Gumpy's Farm

I have been very fortunate and have met many nice and interesting people on the Internet. Jan and I have e-mailed each other on a few occasions concerning Ty and Beanie Babies. After learning a little about Gumpy's Farm, I decided that it was newsworthy. I asked for an interview, which was granted and posted below.

GUMPY'S FARM TELLS ALL!

Please provide a bio on yourself.

GARY

I was born here in Inman, SC. I grew up on the Mill Village in the 50's and 60's at a time when the mill supplied everything for you. - A job, your house, company store, and even entertainment. My four brothers and I spend every day at the mill ball park. The mill supplied the coach (baby-sitter, in reality).

We kids would all go down to the park early in the morning, and wouldn't come home till dark. It was a great time for kids back then and we had everything we needed right here. I had an identical twin brother, and we played a lot of tricks on our teachers, neighbors, and girls.

I grew up and married Jan...an outsider...a YANKEE.....and we moved out to the country under the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains to raise our three children.

JAN

I was born in Mt. Clemens, Michigan north of Detroit. I had never even seen a hill until I moved to Akron Ohio when I was 12. When I was 15 my family moved to South Carolina...BIG hills, and lots of red dirt! I didn't even know what a Yankee was until I moved here. Then people here explained it to me...... constantly. I guess Gary really was a rebel when he married me....! I've been here for 35 years now, but I'm still a Yankee at heart. I am a product manager at a Textile Mill, and one of my areas of responsibility is juvenile products. We supply the industry with fabrics for car seats and bedding.

I work at Gumpy's Farm evenings and weekends, and paint the toyboxes and tables and chairs that Gary builds for children's rooms.

*****How we got started in the Juvenile Specialty business.*****

We began our business building props for photographers. Good photographers insist on props that nobody else has...one of a kind. I would design them, and Jan and I worked together finishing them. I like to build, and she likes to paint, so we became a pretty good team. We joined Professional Photographers associations, and traveled to the State and regional conventions to display at the trade shows.

We were asked by parents to duplicate a scene, or a rocking horse, or chair for their child's room. We decided we were ready to go retail, and open a baby specialty store. Our First grandson couldn't say "Grandpa" ....he called me "Gumpy". I made a lot of wooden animals...thus "Gumpy's Farm" was born! (We now are proud grandparents of five!)

I understand that you sell Beanie Babies. Please tell me what made you decide to carry them.

We first purchased TY products several years ago when we visited their booth at the JPMA show in Dallas. The Sales rep in the booth was wonderful. She knew all the critters by name, and shared their personalities with us. We bought all plush....Lots of Rumples (including 50" tall papa rumples), Oreo, Buddy, Screech, pillow pals, and lots, and lots of others. We always ordered by catalogue after that.

Then one day a sales rep called on us at the store. He had a trunk full of beanie babies that another store had overstocked, and couldn't sell. He offered them to us at full wholesale price, but no shipping cost. Jan was reluctant because they weren't the pretty little pastel baby things (like pillow pals.) Our things were geared to babies and toddlers, not older kids.

The sales rep convinced me that they would sell, and since we had a "Harvest Day festival" coming up in the fall - we could sell them on the sidewalk if we wanted to. We only sold a couple through the summer. Harvest day came and went.

Although there were thousands of people in the streets, we only sold 17 Beanie Babies! I began giving them to the churches and fund raisers when they would come by the store for donations. I had a zillion Elephants and Donkeys with Flags on them that didn't sell for the 4th of July.... They didn't sell for the Olympics....They didn't sell for the elections....we were stuck with them.....lots of other things too. Purple patty's, Red bulls, black bears, Ty dyed teddies.

Mom (Peg) came up with an idea. When people came in looking for birthday presents, she sold them on beanies, and told them she would keep track so that no one else bought the same one for that child. She typed up lists of beanies, and kept a file on every child. It really caught on fast.....Mom's & Dad's loved it because they didn't have to pay an arm and leg for a gift, and the kids really got into it. They started coming by the store and signing up for the "Gumpy's Critter's Club" We not only sold lots of beanies, but then we began ordering them by our "Club" list to help complete our members sets.

Grandma's could come in the store and buy exactly what their grandchild wanted and needed without their knowledge. It was great. Report card day brought in a lot of proud parents to buy "rewards" for their kids. We knew who did their weekly chores....and who didn't....

How long have you dealt with the Ty company and do you sell any of their other products?

We have dealt with TY for about 3 years. We try to carry plush that fit into each of our themes in the store. We have a jungle set up....lots of monkeys and animals. We have a "Noah's Ark" room with All kinds of Noah accessories, and lots, and lots of animals in "two's", of course! We have another room we call the "Bear's Den" it is loaded with Teddies of all shapes, sizes and colors. It is there we keep "Poppa PJ" He is TY's biggest piece. He is a beautiful dark mahogany color, and very soft and plush. He stands 50" high, and has the big red TY tag on him. We tell the children he is the biggest Beanie Baby in the world!

