“I always got cold feet,” says Valerie Bent, president of Big Feet Pajama Co., an online retailer of footed pajamas, about how her internal body temperature was consistently cool after a thyroid operation. Despite living in Las Vegas, Bent used a space heater in her office—even in the summer. Her discomfort led Bent to reminisce about the footed pajamas she used to wear as a child, and in February she founded Big Feet, launching a nontransactional Website with information about the upcoming apparel line. The site (www.bigfeetpjs.com) went transactional in August.
Bent describes sales as going “extremely well,” although she won’t release exact figures. The cotton knit, flannel, and micropolar fleece pajamas sell for $39.99-$42.99. Contrary to Bent’s assumption that her primary customers would be women ages 18-40, most of Big Feet’s orders are placed by men for men. And customers, she says, are of every ethnic and age group. Even Bent’s husband—whom she describes as a “macho guy”—enjoys the footed pajamas.
Bent is working on a new pajama design with a drop seat in the back but hasn’t perfected the design yet. “Every time I try sleeping in them they wake me up,” because of the placement of buttons, Bent says. A line of cashmere footed pajamas may debut in the spring.