B.C. Small Businesses Find Unusual Markets

From brollies for Victoria’s Secret to brooms for Harry Potter: carving out a small-business niche. The story of Sir Isaac Newton and his apple teaches that inspiration can come from strange places. Such was the case for one Sunshine Coast-based small-business owner, whose propensity for heat stroke inspired her creations, which became key props in Victoria’s Secret’s US$12-million fashion show.

By Daina Lawrence / October 5, 2012

From brollies for Victoria’s Secret to brooms for Harry Potter: carving out a small-business niche.

The story of Sir Isaac Newton and his apple teaches that inspiration can come from strange places. Such was the case for one Sunshine Coast-based small-business owner, whose propensity for heat stroke inspired her creations, which became key props in Victoria’s Secret’s US$12-million fashion show.

“I’ve got fair skin – typical English skin, actually,” explains Joan Barrington, owner of Barrington Brolly in Gibsons. “I like to be outside, but as I got older I was finding it harder.”

Finding only paper parasols on the market, Barrington decided to open her own business specializing in parasols and umbrellas made of a sun-protective material called Solarweave. A baby boomer herself, she thought her product would appeal to women around her age with sun sensitivities. Instead, the theatre community came calling, inspiring Barrington’s first bit of business advice: “Be open to the unexpected,” as the clients you attract may not be the ones you anticipate.

Theatre has been her bread and butter, says Barrington, noting that her parasols have appeared in Broadway plays and, perhaps most famously, adorning Victoria’s Secret “angels” on the runway during the lingerie-maker’s 2011 New York fashion show. Barrington never expected to live off the income from her retirement hobby, but glamorous plugs have kept her busy filling orders.

Barrington Brolly isn’t the province’s only success story when it comes to odd products finding their way to notable places. Kootenay-based Yahk Soap Company’s product is on shelves at Disney World, and broom maker North Woven Broom, from the same region, had its wares snapped up for international promotions of the Harry Potter books and the 2005 movie Bewitched.

Doug Taylor, an international business consultant at Small Business B.C., says these quirky business ideas often sell because of their custom quality, and cautions that if business owners spread themselves too thin and the quality goes down, the orders often stop coming. Plus, he says with a laugh, “the product has to be useful. Giving Victoria’s Secret models a pet rock to carry doesn’t work.”

To that point, Gabriola Island’s Melanie Teichroeb, owner of Chalk it Up Signs, recently filled an order for 15 signs at a Manhattan deli and is negotiating a deal to supply a chain of breweries, also in NYC, with its signage. “It is one-of-a-kind art on every board, and that humanized, hand-drawn element is not something you get from a vinyl sign or a computer-generated image,” she says.

In April, Teichroeb bought the business from Claire Watson, who had built the company over 10 years, shipping unique chalkboard-art signs throughout the U.S. and to Asia. “Claire had created a great, vibrant business, but she was ready to step away from the business aspect and focus on her art,” explains Teichroeb. She adds that by buying Watson’s dependable international clientele and reputation for quality, not only is she able to make a comfortable living on a small island, but business is so good that her husband has quit his job to help run the company.

Keeping product focus tight is Barrington’s business mantra these days, and she advises her peers to be picky about where their product is sold, and to be cautious about expansion. Continued success “may mean saying no,” she says, before echoing Taylor’s advice: “Look after your image, because once it’s gone, it’s gone.”