pet beds and more

PET TESTIMONIAL

Jerry,

Attached is a photo taken Xmas 2017 of William (12 1/2 yrs., on the left) and Suzie (11 months old, on the right) on your navy blue 40” oval dog bed. Both are miniature poodles, which run around 30 lbs. when mature.

We ordered it from you last fall because William had bad arthritis in his front left leg as well as being half deaf, and we felt from our own experience with your Lamilite products for humans that the dog bed would provide him with much needed warmth.

William, who sleeps on our bed on top of my Wiggys vest every night, lay right down on his new bed right away - he seemed to know it was for him. He uses it all the time during the day and because it is so light we move it around easily from kitchen to TV room etc. as in his old age he wants the human company and it’s difficult for him to walk. And then much to our surprise, his understudy Suzie the pup got onto it with him!

Thanks for creating a product that gives comfort to dogs!

Don

Cookie my standard poodle has one a long side my desk and one in the den. She has even left the sofa sleeping next to me when looking at the TV for the dog bed on the floor. I have a TV blanket on my bed which is what she sleeps on as well. Over the years I have received a number of pictures from satisfied dog and cat owners of my pet beds. At one time I had as many as 5 cats and they all slept on a Lamilite bed of sorts. I suspect the fact that the animal’s body heat just stays under them and builds up to some degree and may very well sooth the arthritic discomfort.

At one time one of my cats at age 15 started limping and I brought her to the vet and he gave her injections (3 of them 1 per week) of Adequin (spelling?) and in 24 hours she was running around like a kitten. She never had a second problem and lived until 18 ½ years old. I still use the same vet and if Cookie becomes arthritic she will also get the injections.

CHEAPER PRODUCT WITH MORE PROFIT

Sporting Goods Business on line publication had a most interesting article about how Dick’s Sporting Goods does business.

For a number of years they have sold Nike and Under Armour products. For the past 3 years their sales’ of these brands has decreased because they are selling I guess the same products under their own private label.

Dick’s is going to China I guess and sitting down with probably the same contract factories these other companies use and they give them orders for probably the same basic garments. IF they can I assume the ask for better pricing, but regardless if the price is the same for the garments from the factory they still have saved the profit margin that they would have paid to Nike or UA. Now they sell these garments for less than the branded garments so the consumer pays less, but the margin of profit is greater.

This is a route that was taken by LL Bean and REI to mention two of several large chain operations that have been doing the same thing for years.

Brand name products are developed by companies that want their brand recognized and do R&D regardless if it results in a good or so, soproduct. Retailers are interested in one thing and one thing only selling the product and generating the greatest margin of profit, and if the company is publicly traded they have to satisfy their stock holders. The stock holders are not concerned if what is sold is a good or bad product so long as it is sold profitably.The retailers are copying without knowing why a product is made.They do not go through the testing of materials before they are converted into a product as the branded companies do. But the retailer will use the same words to describe what they are selling and might even say compare to this or that company and save x number of dollars.

One interesting comment from Simon Gutman of Morgan Stanly is and I quote; “the retailer (Dick’s) has reduced the store’s exposure to the struggling brand (UA)”. He wrote in a note to clients, “Bulls could look at this favorably as DKS (Dick’s private label brand) replaces UAA sales with higher-margin private label revenue”.

Maybe UA would not be a struggling brand if Dick’s did not work at under cutting them.

I also believe that the copied product will be a cheaper product overall, because the buyer Dick’s in this case really and truly does not care. According to Seth Sigman at Credit Suisse said and I quote;” given Dick’s sales shortfall in 2017, he wasn’t sure whether the stores private brands could “drive incremental growth, vs. just taking share of shelf”.

Maybe Dick’s should stop opening stores all over the country as they have and continue to do. Those stores employ people and must have inventory which is costly. These publicly traded companies never pull in their horns when revenues drop, they just expand on the assumption that they can make up the difference with another outlet. They may eventually follow the path set by Sports Authority.

I cannot encourage people in the industry or any industry to work at producing in the USA because I believe per my experience with Wiggy’s that product will be made better and will be priced right. I also believe we have a population that truly wants to support American companies. Also these companies should be mail order as I am and not try for a grand slam selling the retailer, in that way they have far better control of their company.