Shari Fitzpatrick, who founded Sacramento,
CA-based cataloger/retailer Shari's Berries in 1989, launched
another
online store, the Berry Factory, in November. Which means
that Fitzpatrick will in a way be competing against herself in
cyberspace.
While Fitzpatrick still owns the four Shari's
Berries brick-and-mortar stores, all in Sacramento, she'd licensed
her name and merchandise in 1998 to Shari's Berries International to
allow the products to be sold nationwide via catalogs and the Web.
That company was sold in August to San Diego-based Provide Commerce,
which owns ProFlowers, Cherry Moon Farms, and other food and gift
merchants.
Though the terms of the Shari's Berries
International-Provide Commerce deal were not disclosed, Fitzpatrick
retains the rights to not just the four stores but also all online
and catalog sales within the Sacramento area. In addition,
Fitzpatrick is able to produce and sell both the Shari's Berries and
Berry Factory product lines from her stores.
"It's a unique deal because I'm still Shari's
Berries, and I'm not trying to disparage that company," Fitzpatrick
says. "The idea
is to run the Berry Factory parallel to Shari's Berries."
Fitzpatrick says the Berry Factory's channel
focus is on e-commerce, store-within-a-store partnerships
(a partnership with Jelly Belly's stores is being negotiated),
trade shows, and for name-recognition purposes,
stand-alone stores in high-traffic locations. She plans to
eventually produce a direct-to-consumer catalog as well.
There is already a mini-catalog, without prices, that is
included in outgoing packages to drive consumers to the Website. The
Berry Factory also recently sent postcards to introduce the company
to 30,000 customers retained in
the sale to ProFlowers.
"The exciting growth of Shari's Berries has
been incredible,
and now I want to rediscover that entrepreneurial excitement through
the Berry Factory," says Fitzpatrick. "After the sale of Shari's
Berries International, I feel now is the right time
and the right place for me to focus and expand my
business in additional fun and creative directions."
