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In Tracey Finn's Bethel Park living room, the same pig sits cutely on a side table, brightly colored and stenciled with the word "Disneyworld." To a group of about a dozen women assembled there, Mrs. Finn explains that her family decorated it together, to use as a piggy bank for their dream trip.
Mrs. Finn isn't preaching about pigs just to make conversation. She's selling them and other craft projects as a "consultant" for Big Yellow Box, Crayola's 2-year-old foray into the booming direct-selling business.
Corporate-speak for what essentially are Tupperware parties, direct selling has been around forever. The difference these days is that at-home hosts aren't just pitching food containers that 'burp' from the rubber products maker. They're hyping high-end products such as jewelry, lingerie and upscale kitchen gadgets.
The number of companies joining its trade group jumped 30 percent in the last five years, to 265, the Direct Selling Association says. And some of those companies are huge. The Pampered Chef line of kitchen accessories, for example, started in a former home economics teacher's basement in 1980. Now owned by Warren Buffet's Berkshire Hathaway investment group, Pampered Chef has annual sales of about $1 billion.
"People say, 'You've got to be kidding, those little home parties can't be that serious,' " said Sue Rusch, the general manager of Big Yellow Box for Crayola.
She got her start with Pampered Chef, where she rose to managing a group of 1,500 people with annual sales of $19 million.
Traditionally, at-home parties have been a way for smaller companies peddling everything from cosmetics to sex toys to pet products (sometimes called pupperware) to start racking up sales without having to maintain the inventories. But in the past few years, larger established companies under such well-known brand names as Crayola, Jockey and the Body Shop have entered direct selling as a way to broaden their customer base, distinguish themselves from competitors and generate word-of-mouth buzz that can be invaluable as a brand-building tactic.
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| Pam Panchak, Post-Gazette Tracey Finn, left, and Johnna Batchler, both of Bethel Park, look over a treat jar, a Crayola product offered through direct selling, during a party last week at Mrs. Finn's home. Click photo for larger image. |
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More and more companies are drawn to direct selling partly because -- in an age of online shopping and big-box stores -- they see a niche market in one-on-one customer service.
"If you need help [in a store], you're lucky if you can find someone," said Amy Robinson, spokeswoman for the Direct Selling Association. "With direct selling, that person uses, knows and loves the product, and [he or she] probably [knows] something about you."
At the Big Yellow Box party, for example, Mrs. Finn tailored her sales pitch to her Bethel Park guests ("There's no Toys 'R' Us around here") and to the less-artistic members in the crowd ("Trust me, from someone who is not crafty, you don't have to be crafty to do it").
It took Crayola about a year to develop and test its Big Yellow Box concept. The company wanted to be careful not to compete with its own retail sales, and also to create products that worked well for demonstration purposes.
As a result, you can't buy crayons or markers at Big Yellow Box parties. Instead, Crayola sells craft kits (packaged in big yellow boxes) that families use to decorate pillows, picture frames, plates and, yes, pigs.
Similarly, Jockey started its Person to Person direct-selling line in 2005 with clothes and undergarments exclusive to at-home parties -- and slightly higher-priced than Jockey products available in retail stores.
Having different products opens the door to expanding the company's market to people who wouldn't ordinarily purchase Crayola products, said Ms. Rusch, noting that teenagers might be drawn to some of the jewelry projects, or that mothers might want to do some of the projects themselves.
"We started it looking at all of the possibilities to really broaden the reach of the brand," she said.
With all of the companies -- both new and existing -- entering the direct-selling arena, women in certain social circles are finding themselves to be perpetual partygoers.
For people who don't like to mix their money and their friends, direct-selling parties might seem awkward, or even tacky. Crayola's products are all priced between $17.95 and $49.95, but some direct-selling companies charge more than $1,000 for certain products.
Stephanie Kopp, a guest of Mrs. Finn's who moved to Bethel Park from the Cleveland area in January, estimated that she'd been to about "a zillion" direct-selling parties. But for her, that's not a bad thing -- she likes finding out about new products and socializing, particularly in a new city.
"I had been here for about three days, and someone asked me if I wanted to go to a Silpat party," she said, referring to a popular baking mat. "I said, 'You know what. I do.' "
Sandy Carte, another guest of Mrs. Finn's, sells products at home parties for PartyLite, a candle and candle accessory company. "It's like a girls' night out," she said. "Plus, you want to help your friends out."
Getting women together can help enhance the shopping experience, particularly in contrast to buying online, said Ms. Vaccaro, consultant services manager for Million Wishes. "You need someone to tell you, 'Oh my God, that looks beautiful, you have to get that,' vs. 'Oh my God, that's disgusting, take it off,' " she said.
Since its March launch of products selling for between $18 and $220, Million Wishes has signed up "style consultants" in 38 states (but none in Pittsburgh), said Ms. Vaccaro.
In two years, