Pat Yates, president NJD Specialty Retail, Inc.

B E R N A D E T T E

S T A R Z E E

ENTREPRENEUR PROFILE

Giant Steps
Forward
Since Pat Yates took the reigns, NJD Specialty Retail has
quadrupled its Happy Feet locations, made huge strides in its
marketing, and launched a new Animal Feet line thats
stepping up sales.
Ten years ago, shoppers slipped on their first Happy Feet oversized plush slippers,
purchased from a cart in Louisville, KY. Now NJD Specialty Retail, Inc., creator of
Happy Feet and a new Animal Feet line, has 190 locations in 40 states and three
foreign countries.
The formula for the companys success? Sticking with one thing and doing it well:
marketing oversized, colorful, sneaker-style slippers with a one-inch sole that give adults
and children the sensation that they are walking on pillows.
As a company, we have stayed very grounded, says Pat Yates, who bought the
company from his father, Chet, and stepmother, Sharon, in 2002. Were a slipper company. We wanted to make one thing and be successful at it.
When Yates took the reigns as company president, Happy Feet were sold from just 45
locations. His goal was to grow the company through improved distribution and a
greater marketing effort. He has succeeded.
We were very limited in our distribution lines just a few years ago, he explains. We
wanted to be more flexible and take a more customized approachto cater to people
who were buying smaller amounts, in addition to those buying full container loads.

Building for the future

To meet the needs of these diverse customers, in January, 2005 the company moved
into a new, state-of-the-art office and warehouse in Louisville that Yates says allows NJD
to provide more consistent customer service, more variety in distribution, and more
products to the companys customers.
Yates also focused on taking the companys marketing and advertising to the next
level. Last year, NJD signed an agreement with a Louisville advertising agency, Sheehy +
Associates, to develop new high-impact marketing materials. Together, Sheehy and NJD

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Continuing the family theme, pictures

of Pat, Sandy and their three children
appear on the About page. Pat discusses each family members interests on
the page and in it he pokes fun at them,
as well as himself.

ANIMAL FEET

Backing the team

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The clip was replayed on stations across

the country, much to Yatess delight.
And on the TNT talk show Inside the
NBA, basketball star Charles Barkley has
worn the orange-and-blue Happy Feet
slippers of his alma mater, the University
of Auburn. The slippers became a talking point on the show, says Yates. He
kept putting them up on the desk. It was
astounding. And a marketing bonanza.

Putting family first

NJD has always stressed that it is a family
owned company. People see stability in
a family situation, Yates says. The
whole family helps out in the business.
People feel more comfortable dealing
with family businesses. Yatess wife,
Sandy, is a vice president who handles
the finances and payables. And Chet
and Sharon Yates remain involved in the
business.
E v e n t h e c o m p a n y s W e b s i t e ,
b u y happyfeet.com, reflects the
organizations family orientation.
Our business philosophy is family
oriented, which makes us different
than many wholesalers and/or Web
vendors, the site reads. We are very
close to many of our operators and
their families, and we take lots of pride
in that.
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N J D S P E C I A LT Y R E TA I L , I N C .

created a DVD presentation, narrated

by Yates, that introduces the company
to thousands of potential operators and
mall managers across the country. The
DVD is the keystone of a larger marketing
package that includes more traditional
printed materials. The DVD helps put a
face with our name, and it helps people
understand how our company works,
says Yates. To me its the most important
marketing tool we have created.
Dave Carter, president and creative
director of Sheehy + Associates, agrees,
adding that Pat is a forward thinker
who has very creative ideas and is open
to new ideas. Hes a very aggressive
marketer, and he has his operators in
mind when producing marketing
materials. The DVD kit is a very userfriendly, one-stop-style descriptive
tool that allows people to understand the business.
Since Yates took the companys helm,
Happy Feets advertising budget has
increased by a whopping 800 percent.
But some of Happy Feets recent media
exposure has come gratis. In 2004, the
slippers had a walk-on role in ABCs The
Bachelorette, when Meridith was given
a pair of pink slippers with an embroidered rose by Rick, who proclaimed, I
will be with you every step of the way.

NJD now makes about 70 collegethemed slippers and 90 standard styles.

