Profile of Success: A Cataloger Who Sticks Taffy Pulls a Profit

Background: The fourth generation in his family to run the business, Frank Glaser has led James’ Candy for more than 35 years. He grew up by the beach in Atlantic City, N.J., and gradually took over the business from his father and three uncles. In 1991, Glaser acquired Fralinger’s Salt Water Taffy, the James family’s longtime rival in the taffy business — both businesses were established along the boardwalk in the 1880s.

Then in 1999, Glaser decided to cash in on traditional holiday season mail order sales by launching a full-fledged catalog.

Biggest initial challenge: Initially convinced he could figure out everything he needed to know about cataloging on his own, Glaser spent two years trying to get the catalog business off the ground while still running the retail side of the company. But turning his list of retail customers into a mailing list, physically creating a catalog, and managing the resulting orders was beyond his skill level and his limited staff’s abilities.

How he dealt with it: Although he first had to come to terms both with his lack of catalog experience and the cost of bringing in additional help, Glaser in 2001 hired a catalog consultant and set up the James’ and Fralinger’s catalog as a standalone business. “The biggest problem in most businesses is not spending enough to educate yourself,” Glaser says. “Without that knowledge, you waste a lot of time and energy.”

Biggest current challenge: Managing growth. Since he set it apart from the retail business five years ago, Glaser’s catalog business has grown 30 percent each year. Although a tightening up of the company’s manufacturing arm in 2002 freed up additional space at its main offices, the expanding catalog call center and fulfillment operation has since filled that space. “I’m not sure we’ll be able to keep the catalog operations at this office while maintaining our high growth rate,” Glaser says.

Key to success: A story. No doubt, the nostalgia of buying taffy at the seashore has driven James’ and Fralinger’s success. “You have to have a story,” Glaser points out, “and ours is more than 100 years old. That helps an awful lot.”

To tell the company’s story, each package of taffy or candy is styled exactly as it was in the early 1900s, with vintage art and text.

What about the business appeals to Glaser? The limitless potential of catalog prospecting. “In the retail market, you’ve got to wait for someone to walk by your front door,” he laments. “But in the catalog business, you can bring your front door to the customer and hopefully you have something in common.” The catalog also allows Glaser to drive business during the end-of-year holiday season, which traditionally is a weak time of year for his beachside retail stores.

About James’ and Fralinger’s Saltwater Taffy
Company founded: 1880s
Catalog established: 1999
Headquarters: Atlantic City, N.J.
Primary merchandise: salt water taffy, fudge, macaroons and chocolates
# of SKUs: 120
Customer demographics: current or former east coast dwellers, ages 40 to 60
Sales channels: retail 80 percent; direct (including catalog and Internet) 15 percent; wholesale 5 percent
# of employees: 220 in summer, 100 in off-season
# of stores: 13