Tender Heart Treasures creates 90 percent of its own products—and considers this one of its competitive advantages.

By Alicia Orr Suman

“We’re building our e-commerce sites in conjunction with the other new systems,” says Lisa Kuehl, advertising manager. “We’re incorporating functionality that will allow the customer to cross-navigate between the two sites, ordering items from both in one shopping trip.”

Company executives anticipate launching full-service Web sites for both its Tender Heart Treasures and A Special Place catalogs early next year. At that time, Kuehl says, the company also will develop and implement e-mail promotions and campaigns to support both sites.