The color-combination possibilities are
endless, says Yates. A pink-and-white
style is the biggest seller among standard
slippers, while in terms of collegethemed styles, sales often depend on
which teams are hot at any given time.
This year, the University of Texas did
very well, says Yates. He notes that Ohio
State, Michigan and North Carolina are
perennial favorites. College slippers sell
particularly well in college-focused areas,
such as the Carolinas, he says.
Yates likes to shuffle around in redand-black University of Louisville slippers.
He is a big fan of the colleges sports
teams, particularly basketball. Its not
the coolest slipper, he says. But its my

Keeping operators happy

While its always a challenge for cart
operators to pick items that will move,
we have a lot of historical data to help
operators decide which sizes and styles
to stock, says Yates. And if an operator

places a large order of blue slippers, but

it becomes evident that green is the hot
color for that location that season, Happy
Feet will seamlessly stop the blue shipments and send green instead, he says.
Every mall is different, says Levine. For
instance, for suburban malls, we order
more kids sizes, and in urban malls, well
have more adult sizes. Levine also notes
that slippers in local high-school colors
sell very well.

HAPPY FEET

favorite. Employees at the company

headquarters often wear slippers around
the office. And why not? Theyre stylish,
comfortable and the boss is wearing
them, too.
Brian and Amy Levine operate four
Happy Feet carts in Massachusetts and
Rhode Island. We dont sell slippers; we
sell fun, says Brian Levine, who usually
slinks around the cart area in blue-andwhite slippers. Its a great product; its
age- and gender-neutral.
Last year, NJD added to the fun with
a new line called Animal Feet. The
limited distribution of lions, tigers,
elephants and other zoo animals was a
rousing success, says Yates, who came
up with the idea.
I wanted to make a realistic animal
slipper versus a cartoonish design, Yates
says. So far, turtles and monkeys have
walked off on the most feet. The company is expanding the line nationally and
increasing the number of styles from 19
to about 30. In conjunction with the animal line, the company created matching
stuffed toys for a combination gift. This
introduces an additional product line and
opens the door for even more creative
marketing.
About 80 percent of Happy Feet and
Animal Feet slippers are bought as gifts,
and the lions share of sales occurs from
October through December, says Yates.
But some carts have an expanded program
lasting from September through April. In
addition to selling slippers online and
providing custom orders to corporations,
schools and organizations, NJD has
several company-owned and -operated
mall carts. But the vast majority of its
locations are turnkey business opportunities for independent retailers who
purchase product wholesale.

Pat Yates, President

Company: NJD Specialty Retail, Inc.
Headquarters: Louisville, KY
Founded: 1996
Purchased: 2002
Products: Happy Feet and
Animal Feet slippers
Operations: Company-owned locations
and turnkey business opportunity
Number of corporate employees: 22
Number of locations, 2005: 190 in 40
states, Canada, Spain and England
Retail prices: $19.99 standard styles;
$24.99 college-themed styles
Markup: Just below 300 percent
Phone: 866-Happy Feet (427-7933)
Web sites: buyhappyfeet.com,
buyanimalfeet.com
Advice to retailers: Our product is
going to produce, and its not going to
go away tomorrow, but you must also
carefully scrutinize your location,
employees and mall lease.

Pat Yates

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NJD invites all operators to a one-day

training seminar that covers topics
such as selling, budgeting and operational issues. The company also provides
a comprehensive training video. Many
operators are brand-new to the business,
and this video shows them how to run
every facet of the business, says Yates.
We have a sales training meeting in
Chicago every year, but it costs operators money to travel. They can watch this
video at home as much as they want.
Levine says NJD's customer support
phenomenal. He notes: They make
sure we get the product we need.
Shipments are timely and well organized.
Pat Yates is extremely driven and focused
on making his retailers successful.
Happy Feet and Animal Feet slippers
sell for $19.99; college-themed styles
retail for $24.99. For most products, the
markup is just below 300 percent, Yates
says. He declines to discuss company
sales figures. But the Levines, whom Yates
called the top operators in the country,
have posted six-figure holiday seasons in
three of their locations.

Going places
NJD, which has Happy Feet locations in
Canada, Spain and England, is looking to
continue its growth in 2006, but will concentrate on the US, in particular the west
coast. Our base is in the east. If we have
a weak point geographically, it is the west
coast, says Yates. One of our goals is
to expand there.
With Yatess energy, enthusiasm and
creativity, theres no doubt that an
increased presence on the west coast
will be just one of many expansions destined to take place at NJD in the years to
come. And Yates will be there every step
to ensure everyones happy.
SRR

Bernadette Starzee, a Long Island, NY writer

who covers business, sports and lifestyle
topics, is a senior writer for SRR. She can be
reached at b.starzee@att.net.

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