Internet safety-wear company goes retail
The Wellingtonian April 2008

A home-based clothing company is branching out from Internet sales and school marketing to High Street retail. Geared, owned by mother and daughter team, Anna Southon of Grenada North and Monica Telfer of Christchurch, produces Roadworks high-visibility raincoats mainly for school children, selling them through their website and through schools. The coats are now available through The Warehouse chain. Getting their products into such a big chain was a “huge coup”, says Ms Southon, but they had chosen their retailer with care. “Obviously all families visit The Warehouse and it was reaching our target market.”

As well as suiting their market needs, The Warehouse was also a good philosophical fit, Ms Southon says. “The Warehouse has a commitment to child welfare, which is central to everything we do at Geared NZ,” she says. “It gets behind children’s causes. Not only is The Warehouse the major sponsor of Starship children’s hospital, it also supports projects such as Safekids water safety campaign.”

Geared began when Ms Southon’s eldest child, Olivia started school. “At the time I had a new-born and a five-year-old and I was trying to cross the road” she says.

“All the schools after school and before school are incredibly congested and I thought they (the children) were incredibly exposed.” She believed her children were not as visible as they ought to be, and nor were the other children. ‘At the time I happened to be looking for a raincoat (for Olivia) and all I could find were navy blue ones.” Mrs Southon and her mother, Ms Telfer, took matters into their own hands and designed what they considered to be a suitable, visible coat for children.

“Visibility was the main thing but we also had to strike a balance so that the children would wear it,” Ms Southon says. “there had to be a bit of a cool factor there as well, so children wouldn’t feel like little beacons. And it also had to be completely waterproof.”

The pair brought the practical experience of mothers to bear on the designs. The jackets are all roomy enough to accommodate warm clothing such as polar fleece, under them, they tried to allow for two years’ growth and they made them unisex so they could be handed down to siblings.

Ms Telfer said it took about a years’ development to get the jacket to the market, from whoa to go. ‘It’s a long process. That’s why be have to be passionate about the product.”

You can find Roadworks jackets in The Warehouse, or visit www.gearednz.co.nz, or they are promoted through schools, with schools getting $5 per jacket sold, or free products.

Jim Chipp