Meet Tim Holscher and Amy McNamara of Hip Chik Chairs in La Mesa

Today we’d like to introduce you to Tim Holscher and Amy McNamara.

So, before we jump into specific questions about the business, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
Hip Chik Chairs are inspired by the wonderful casual indoor-outdoor chairs that dot Mediterranean beaches and seen in Mediterranean bars, restaurants and homes.

We were on a cruise for our 20th wedding anniversary on Windstar in the eastern Mediterranean and found unusual but awesome casual chairs at a beach bar in Western Turkey.

My wife said “we can market these chairs” in the US! Unfortunately, that statement was made on the tender back to the cruise ship. It would have been easy to buy the chair cover and liner on the spot, but new ideas and ventures aren’t always easy or immediately obvious.

We discussed the idea as we went to our next stop in the Greek Islands, Mykonos. We stumbled upon a beach restaurant called “Hippie Fish” which had a restaurant logo of a fish with multicolored scales. That theme, bright colors and our chairs “shaped like a chick” became the catalyst for the name Hip Chik Chairs!

After 3 months of searching, we found the chair and designer, then made our own design modifications to create the Hip Chik “California Style” casual chairs we offer today!

We wanted to bring that great experience to our customers in the USA. We believe you will love our chairs as echoed by our happy customers that have seen, experienced sitting in and relaxing in Hip Chik Chairs. The unique patent protected design provides a level of support and comfort not found in normal casual chairs.

We are located in San Diego and what a great place to start marketing and selling these wonderful chairs.

We have been in business since August 2012 and today, our products are sold through multiple, national online retailers as well as international channels.

We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?

As with any startup business, there were multiple hurdles. First, understanding what it takes to develop a great product and create a profitable, scalable business in a highly competitive market, we initially sourced our product components out of Turkey and that enabled us to build, assemble the products locally and “customer test” the products in local San Diego Farmers Markets as well as the Del Mar Home Show.

The positive response was almost overwhelming. So positive that we created an LLC, submitted patents and looked for ways to market and scale the product nationally.

The second hurdle is how to manufacture and distribute such a large product nationally, we initially worked with a number of partners, covers out of China, product fill, assembly and shipping out of San Diego.

Realizing that our products are quite large, and shipping out of San Diego on our own shipping account directly to our customers is expensive, we then sought out national online retailers to enable us to expand our channel, reduce shipping costs, then increase product and brand awareness. Online retailers shipping costs are in many cases 10% of what it would cost us to ship on our own

In 2014-16, we attended various retail and outdoor furnishing trade shows in Las Vegas and Chicago. There was again, quite a bit of excitement about our products from key national retailers such as Wayfair/All Modern, One Kings Lane, Frontgate, Houzz, Amazon and a number of regional online retailers. They loved our products and the Southern California lifestyle we promoted. So we were on our way, or so we thought.

We launched our products on Wayfair/All Modern, Amazon, Houzz, Frontgate and Zuri Furniture in early 2015.

The third hurdle is the time it takes to increase awareness and ramp sales since there are so many options for customers on national online retail websites. Of note, recently Wayfair is branding supplier provided products under their own brand to make it more difficult for customers to price compare. We promote on Facebook and we employed FameBit as well.

The last hurdle is cost competitiveness. We are not a vertically integrated manufacturing company. Many of our large competitors are. We have partnered with a manufacturing company in Tijuana (US owned and managed) called Core Covers. Core Covers is the world’s #1 manufacturer of spa covers. Their material and manufacturing processes are well aligned with our needs. Our collaboration has enabled significant cost reductions which is helping double sales annually,

We are growing sales, but it takes time. We have tripled the number of SKUs since our launch through products with our Hot Shot Camo bean bag chairs as well as Hip Chik Tech Leather products, both launched in 2017,

We had a business plan, but as happens, plans need to change to adjust to what we learn on our journey…
The primary lessons, stay positive, stick with it., continue to learn and improve our products for our customers.

So, as you know, we’re impressed with Hip Chik Chairs – tell our readers more, for example what you’re most proud of as a company and what sets you apart from others.
We are a designer and wholesale provider of outdoor and indoor casual furniture (bean bags). We are one of the few companies that offer a portfolio of products in Sunbella fabric. We also offer unique durable camo bean bags, poufs and ottomans. Our vinyl “tech leather’ products are made of simulated leather,

Our adult chair has a patented lumbar support system which provides great back support. The ottomans and loungers feel like you are laying on sand. Which leads to the fact that we are proud that we convey a “Southern California” and “San Diego” lifestyle, along with a memorable name.

We also use recycled beads for our sustainability message. Our recycled beads are comfortable and durable…

So, what’s next? Any big plans?
We want to stick with our current lineup, promote awareness and improve the overall solution. We are working with our manufacturing partner on specific pool products and you can check out our offering by going to our Facebook page in mid 2018.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.hipchikchairs.com
• Phone: 6199883347
• Email: relax@hipchikchairs.com
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/socalchill/

Image Credit:
Jeff Thomas (Vertex Photography)

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