Craft Focus - Apr/May (Issue 72)

65 PROFILE How would you advise a retailer who is interested in stocking Mouseloft kits? Our products are impulse purchases, so why not put a display box by the till and see how they go? We offer a point of sale display in white card which has a base measurement of 24cm x 34cm. The Tiddlers box is even smaller. There will be a colourful sticker appropriate to the range in the box and we can also supply lifelike printed models of finished pieces. What sets you apart from your competitors? Our kits are all exclusive to us and we do not produce licensed designs. We put a lot of effort into making a good-looking image which fits our standard size of a 64mm circle. If it won’t fit the circle it doesn’t go in the range! In this way we keep control and produce a standard difficulty level and price point which matches the profile of our core business. To make a living selling so many small items we must maintain a very efficient work ethic. We have become experts in our field. How has the product changed since you’ve been in business? In many ways things have changed very little – cross stitch will always be in fashion and has been since the Victorian era. Although we started out in 1995 using a computer database, the digital age has crept up on us and transformed much of our back- office work. Most of our orders now arrive from our website. The only real difference to our product is the addition of a QR code, which takes the user to our website help page where they can access cross stitch tips. Do you exhibit at any trade or consumer shows? We only go to one show each year – CHSI Stitches. Whilst we do sell direct to the public our core business is trade. Because our product is usually an impulse purchase it tends to do better as an add-on rather than as a standalone item. How do you expect the company to evolve in future? We have no plans to change – why fix something that isn’t broken? We will continue to refine our ability to create nice designs in a small size and add these to the mix, whilst also hanging onto bestsellers from the past. “We put a lot of effort into making a good-looking image which f its our standard size of a 64mm circle. If it won’t f it the circle it doesn’t go in the range! In this way we keep contr ol and pr oduce a standard diff iculty level and price point which matches the pr of ile of our core business.” Mouseloft W: mouseloft.co.uk