BizAnalyst Network: Your Small Business Newsletter from U.S. Postal Service

Wednesday, February 15, 2006

Your Small Business Newsletter from U.S. Postal Service


Priority Mail® gets your packages there in two to three business days and is a great value, too. Put it to work for your business.	Request Carrier Pickup™ and we'll come and get your packages on-site. And there's no extra charge for pickup the next postal delivery day.	Click here to receive the print version of Small Business Impact, a free magazine exclusively for small business owners.	For valuable tips that can help grow your business, visit our Smart Business Web site.

Fashion catalog ships in style

When Bill Kenerson started his mail order company to sell bow ties, he had no idea it would grow into a $2 million business. Today, Beau Ties Ltd. ships ties all over the country, many of them in a rush. To make sure customers don't wait, Beau Ties uses Priority Mail. It's quick and cost-efficient.

Jeffrey Cohen in his showroom displaying mens suits

Jeffrey Cohen in his showroom displaying mens suits

	Challenge: Beau Ties Ltd. needed to get its ties to customers quickly and efficiently.
	USPS® Solution: Priority Mail packages that get there in two to three business days.
	Results: Speedy delivery while keeping costs down.

Deb Venman and Bill Kenerson started Beau Ties in their living room in 1993 and grew it into a $2 million business.

Bill Kenerson has always loved bow ties. The Vermont native has an impressive collection, some of them custom-made.

“I've always worn them,” explains Kenerson. “And being a bow tie wearer, you know it's not easy to find them.”

So when Kenerson got an idea to start a mail order catalog for the neckware, he was pretty sure it would be a hit. “I checked to see if there was a market and there was,” he says.

Working as a human resources specialist at the time, Kenerson, along with wife Deb Venman, started Beau Ties Ltd. out of their home in 1993. Today, the company is a $2 million cataloger that ships ties all over the nation.

Beau Ties, based in Middlebury, Vt., sells a wide selection and variety of bow ties, everything from striped to seasonal. And the United States Postal Service® helps the catalog company do that by offering timely and cost-efficient service. That includes using Priority Mail when customers need merchandise quickly.

“We use the Priority Mail when there's a timing issue — the holidays for example,” explains Kenerson, president of the company. “We've found that it fits into all of our packaging needs.”

By using Priority Mail, Beau Ties knows merchandise will get to customers in two to three business days.

“The customers are happy because they get the product on time — when they need it and when they want it,” says Kenerson. “It's been a fail-safe mode for us.”

Beau Ties, which started modestly with just a one-page flier, now mails nine catalogs each year to total 500,000 mailings. For the first six years of the business, Kenerson and Venman worked out of their home, eventually spreading the business across six rooms in the house. In 1999 they built a new building that paired the sewing and telephone sales operations.

Even as the company has grown, though, they've stayed with the U.S. Postal Service® for their shipping needs. “The Postal Service™ has been with us from the start,” Kenerson says. “Other shippers just can't compete at all on a regular basis with the cost of mailing one to three bow ties.”

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