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player ready...For many hospital doctors and nurses, professional attire means a loose-fitting set of scrubs in non-descript colors such as pale blue or light green.
But Sue Callaway, a nurse in the neo-natal intensive care unit at San Diego Children’s Hospital, began changing that back in the 1980s. She whipped up a set of colorful scrubs on her sewing machine and wore them to work.
Friends started asking for their own. And by 1992, Callaway and her husband, Rocky Cook, founded their own business: Scrubs Inc. The name, an acronym, stands for Simply Comfortable Really Unique Basic Scrubs.
“It’s given the nurses something to feel proud about when going to work. They can wear something that looks good on them,” said Callaway, 37.
Her customers sport outfits in unhospital-like colors such as red, green, orange and purple. Prints such as jungle scenes, flying pigs and angel bears also are very popular.
Given the menacing downbeat of health care cost-cutting and consolidation, that little lift is important, she said.
Callaway originally started selling her garments through catalogs. But then customers asked for a retail store where they could try things on. Now she’s getting ready to open her sixth store in Gurnee Mills, the giant outlet mall north of Chicago, on May 14.
It’s not just medical personnel who like Callaway’s 100-percent cotton, loose-fitting garments. They’re popular with housekeepers, mountain climbers, and retirees, she said. And at $23 for a top and $36 for a jacket, it’s easy to assemble an extensive collection.
Scrubs Inc., which is based in Santee, Calif., outside San Diego, expects to do $16 million in sales this year. In a few years, the company may be ready to go public, Callaway said.
Score another blow for casual, fun dressing.
Stealth marketing: Smart non-profit organizations are using the power of retail to promote themselves. Case in point: Chicago’s Newberry Library at 60 W. Walton St. It’s working with nearby retailers such as Barney’s, Banana Republic, Diesel and Tiffany to publicize an upcoming exhibit of rare artifacts in written form.
Among the eclectic collection of items on display at the Newberry beginning May 5 are Columbus’ letter claiming discovery of the New World, a First Folio edition of the plays of William Shakespeare, and the Pullman Co. employment card of Malcolm X.
The retailers are helping out by displaying Newberry exhibit posters and incorporating hundreds of second-hand books in their window displays.
That’s a big boost for the privately funded research library, which has only a small budget to advertise its special events. “We’re always looking for low-cost, guerrilla marketing types of solutions,” said spokesman Jamey Lundblad.
The retailers reacted enthusiastically to the Newberry’s pitch, so expect to see more library tie-ins in the future, Lundblad said.
Go Bulls: It’s almost monotonous. Each year the Chicago Bulls enter the playoffs as favorites, and T-shirt manufacturers coin slogans they hope will go over with souvenir-hunting fans like a Steve Kerr perimeter shot.
Last year, the “The Drive for Five” was a big hit. Now Pro Player, a division of Chicago-based Fruit of the Loom Inc., says it is racking up big sales on licensed apparel with the phrase, “Real men do it six times.”
As the Bulls progress further in the playoffs–a done deal, of course–Pro Player promises to come up with more winning slogans.
How about a clean one next time, just for a change of pace.