May 7, 2004

Moms’ Magic Touch Takes Taggies to the Top

Taggies, Inc. Named iParenting Media Award-Winner “Hottest Products for 2004”

Taggies, Inc. has been named a double winner in the iParenting Media Awards “Hottest Products for 2004” competition. The Spencer, Massachusetts company’s Little TAGGIES™ and Take-A-Long Taggies were each honored with an award.

“The products that won the title of Hottest Products for 2004 truly are the hottest products for families in today’s marketplace,” says Alvin All, CEO of iParenting Media. “The award winners endured rigorous testing and intensive review and demonstrated excellence in their product categories, making them smart purchases. Whether they are safe, educational, or just plain fun, they are all hot products.”

Hundreds of juvenile product companies submitted entries to the “Hottest Products for 2004” iParenting Media Awards competition. Each company submitted four identical samples of products entered for preliminary judging by a network of reviewers using iParenting’s proprietary technology. Experts, licensed childcare facilities/schools, and parents then reviewed the products and submitted a thorough evaluation of each item. Results were submitted to the iParenting Media Executive Committee for final approval

Julie Dix and Danielle Ayotte are the young moms behind Taggies – colorful fleece blankets edged all around with the small, satiny tags that little ones love to rub.

Dix, an early-childhood educator by training, noticed after the birth of one of her children that the smooth tags or labels attached to baby blankets often held more tactile fascination than the blankets themselves. A deft seamstress, Dix improved on a soft baby-size blanket by sewing brightly colored loops of ribbon all around its edges. Her toddler loved her blanket’s new "Taggies" – and when the mothers in her playgroup saw her creation, they loved it, too.

"We got along so well, right from the start," Ayotte says. "We have complementary expertise, but just as important, we really like each other and so do our families."

In classic entrepreneurial fashion, the pair worked from their homes, stacking boxes of product in their garages and praying the babies wouldn't cry during an important conference call. Today, with six children between them and a Taggies staff of 23 working from a real office, Ayotte and Dix still stagger their work hours to make sure they're available when the children need their moms.

"We've always been clear about arranging the work around our families, and because there are two of us, we can do it," Ayotte says. "Right now, for example, we each have a kindergartener, so one is in a morning class and the other goes afternoons. That way we get the 'mommy time' our kids need, as well as keeping up with the business."

Their children were still in arms when the manufacturing demands of the Taggies enterprise outgrew Dix’s sewing machine. Keeping operations close to home, the partners contracted with Massachusetts factories that continue to produce much of the product line. Today, even after some expansion to overseas plants, Dix says firmly, "we’re absolutely fanatical about quality control, especially anything that affects safety. You’ve never seen such well-sewn fabric products. Increasing sales and growing our product line are nowhere near as important to us as keeping standards high."

"These are products for babies and young children," Ayotte adds, "and there’s no bigger responsibility than that."

Like all small-business owners, the Taggies partners have encountered their share of bumps. There was their first big order of ribbons, which arrived COD. "We had no idea how much we’d ordered," Dix confesses, "and we had to call our husbands at work and ask them to pull together $500 right away to pay the UPS guy. They hadn’t really realized what we were getting into – well, neither did we! But they were incredibly supportive, then and now, and they came up with the cash without a moment’s hesitation."

Then there was the night of Dix’s hospital epiphany. "Julie took her son to the emergency room, and there were so many sick, crying children,"Ayotte recalls. "Her little boy was OK, but she felt so bad for all those other children that she went out to her car, brought inall the Taggies she had, and gave them out to the kids. It was so touching – but it was also our entire stock of Taggies!"

The inventory recovered, and the incident led to the company’s Random Acts of Kindness program, which invites customers to contribute to a fund designated for donating Taggies to ill or impoverished children. Taggies matches every donation, and in the past two years the program has reached out to needy children through 20 different hospitals, charitable organizations, and philanthropic foundations.

Today, as the Taggies partners oversee expansion into the European market, the fairy-tale feeling abides. "To tell the truth, we’re still pinching ourselves over all this," Dix says. "We call it 'tag-mania' because there's something magical about the simplicity and lovability of Taggies. Kids can't resist them, and parents appreciate their comforting, sleep-inducing qualities."

Less than five years after their creation, Taggies have topped 2 million in annual sales while providing countless hours of comfort for children. The Taggies product line has expanded to include plush toys, travel toys, pillows, and several sizes of blankets. And the runaway success of Scholastic Publications’ soft-cover "My First Taggies Book: Sweet Dreams" led Scholastic to follow up with a new soft-cover sensation, “My First Taggies Book: I Love You,” to be released in September 2004.

All Taggies products meet or exceed all voluntary standards and mandatory regulations set by the Consumer Product Safety Commission and American Society for Testing and Materials for children's blankets and toys, in addition to meeting Canadian and European standards.

For more information about TAGGIES, please contact:
Elizabeth Waldman Frazier
WALDMANIA! Public Relations
Telephone: (415) 334-2787
waldmania@comcast.net

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