We have a "bunny hutch" where we keep all the bunnies and bunny accessories.

We used to spread the appropriate beanie babies in all the above "theme" sections, but now that shipments have stopped, we are not able to do that. We carry a complete line of TY collectibles. As you know, they have just retired a few of the larger ones last month. Some of the moms and older kids buy them, but they are not as "in demand" as beanies yet.

Why do you think Ty has had a problem meeting the demand for Beanie Babies?

Well, that's a tough question. Only TY can tell us the REAL reason. Trying to second guess what is going on is easy for all of us, but only TY can say!.

I really can't see why we are STILL having problems. If they have stepped up production overseas...... and increased warehouse, office space and personnel, we should be getting more beanie babies, not less. The only logical deductions I can possibly imagine are:

1. Perhaps they have been supplying the bigger stores in larger quantities, and put smaller retailers at the bottom of the list?????

2. Perhaps they have been selling to a lot of new accounts not normally buying plush or beanies and just can't keep up?????

3. Perhaps they want to keep the market tight????

4. Perhaps they really and truly cannot gear up manufacturing facilities in the orient fast enough to keep up??????

Again, only TY knows the reason.

What is your favorite Beanie and Why?

Oh, that is a hard question....We have come a long way since the Very first beanies...

One of Jan's FAVORITE beanies is Seaweed. "I just love the way it curls up in the palm of your hand. Jolly is another favorite. I love his face." Doodles and Pouch are really cute. I guess it's just too hard to choose. Each one has a different meaning to us now, or evokes a memory of a special moment with one of our kids, or customers.

I understand that you operate a Beanie Babies web site? What provoked you to dedicate so much time to operating a web site which promotes Ty's Beanie Babies?

We don't really operate a Beanie Babies web site. We are listed in many of the popular web sites as a TY retailer, and have been for quite awhile.

Time is another thing. We have always tried to answer each inquiry individually. We don't mass mail, and we gave up on waiting lists long ago. You wouldn't believe the cost of paper and printing we initially incurred trying to keep up. When the reliability of shipments, and their contents became an impossible issue, we gave up. Now, We read, and try to answer all mail every day. We try to keep our members updated as we are informed by TY, then we tell it as we know it. When we get a shipment in, we let our local members know by placing a big bouquet of white balloons in the window. Then we go to the Internet and fill orders as we can. When we kept waiting lists, and saved beanies for someone, by the time a shipment came they would have bought from someone else by then. So now we take them as they come. We do limit orders depending on size of shipment. I don't know about other stores, or web sites, but I usually don't even respond to requests for huge quantities. Those people should be buying with a retail license. Our shipments are so scarce, and meager, we try to help as many members and collectors as we can. Let the big power buyers pay rent and taxes if they intend to sell in such quantities, and make such big profits. We are here for the kids, and the hobby collector. That's what it's all about.

How many hours a day do you spend working with Ty's products?

We spend three to five hours a day answering inquiries. When shipments arrive, we are on the Internet twelve to sixteen hours a day. (This in addition to operating the store.

What is your opinion of the Ty company?

Oh, I don't know. We are optimists, and we would really like to think TY Warner did not intend to put us in such financial straits. We have invested a lot of time and money with advertising, Gumpy's Critter Club, records on members, membership cards, etc. with almost NO return. We have nothing to sell.

We have another plush rep (A & A Plush) who worked with TY Warner for years, and said he was a really nice fella, and liked kids. He struck out on his own 10 years or so ago to manufacture a line of plush cats. He started expanding, and is now very successful. (to say the least!) He certainly has a good sense of what will sell, and always has, so we're told. I guess I am angry about not being advised about what is happening to our orders. We are told shipments will go out by the end of the month, then the next, then the next. We answer hundreds of requests a day, only to tell them "opps, well, sorry they didn't arrive this month, as promised" I really would like to get honest and factual information, than to get untruths, or " I don't know". I would also like to get what I order. We haven't had a full shipment in 7 months! Little bits and pieces eat us up in freight. I am angry that TY has recruited 2 or 3 new shops to sell beanie babies in our small town (pop. 3,000) since April, when they can't even fill our orders. One is a bridal gift shop, the other a basket shop... less than a block away?!! We had been told that wouldn't happen...in such close proximity. . When I asked why it was happening, they said they cannot discuss policy. We don't have a local sales rep. He quit returning calls back in January. The only communication I have with TY Company is through the main headquarters. That would be OK if we could rely on the answers.

I must say that the telephone Reps at TY are VERY nice. I know they have a hard, stressful job, and except for once, every inquiry was handled very professionally.

Customers are confused about why stores across the nation charge different prices for Beanie Babies. How would you explain this to your customers?

Boy, we're confused too. You and I have discussed this many times before. First of All.........We keep hearing on the Internet "what TY will allow", and that "TY strictly enforces........" "Official pricing declared by TY"......

