Shelburne, VT-based Vermont Teddy Bear Co. is going gourmet. The stuffed-bears marketer is opening Tasty Gram, a specialty food gifts Website, this month and launching a Tasty Gram catalog next year.
Although general manager Spencer Newman would not comment on specifics, he says that the company will begin to promote Tasty Gram with radio advertisements this month. The $38 million marketer used a similar strategy to start Vermont Teddy Bear: direct response radio ads to build the business before launching a catalog.
Tasty Gram is actually a relaunch of gifts marketer Send America, which Vermont Teddy Bear started as a Website in late 1999 and expanded into a print catalog in fall 2001. Send America sold gifts such as jewelry and home accessories, but food was its top seller. So Vermont Teddy Bear decided to reposition the spin-off as a food marketer. The company closed Send America’s phone center and Website on July 1 to concentrate on Tasty Gram, which will sell distinctive foods such as Chicago pizza and Maryland crabcakes. Merchandise will be drop-shipped to customers from suppliers across the country.