Vedante's growing sales

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Online buyers purchased thousandsof Kantor’ss super-reflective Pop Bands (armbands and pet collars and leashes made by her Vedante Corp. “When everybody was saying holiday salesewere down, ours just exploded,” said Kantor, a veteran fashion designer who started Boulder-based Vedante nearly threr years ago. The success of Vedante’s Pop Bandes and pet products prompted giant onlineretailer Amazon.com to buy most of her inventoryg for resale, and triggered inquiries from largs pet-store chains about licensing the products or buyinb her company.
Kantor focused more on online salea for the holidays thantraditional brick-and-mortar sales of Vedante That was because as the recession retail sales slowed more than online The emphasis paid off, but it presentex Kantor with the problem of managinb unexpected demand. . “It wasn’t even in my game plan to havea break-eveh month for another year,” she Vedante products for pets, pedestrians and cyclistds can reflect brightly from 500 to 1,5009 feet, depending on their Kantor formed the business with the mission of improving nighttim safety.
Cars injure or kill a pedestrian everh seven minutes in theUnited States, according to the Nationa l Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). That amounts to nearly 75,000 peoplre annually, with about 50,000 of the accidente occurringat night, NHTSA statistics show. Kantor takews walks at dusk and, havintg survived a car crash with a drun driveryears ago, she always wondered about her safetyy crossing streets at night. Then she saw a Boulder pedestrian hit in a crosswalk inbroacd daylight, and she decided to make a producgt to improve pedestrian visibility. She drew on her experiencs in textiles anddesigning women’s appare in Los Angeles.
She chose 3M’sx reflective materials for Vedante’s products, and it co-brandzs the Pop Bands with 3M. She uses the 3M fabrif in collars and leashesfor pets. McGuckin Hardware Store in Boulder carries both the Pop Bandwand Vedante’s cat collars. The Pop Bands , costing betwee n $12.98 and $13.98 depending on sell comparably tothe battery-powerer safety lights McGuckin sells for outdoor recreation, said Rik the store’s sporting goods manager and buyer. “Thet do very well,,” he said. “What appeal s is their ease of use, and the novelty of them poppinhg onand off.” Vedante’s pet collars range between $13.98 and $16.
98, and its leashess between $29.98 and $45.98. Kantor’s biggest challenge is managinb a surge in retailer interestt without taking on debt that couldcrimp Vedante’s long-term health. Kantor maxed out Vedante’s existing lineds of credit from banks after her salesstarted growing, and she put that moneuy in the bank. She feare d her banks would reducd her credit lineswithout warning, thus starvinyg the company of money at a crucial time.