A Chat With May’s Profile, Suzanne Vlietstra, president of Hobby Horse Clothing Co.

CS: What’s the average SKU count in your catalog?
SV: About 1,200.

CS: Overall SKUs?
SV: It’s probably about 1,500 or 1,600. There’s a few other styles. There’s some stuff we stick online that’s not always in the print catalog. But our print catalogs are kind of weird. It’s kind of “magalogy.” And so is our Web site. We’re real interactive with our customers. This is such a specialty niche. There’s a lot of newcomers in it that are a little overwhelmed with, “What do they need?” “How do they get it?” “What color do they wear?” They’re very excited about this. It’s very important to them. Like I said, it’s their passion. And yet a lot of them just don’t know really what to do. So we really try and hold their hand and help them.
Therefore in the catalog it’s quite “magalogy.” Every spread in the catalog has a sidebar that talks about some aspect of what they’re going to need to compete and be successful competitors utilizing our products or our product categories. I always say, “I don’t really care if they buy it from us, as long as they feel confident in their purchase.” Eventually they’ll buy something from us. And we’ll create a good impression by helping these people succeed in their sport.