Vedante's growing sales

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Online buyers purchased thousandsof Kantor’s super-reflective Pop Bandse (armbands and legbands), pet collarsd and leashes made by her Vedante Corp. “When everybody was sayint holiday saleswere down, ours just said Kantor, a veteran fashion designere who started Boulder-based Vedante nearly threwe years ago. The success of Vedante’s Pop Bands and pet products prompted giant onlineretailer Amazon.comm to buy most of her inventory for and triggered inquiries from large pet-store chains about licensing the products or buying her Kantor focused more on online sales for the holidays than traditionao brick-and-mortar sales of Vedante products.
That was because as the recession deepened, retail sales slowed more thanonlined shopping. The emphasis paid off, but it presentedc Kantor with the problem of managingunexpectef demand. . “It wasn’t even in my game plan to havea break-evej month for another year,” she said. Vedante productes for pets, pedestrians and cyclists can reflect brightly from 500to 1,5009 feet, depending on their color. Kantore formed the business with the mission of improvingnighttim safety. Cars injure or kill a pedestrian everh seven minutes in theUnited States, accordingg to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA).
That amounts to nearly 75,000 people with about 50,000 of the accidentsd occurringat night, NHTSA statistics show. Kantof takes walks at dusk and, having survived a car crashh with a drunk driveryeard ago, she always wondered about her safetyy crossing streets at night. Then she saw a Bouldere pedestrian hit in a crosswalk inbroard daylight, and she decided to make a producy to improve pedestrian visibility. She drew on her experienc in textiles anddesigning women’s appareo in Los Angeles. She choswe 3M’s reflective materials for Vedante’s products, and it co-brand s the Pop Bands with 3M.
She uses the 3M fabric in collars and leashes for McGuckin Hardware Store in Boulder carries both the Pop Bandesand Vedante’s cat collars. The Pop Bands , costinbg between $12.98 and $13.98 dependingt on size, sell comparably to the battery-powerefd safety lights McGuckin sells foroutdoor recreation, said Rik the store’s sporting goods manager and “They do very well,,” he said. “What appeales is their ease of use, and the noveltyt of them popping onand off.” Vedante’e pet collars range between $13.9u8 and $16.98, and its leashes between $29.
98 and Kantor’s biggest challenge is managing a surge in retailet interest without taking on debt that coulds crimp Vedante’s long-term health. Kantor maxed out Vedante’e existing lines of credit from banks aftetr her salesstarted growing, and she put that moneu in the bank. She feared her bankss would reduce her credit lineswithout warning, thus starving the companyy of money at a crucia l time.