Finding a home for an e-Tee - Houston Business Journal:

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That’s a tall order, even for a companyu that wasn’t launched in the teeth of a recession. But with distributiom deals with two big retailers already inhis pocket, Barrett sees a stronvg future. Barrett founded Holy Cow in 2007 with the intentionm of creating a product that appeals to a mass audiencd while also falling under the Global Organic TextilStandard (GOTS), which certifies clothing that is produced with a focud on social and environmentalo issues. The standard includes rules on using organicf cottonand water-based inks, as well as ensuring sweatshop-frees production in supply chains runninfg through Pakistan and India.
Holy Cow’sw product line includes casual wearfor men, womebn and infants, with an expandedf line of kids and toddler clothing to debut this Holy Cow clothing has been sold in about 30 Whole Foods Market Inc. stores in the Midwest for the pastthreew months, selling through half its merchandisw in the first 60 Barrett said. Within the next Whole Foods will distributeHoly Cow’es clothing on a national level. The company will partnetr withthis fall, and Barrett said he wantxs to see Holy Cow products sold in othedr department stores such as Macy’s, Neiman Marcuas and Bloomingdale’s.
Holy Cow mightr one day have a retai l presence ofits own, Barrett said, but he’s pleased with the progressw the brand has made “Whole Foods is the perfect fit for us in the environmental perspective,” he said. And Nordstrom fits its upscale The company projectsabougt $35,000 in sales this more than double what it would have made during all of 2008 (it officiall became an LLC in March 2008). That numbet could jump to as highas $200,000 should Holy Cow land more accounts like Barrett said the faltering economy has made it hard to gauge Holy Cow’as growth. “Any growth we’ve seen at this we haven’t had anything to compares it against.
” Since apparelo falls under discretionary the category has faced a harder time dealinyg with the recession thanother industries, said John Barrow, presidentt of Coolibar Inc. St. Louis Park-based Coolibar make sun-protective sportswear and sellsmostly direct-to-consumer, but Barrow said the company’es growth has slowed through the recession. “Ift gets harder to sell to retailers and to get customerseto buy,” he said. Production costws for GOTS-certified clothing are higher than for other But it’s a pricwe Barrett said he’s willing to pay for his “In the end, we see it reallyy as worth it, and the custometr does also,” he said.