Photographs courtesy Iscream.
Among the companies caught in the crosshairs of the trade war between the United States and China is Iscream, a Cortlandt Manor-based wholesale supplier of apparel, bags, pillows, beauty products and toys for tween girls.
Iscream designs the products and manufactures them overseas, the majority in China, with its best-selling items being its licensed interactive candy pillows and its plush lounge shorts and pants. But in the present environment, that is not without its challenges, said owner Jennifer Mines Kamen.
In response to the tariffs, she said, the company has explored using domestic manufacturers, but the pricing and production schedules are more expensive and difficult for Iscream’s products. And while Iscream is working to diversify its production to other countries. as well as working with its partners in China to help reduce costs, she nevertheless warned that, with the status quo, “We will have no choice but to increase our prices” – noting that Iscream had limited shipping additional products in the hopes that something will change.
Ironically, Iscream developed as a response to another business challenge, that of printing in the digital age. An offshoot of The Mines Press, Iscream was set up in 2007 as the rise of the internet and the prevalence of smar phones effectively destroyed the press’ core mission, namely the printing of business forms.
“We were looking to add some revenue into the business through a sales channel other than printing, and my background was a mix of fashion and publishing,” Mines said. “Steven (Kamen’s brother and president of The Mines Press) and I both had young children, so a tween line of products seemed on target for us at the time.”
Iscream manufactures and sells its products to stores, its customers comprising toy, apparel, candy, book and grocery retailers. The company has a small online presence, selling directly to consumers on its Iscream website, but the majority of its sales are to the wholesale accounts nationwide.
Asked about the size and strength of the market, Mines said that it has grown as the use of social media has evolved. According to Mines, girls 8 to 12 years old have a lot of spending power and are extremely focused on apparel, beauty, toys, food and entertainment.
“We refer to it as the evolution of a little girl,” Mines said. “As they move on from the princess phase, they move into the ‘fun candy-rainbow phase’ and from there they continue on to flowers and fun prints.”
Iscream has educated its retailers on the best assortments to engage these consumers in their stores, providing multiple price points across different categories in each of the trends most applicable to any given season. This gives retailers the opportunity to sell something to anyone who walks into the store – “whether they are looking for a big-ticket item or a smaller, more conservative item.”
Beyond the gloom of tariffs threatening to affect all manner of businesses, however, Mines still seemed to think that the future of this not-so-niche market is looking bright. She said that Iscream has been continuing to grow and to add new licenses to its range, developing products which respond to current trends in the market.
