Good ideas can come from the smallest things. A stay-at-home mom with a
degree in education, Julie Dix noticed that her toddler loved to play with the
satiny tags and ribbon borders on his soft toys and blankets.
Dix found that this activity not only soothed the child but also helped
develop his fine motor skills. So she dragged out her mother's old Singer sewing
machine and began adding brightly colored ribbon loops to her son's blanket.
Mothers at her son's playgroup noticed the tags and asked Dix to make blankets
with tags for them. Soon all the playgroup mothers had blankets with tags--or
Taggies, as they called them.
Enter Danielle Ayotte, a new mom who met Dix in the playgroup. "My daughter
was a colicky baby who seemed comforted only by her 'blankie,' " Ayotte says.
"Over time, I realized it wasn't the blanket itself, but the satin wash tag on
the blanket that fascinated and calmed her. I suggested to Julie that we start a
business. 'You sew, I'll sell,' I told her."
With Dix still making blankets in her living room, the women secured a patent
and trademark protection for Dix's idea in 1999 and incorporated as
Taggies Inc.
Ayotte began selling Taggies at local craft fairs, where they sold out repeatedly. When reorders from a local
store arrived only two weeks after placement, the two women realized that
Taggies would be big. "Our vision had been limited to our local area," Ayotte
says.
Soon both women were sewing Taggies full-time and hiring local seamstresses
to help. Still, consumer demand was outstripping production. In 2001, they hired
their first domestic manufacturing company and, six months later, added a second
factory to increase output.
Today, Dix oversees operations, which includes a 10,000-square-foot
warehouse, the office and Taggie suppliers. She also hires and trains 30
full-time and 20 part-time employees. Ayotte focuses on product design and
sales.
Taggies' diverse product line is sold on the internet, through upscale
catalogs and at boutique children's stores in the U.S., and in several other
countries. In addition to blankets, products include books, soft blocks, pillows
and stuffed toys geared toward infants and toddlers, all featuring the signature
satin tags.
The two have succeeded in building a company with nearly $5 million in gross
sales and more than $15 million through brand sales and licensees. Their growth
strategy of partnering with licensors has enabled them to sell Taggies at retail
in more than 4,500 gift shops throughout the world. In 2003, Scholastic, the
world's largest children's book publisher, partnered with Taggies to launch
several book titles. First TAGGIES Book: Sweet Dreams became Scholastic's
best seller that year. Through another partnership arrangement, Mary Meyer, a
longtime leader in the children's educational field, introduced a new line of
educational Taggies plush toys in 2006.
Both Ayotte and Dix agree that their biggest challenges were keeping up with
the company's growth--hiring and training new employees, securing capital for
expansion and relocating office space--and being on an uphill learning curve.
"Luckily we both like to learn, or we could never have done it," Ayotte says
with a laugh. "We've juggled kids and the business all the way, and we've stayed
best friends. We knew Taggies made our kids happy, and we wanted to make other
kids happy."
Although deeply involved in the business, the women say they do what most
moms of children ages 9 to 15 do: Schedule their kids' activities and chauffer
their progeny around.