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

By Alicia Orr Suman

“We set high quality-assurance and quality-check standards for ourselves, both internally and with our vendors. Because of this, our return rates are extremely low compared to industry standards, averaging well under 3 percent each year,” says Watanabe-Gerdes. “Even one return is one too many.”

To maintain quality control beyond the product, Tender Heart Treasures keeps most of its operations in-house, from fulfillment to call center operations. Most internal staff is shared between the two books, with the exception of separate merchandise buying teams.