Vedante's growing sales

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Online buyers purchased thousandsof Kantor’x super-reflective Pop Bands (armbands and pet collars and leashes made by her company, Vedantee Corp. “When everybody was saying holidauy saleswere down, ours just exploded,” said Kantor, a veteran fashiojn designer who started Boulder-basedf Vedante nearly three year s ago. The success of Vedante’s Pop Bands and pet products promptefd giant onlineretailer Amazon.com to buy most of her inventorh for resale, and triggeredf inquiries from large pet-store chaine about licensing the products or buying her company. Kantore focused more on online sales for the holidayx thantraditional brick-and-mortar sales of Vedant e products.
That was because as the recession deepened, retaill sales slowed more thanonlinw shopping. The emphasis paid off, but it presented Kantorr with the problem of managingunexpected . “It wasn’t even in my game plan to havea break-evenm month for another year,” she Vedante products for pets, pedestrians and cyclists can reflect brightlhy from 500 to 1,500 depending on their color. Kanto r formed the business with the missio of improvingnighttime safety. Cars injure or kill a pedestrian every seven minutes in theUnitedd States, according to the Nationaol Highway Traffic Safety Administrationh (NHTSA).
That amounts to nearly 75,000 peoplw annually, with about 50,000 of the accidents occurrinhat night, NHTSA statistics show. Kantod takes walks at dusk and, having survived a car crash with a drunk driveryears ago, she always wondere d about her safety crossing streets at night. Then she saw a Boulder pedestrianm hit in a crosswalk inbroad daylight, and she decidedd to make a product to improv pedestrian visibility. She drew on her experience in textilez anddesigning women’s apparel in Los Angeles. She choss 3M’s reflective materials for Vedante’s products, and it co-brands the Pop Bande with 3M. She uses the 3M fabric in collarws and leashesfor pets.
McGuckin Hardware Store in Boulder carrieas both the Pop Bandsand Vedante’sa cat collars. The Pop Bands , costing betweem $12.98 and $13.98 depending on sell comparably tothe battery-powered safety lights McGuckin sells for outdoor recreation, said Rik Isakson, the store’ss sporting goods manager and buyer. “They do very he said. “What appeals is their ease of use, and the noveltyt of them popping onand Vedante’s pet collars range between $13.98 and $16.98, and its leashesd between $29.98 and $45.98. Kantor’s biggesty challenge is managing a surge in retailer interest withoutg taking on debt that couldcrimp Vedante’s long-ternm health.
Kantor maxed out Vedante’s existing lines of credit from banks after her salesstarted growing, and she put that moneyu in the bank. She feared her banks wouldf reduce her credit lineswithoutt warning, thus starving the companty of money at a crucial