also working diligently to make consumers aware of our products so that when entering a New Jammies retailer they are already familiar with our products.
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What is one change/addition that’s had a positive impact for your business in the last year?
“Getting great exposure from word-of-mouth or free publicity. Since we are a start-up we don’t have a huge budget to go towards advertising. The more we create awareness and are featured in reputable media outlets, the more willing consumers are to purchase the product.
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What is one change or addition that has had a positive impact for your business in the last year??
“New Jammies sales force has grown considerably in the last year which is giving us much greater exposure to retailers, as well as more direct contact with them. We now have showrooms in Atlanta, Dallas, and Los Angeles as well as 5 other regional sales reps We also hired a National sales Manager to oversee the sales operation. In addition, we have distribution in Canada. We are looking forward to working closer with retailers in upcoming years to provide them with new products their customers will love!
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What is one piece of advice for someone entering the children’s market?
“Create a long-term plan and vision for your company. As a new brand it takes time to develop relationships with your retailers and they want to be assured you will continue to build your product offerings for their customers.
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About New Jmamies
New Jammies is the maker of the first and only certified-organic and educational children’s pajamas in the world that come with matching storybooks. The concept, inspired by organic chemist Nicole Johnson, teaches children how to identify their healthy foods, nature’s critters, and exercise through the colorful patterns on the jammies and from the cartoon-like character and illustrations featured in the story books.
The first fruits & vegetable patterns were released in 2007. The company expanded in 2008 with a nature pattern. The newest resort prints offer golf, tennis, soccer, and swimming patterns that familiarize children with these important cultural and societal legacy sports that are passed from generation to generation. Each garment comes with the matching storybook Tales From New Jammie — Land: Tale 2: I Dream of Sports. The book features P.J. the rabbit who explores various sports that children play.
New Jammies recently hired Christine McCarthy of CMSM, LLC Childrenswear Sales and Management Consultant to represent the company as its National Sales Manager.
New Jammies will be at ENK Children’s Club, Javits Center, October 4-6, 2009. They also can be found at these showrooms:
California/Southwest
The Dressing Room is located in the California Market Center at 110 E. 9th St., Suite A-610 in Los Angeles. To schedule an appointment, call 213.623.4773 or email
Northern California
Gloria Davis Kids Wear & Accessories is located at the San Francisco Gift Center & Jewelry Mart at 888 Brannan Street Suite 3135 in San Francisco, CA. To schedule an appointment, call 415-437-1900 or email
Southeast
Atlanta Apparel Market. To schedule an appointment contact Lori Wilson at 615.264.4780
New Jammies products are available in select U.S. boutiques across the country and online, in sizes newborn to age 6 and are designed and manufactured in compliance with all consumer safety products regulations.
More information can be found at www.newjammies.com
The Giggle Guide™ ongoing series, “Behind the Brand” looks at both brand leaders and emerging brands. What brand would you like to hear more about? Let us know. Editorial Director David Gaunt, .
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