You Won't Freeze in 32 Degrees!
by Jen Shenk
Christine Haley was a new mother who was staying home with her children in the late 1990s. She bought a sewing machine and taught herself the basics. She started designing hats for her children and what began as a hobby quickly turned into selling out of hats at local craft shows. Everywhere she went, people were asking where her kids got their hats. Soon she was making hats for her friends’ kids, then their friends, and eventually she formed a business that she named 32 Degrees. Over the years Christine has listened to customers and found out what their needs are. Customers commented that they'd like an infant hat that would fit for the full season or even more than one season, and Christine made her infants hats adjustable. All 32 Degrees hats are now made adjustable for growing heads and years of wear.
As she started attending bigger arts and crafts shows, she began copyrighting and winning artisan awards for her original designs. Each year she found herself traveling to shows further away than in previous years. About a year ago, Christine reached the capacity of what she could reasonably sew by herself and with the help of a few friends. Christine is very passionate about her designs and it came to the point where she was spending so much time designing, sewing and selling hats that she didn’t have a minute in the day to research other opportunities and contemplate the future of her business.
It was at this time that she decided to have her hats manufactured by others. Before you think that 32 Degrees hats are now ‘made in China’, the truth is that the hats are made right here in the USA. After several trips to an Amish community where she brought cutting and sewing machines as well as lots of fleece, Christine now has five Amish families producing the hats. After extensive training, the families who construct the 32 Degrees hats have the same exacting standards that Christine has always had. Christine bought a tool made for painting the eyes onto her Snowman hats, but noticed that the Amish eyes came out so much better than the ones she had done as samples. She asked them how they modified her technique. The answer? They actually used a common household nail to paint the eyes on, while Christine’s specialty tool lay there unused.
In 2009, Christine and her ‘helpers’ produced 15,000 hats and in 2010 hope to produce 20,000 of the high quality lined fleece hats. The Amish are always happy to take on more orders and can produce as many hats as there are orders for. They also get more families in the community involved when needed during the busy season. In order to transport the raw materials to the Amish families and get the completed hats in return, Christine uses Fedex Ground shipping.
How, you may be wondering, do these Amish families manage to make 15,000 hats a year without electricity? They’re pretty ingenious. They use a Hydraulic Clicker Press for cutting and several types of industrial sewing machines which run off a diesel engine outside of their home.
When I interviewed Christine Haley, the conversation kept coming back to the quality of her hats. She uses an extremely high quality anti-pill fleece that is purchased here in the USA. The quality of the 32 Degrees finished product far exceeds those made in China, with wholesale prices that are comparable to those same competitors.
A competitive advantage that Christine has is the capability to intervene in the production process at any point and make a design change. She can modify anything in the entire line mid-season if needed, yet still be ready to sell two weeks after the design change. She is able to purchase smaller quantities of materials and better manage cash flow than if she had to order large amounts of fabric or hats from China.
The best selling 32 Degrees design is the Penguin hat. There will be two new designs this year which Christine is confident will outsell the Penguins. Christine is a self-taught designer and her hat line has grown so much throughout the years, a success that she attributes to listening to her customers.
In 2009, Christine attended two kinds of shows, juried craft shows and high end art shows. In juried craft shows, artisans are generally accepted but the quality of work is lower than that of a high end art show. High end art shows attract a lot of people wanting to buy unique items that they won't find in everyday stores. It is pretty competitive for an artisan to get into these shows. Show promoters select four or five people for their jurying board. These people are predominantly principals in art studios or college arts professors. The jurying board members browse the show, meet with the artisans and discuss their work. If the jurying board determines that an artisan’s work is unique and most interesting, they nominate the work for show awards. 32 Degrees won the jury award at Arts Alive show in Ocean City, Maryland. This award came with a $500 cash prize and the coveted automatic acceptance into the next year's show.
When planning which shows to attend, Christine researches and applies for shows in January through April of each year for the next year’s show season. A typical show schedule is generally Friday through Sunday. If travel is involved, Christine leaves a day in advance because it takes several hours to set up an attractive display. Some shows run for three days but Christine has attended shows such as The Big E (Eastern States Exposition) that are up to 17 days in a row, all with 12 hour days. The days are long but, for the most part, enjoyable. Christine noted that the mood of the crowd seems to vary in different geographic areas and venues. In Chicago she found the people to be very friendly and really appreciative of art. Chicago is an expensive city to live in and show fees are very costly. Working the Merchandise Mart show for four days turned out to be her best show in 2009.
Many of the shows are outdoors where weather is a factor, sometimes with high winds, extremely high temperatures and freezing rain or snow. After a show it takes a few hours to break down and pack up. She sometimes drives overnight to get back home to take care of her family early the next morning.
Taking in all of her hat designs, I especially liked the helmet covers. Design ideas seem to come naturally to Christine and I suspect that she can’t possibly design as quickly as her imagination is working. She always listens to her customers who constantly give her their ideas and suggestions.
What does the future hold for 32 Degrees?
Christine brainstorms her hats for design for warmth. She is currently researching other materials, such as performance fabrics, for two new lines she plans to launch in 2012, with something for everyone. Selling hats has become so much more involved than just designing and making them. She has had to research hang tags, care labels and packaging and work this all into the price of each hat. In 2010 Christine plans to attend arts and craft shows as well as trade shows that attract boutiques and gift store owners, with a goal to acquire more wholesale accounts. Her future plans are to be able to focus solely on being a hat designer, and to hire outside help for producing, accounting and marketing, allowing her to have a 100% wholesale business.
2010 shows (preliminary listing)