The Vermont Teddy Bear Company was founded in 1981, and had been successful and profitable until 1994. John Sortino founded the company, and was president and chief executive officer until 1995. His main focus for the company was to manufacture teddy bears that were made in America with American materials and labor. The company was also best known for the Bear-Gram delivery service. In 1996, however, the company shifted their focus to opening retail stores as an opportunity for growth. The retail stores were not as profitable as they were expecting them to be. The expenses increased faster than the sales, which resulted in a net loss. In hopes of gaining a more potential customer base, the company wanted to lower the cost of goods sold. In 1998, they changed their focus of using all American materials to purchasing materials from offshore manufacturers.
             Since Bear-Grams make up such a large percentage of sales for The Vermont Teddy Bear Company, they should put more emphasis on increasing the sales. They should also look to expand Bear-Gram sales in new markets, such as Great Britain and Japan, because these countries had the most interest in the products. They should also consider increasing their direct-mail marketing through the mail-order catalogs to a larger market. Since retail stores were not as profitable as they had hoped, The Vermont Teddy Bear Company should look to increase sales through wholesale channels. It would also be beneficial for the company to consider more marketing strategies to help their product become more popular and well-known. Their website has proved very successful for the company, due to the convenience of ordering Bear-Grams online. The company should concentrate on new promotional techniques such as the "Make a Friend for Life," the children's book, and the NFL Teddy Bears. These programs were a good way to make the name of the company more well-known, which in turn bro...