Listen consumers......., and our beloved customers.....and friends.......

TY has only told us that we cannot sell for less than $4.99........that's it. Our sales rep told us that.....waaaaaaaay back.....(when we had one). Because of all the comments on the Internet about reporting the "terrible retailer pricing" I called TY and asked SEVERAL times what the official RULES are......I was told......there are none. In my opinion.....a retailer would be stupid to go below $4.99. A retailer would be stupid to go above $10.00

Somewhere in between there should be a happy medium. A retailer knows his cost of operation. He knows his expenses and overhead. He has the right to set his costs. If he goes too low, he ruins the market for everyone....and TY doesn't like that. If he goes too high, he won't sell, and will sit on a lot of inventory.

As far as we are aware, we small retailers all pay the same thing. It is posted in the catalogue.....Nobody pays more than the listed price.. Shipping costs vary according to weight of packages and distance from the shipping point. (I don't honestly know if the larger chains pay less or not.)

Again I say, only the retailer knows his own overhead...he must stay in business, or quit selling. We initially sold our beanies for $4.99. We went up to $5.50 a few months ago, and now we charge $5.99. Believe me ..... we haven't made any money yet. Our expenses keeping up our members lists and membership cards, phone bills, etc., have far outweighed what little we have made so far. Perhaps if we had been getting decent shipments we could have at least covered maintenance costs.

I guess I get a little ruffled when I hear people complain about retail prices. I get VERY angry when I hear people complain about retailers limiting quantity. You know, so many people are just buying them to sell in the after-market.. They make a fortune...no taxes...no overhead. They are the ones who complain the most about price and limits. The honest collector suffers the most by that practice.....why don't people see that??? Sometimes, between TY not shipping, and hearing so many complaints, it makes us want to just throw in the towel...(we have come very close to that several times.) Then school starts back, and the kids come in vowing to make better grades this year so that they can finish their Beanie collection.......WOW!!!!!! I don't know about you Mr. Warner....but that is really a lot of positive POWER.......

Please tell me a little bit about your store.

Gumpy's Farm is a wonderful store. We bought an old building downtown (population 3,000) and restored it. Although it is not very large, you can browse for hours and not see everything. We carry round cribs, iron cribs, convertible cribs, and lots and lots of plush collectibles. We try to carry things that you can't find in the large or discount stores including children's specialty toys, quilts, christening gowns and gifts and just about anything you could imagine for children. We make toy boxes, rocking horses, rocking chairs, tables and chairs, stools and wall hangings.... then we custom paint them to match the decor in children's rooms. There is a baby registry, birthday registry, and Gumpy's critter club wish lists. Our playroom has a "train" and "Noah's Ark" ride that will only work if you've been good for mom & dad.

Please provide your store location and web site address.

We don't have a "Beanie Baby" Website. We are on line, and our E-mail address is gumpysfarm@aol.com (original, Huh?)

Our address is:
Gumpy's Farm
19 Mill Street
Inman, SC 29349

We are located in the northwest corner of the State in the beautiful foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains.

Do you have any funny or unusually stories you would like to share?

I don't know how funny this is...ignorant maybe....but when we got the first order of Beanie Babies from our sales rep, he had tons and tons of Garcia to sell. They were really pretty pastel shades, and I liked them a lot for our "Baby Store". We had just gotten a new beautiful round crib with a canopy called "a-lot-of-GELATO" by Little Miss Liberty of Beverly Hills. The bedding set was rainbow colored, and the TY dye bears matched perfectly, so I put them ALL in this beautiful round crib. It was a sight to behold! Then someone came into the store and started getting all excited about the "DEAD HEAD" bears....Jan didn't know what in the world they were talking about. Then others walked up & said Yeah, dead head bears...yeah,...Well, soon a crowd had gathered and Jan was really embarrassed, and appalled that our baby crib had "dead head bears" in it. She took them all out & put them in the back room. (I guess it's a generation thing!??)

We also had a customer tell us her favorite Beanie was Quackers. She said the whole family loved Quackers, and he kept disappearing. It soon became a game, and everyone had to hunt Quackers when they came home from school. Once they found him in a casserole dish....."Pot luck Duck". Once they found him in a cheese dome......."Duck under glass." Once they found him in a Campbell's can.."Duck Soup" Somebody put him in a Corn wrapper..."Shucked Duck"... and the list went on... That was pretty cute... We had a lady bring back a Freckles because it had a Wrinkles hang tag. She wanted her money back. We tried to explain to her it made it more valuable...but she wasn't buying that!

We also had someone bring back a Righty because the beans were coming out. We tried to give her another one, but she wanted her money back. We gave it to her.......We weren't collecting ourselves back then, so we don't have a lot of the retireds. But we do have that Righty with a few beans missing....thank you!!

I would like to personally thank Gary and Jan for such a in-depth interview. Their story is unique and interesting. I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did.