Businesses That Work: The Spotted Zebra
Kellie Brown, Owner 

Kellie Brown, owner of The Spotted Zebra, has a great focus on specialty toy retailing. The store itself, tucked into the corner of a retail plaza in Fort Collins, Colorado, catches your eye with bold black and white zebras painted on the windows. Inside, the moderately sized store attracts children to the Brio train table set just to the left of the entrance. Set behind it is an attractive and affordable display of Brio pieces, priced to sell from impulse buy to birthday present. All of the displays are attractive, with toys placed at eye level for children of the appropriate age. There are building sets, musical instruments, science kits, make-it-yourself chocolate, art, scooters, and dolls. Butterfly Gardens and more. All of the toys here are chosen so that children can expand their imaginations and learn from play. 

ABC: What's the first toy you remember?   

Kellie: Lincoln Logs. My brothers were much older and I grew up with a lot of boy oriented things. Lincoln Logs are the first that I remember. It's a great creative toy, so open-ended. [Children] can use their imaginations, and I think that's the way that toys should be. [Children] should be able to explore what they want to do in their minds and not have something that tells [them] this is what you do and this is how you play with it. For children, toys are a learning aid. As they get older, they'll get cycled into "this is how things should be." They need to be creative.

ABC: What were you doing before you decided to open the shop?

Kellie: Before opening the shop, I worked for 8 years with a gentleman who was in business [in Fort Collins]. I helped [him] manage a chain of stores. We moved to Fort Collins 13 years ago when I was still in school. I always wanted to open my own business and finally took the step to do it.

ABC: When and how did you get the idea that you wanted to open a toy store?

Kellie: I got the idea about three and a half years ago. At that time, the only specialty toy store in Fort Collins was Children's Mercantile. It was downtown [north Fort Collins]. On the south part of town, there was nothing of that nature. I thought it was something that part of town could use. I enjoy business, I enjoy the aspects of toys, and I enjoy children. It just all came together.

ABC: Three and a half years ago; That means you didn't have a terribly long period of time between when you decided to start a business and when you actually did it.

Kellie: Not long at all. We were real fortunate. Everything just really pulled together and the timing of it ended up working out really well. I wasn't real gung-ho on being with all of the mass marketers because we're locally owned and we wanted that niche. We wanted to stay small. The [retail] complex we're in is a nice family-oriented complex and it's a nice little mixture of stores. All of the loans just fell into place. It was a lot easier than I ever anticipated it would be. I guess I always put it off, thinking it was going to be more of a struggle than it ended up being. It wasn't as scary as I thought. 

ABC: What did you major in?

Kellie: My major in college was business. I started with a math major but then decided that I didn't want to spend all of my time in a locked up, closed up building. I liked being around people. So I decided that this was the way to go and went ahead with the business. It was definitely a better way for me.

ABC: So your experience and education were the right mix to make sure you felt confident in what you were doing?

Kellie: [Yes.] The gentleman I worked for for eight years let me be involved in every aspect of [the business]. If I had gone to work for a corporate store, I wouldn't have gotten the hands-on experience of all of the different levels. I think that made a huge difference. If you go to work for a big company, you do your one little thing [while] I got a feel for everything. He was like a second family to me and it made a big difference.

ABC: How did you think of the name?

Kellie: Originally the name was going to be "The Zany Zebra" . . . and I just liked the way that went together. A friend of mine was talking about it with her nieces and nephews and they started joking with [the name]. "The Spotted Zebra" came out and they thought that was really funny. I thought that it was something unique and creative. That's what we wanted to be, something creative. So we came up with the name and found out when we were doing research that there used to actually be a spotted zebra, called the quagga, which became extinct about a century ago. It fell into place like everything else. A kid came up with it and it was unique and creative and I never would have thought of it on my own.

ABC: How did your family and friends feel about it when you decided to start a store?

Kellie: My friends thought it was great. My father's been in business in Colorado Springs for 40 years and he said, "Why do you want to do that? Didn't you learn by growing up and finding out what it's like to have your own business? Why do you want to do that to yourself?" He was supportive but he also knew the hard work and dedication that had to go in there. He's glad now. A lot of the reason I opened it was to have flexibility and be able to spend time with [my daughter]. [My father's] type of business wouldn't allow you to do that and he's pretty proud of it. My friends from the get-go have been pretty supportive and they thought it was so wonderful that I took this step and did it. That helps.

ABC: It looks like you've got a good merchandise mix.

Kellie: "Children's Mercantile" is [another] wonderful store downtown. We send people their way; they send people our way. We're geared to help the customers and we get an older clientele. As an example: When my daughter was born my father walked into "Toys R Us" to look for a gift and just walked around aimlessly. [He] had no clue and nobody could help him. We really like being small and focusing on people. It's great. Our customers are like friends. They come in and we know each other by name. It's been real nice that way. We're going to stay small and enjoy it that way.

ABC: You've got an amazing variety in a moderately sized store. How did you find your sources and what did you choose to stock?

Kellie: I knew what lines are the basic lines. There are basically six different [representatives] but each of them [represented] 20 or 30 different lines. That was probably the hardest part: starting the store from ground zero and having catalogs and catalogs of toys and going through them and narrowing it down. We are small and can't fit a whole lot of stuff in [the shop]. We pack it in as much as we can and we try to have a big mix of product. We don't have a lot of depth, (referring to the physical size of the store) but for our size, we do have a lot of width. We take a lot of input from customers on things they've seen and things that they remember. I'll keep a list of what they ask for, go through catalogs, search it out, and bring special items in just for them.   We listen to our customers. The first year was the hardest. I remember having catalogs and sitting on the floor. I'd be there 10 hours a day and go to bed and [think], "Why am I so sore?" Now, it's much easier. I go to the toy shows and see these wonderful things and walk around "Toys R Us" and see what they have, and see what I don't want in [my shop]. Not that "Toys R Us" is bad. There are some things you have to go to "Toys R Us" to get. I don't want to carry the same types of toys that they're carrying. We're a specialty toy store.

   Listen to your customers. We have so many repeat customers. [It helps to know the] different age groups and what they enjoy. The customers are the kids, too. Listen to what you hear out there and try to get the right mix and the right things. My choices are…going to be different. If I buy my toys just based on what I like, it's not going to work. Not everybody likes the same things, so you have to listen or you shouldn't be in business. We should be there for the customers.

ABC: Are you happy with your location?

Kellie: I'm happy with my location. With Steele's (a large, locally owned supermarket) and all of the buildings that are going in [around Steele's], it's going to be a good draw and a good mix. When I first opened, I felt so-so about the location because there wasn't a lot of retail [in the area]. I'm much happier with it now because of the expansion that's gone on. My choice would be to have my own building but real estate is too expensive to do that now. Overall, we're happy with our location.

ABC: What are the best promotional choices you've made?

Kellie: The best was running little ads in "The Coloradoan" [local newspaper]. When we first started, we ran them every day. … I think that helped us more than anything. My [representative at the newspaper] said that people would call "The Coloradoan" and want to run their ads with the "Zebra" ads because it had stuck in their minds. Having the "Spotted Zebra" was something that sticks in people's heads. They see the Zebra in the paper and they remember it. That's been one of the best things.

   [Carrying] Beanie Babies have probably helped more than anything because people search out the places that have the Beanie Babies. That has drawn people in. They're fun and affordable for kids. We spent our money promotionally in all sorts of different areas.

[Editors note 4/2001: This toy store has recently changed hands. It has a new location and a new owner but still has the same great name and great selection. The story was, and continues to be, a success story. Ms. Brown's exit strategy was successful and her brainchild lives on!]