Your Business: Linen firm reflects Antipodean style

Bill Wallace says Wallace Cotton has had an average growth rate of 60 per cent a year since it started in 2005. Photo / Richard Robinson

Birkenhead-based bed linen company Wallace Cotton is in its second crucial five years of growth.

Launched in November 2005 by textile designer Paula Wallace and her business-manager husband Bill, with a mail order catalogue sent out to a limited informal customer base, it has grown organically to 39,000 individual customers in New Zealand and Australia.

It now has four stores and six concessions in New Zealand.

Bill Wallace, the general manager, says Wallace Cotton has had an average growth rate of 60 per cent a year since it started and web sales and mail order represent 40 per cent of all sales.

Speed is of the essence, says Paula Wallace, as she and her husband map out the next five years which will see another eight stores open in New Zealand and a flagship in Sydney.

She designs the Wallace Cotton collections in New Zealand but the products are made in mills across Asia, which have particular areas of expertise, for instance, quilting.

The company's most popular products are duvet covers and quilts but the range now includes cushions, blankets and throws, kitchenware, sleepwear and day wear. Queen duvets range from $150 to $200.

Paula Wallace says she gets some of her inspiration from overseas trends.

"A lot of what we see around the world, homewise, does not translate here. In the Antipodes we have our own style."

The collections come out twice a year, autumn and spring. "It's a cost-effective way of changing the interior design of your bedroom," she says.

Wallace Cotton supplies some of the country's luxury lodges such as Kauri Cliffs and Wharekahau.

To support its continued growth, the business has just launched a new Gen 3 website, with new features including customer profiles, tracking loyalty points and purchasing history.

The site also integrates social media including Facebook, Twitter and blogging from staff and personalities who shop at Wallace Cotton.

"The idea was to provide a more integrated enhanced online shopping experience," says Bill Wallace.

Wallace Cotton stores were introduced from 2006 because they are a great marketing tool, says Paula Wallace.

The company has its flagship in Newmarket, a shop in Takapuna and Wellington and an outlet store in Birkenhead at its head office.

"Proper retail has to be an exciting experience. We make sure that the stores reflect the mood of the catalogue," says Paula Wallace. The catalogue drives how the stores look, and how the website looks, she says.

Wallace Cotton is competing with Bed Bath & Table, HouseHold Linens and Harrowset Hall. "We are truly multi-channel, we have a stronger catalogue and web offering than these other companies," says Bill Wallace.

The Wallaces uses the family company's relatively small size - 23 staff - to their advantage.

Their call centre, two well-informed women, are based at the Birkenhead head office, and see design decisions close at hand so they can talk with real authority to phone customers.

Other family members work with them. Bill Wallace's sister, Anna Mantell, is the graphic designer and Paula Wallace's niece Tess Walter is the garment technician and looks after the wholesale customers.

The company will be changing as it grows. The couple will need to look at external finance options for the first time for its expansion and it will be taking on more senior staff.

Bill Wallace says Wallace Cotton has had interest from people and for now has told them to come back later.

Adds Paula Wallace: "We are constantly looking at growth in the business and how to fund it. It's one of the biggest issues."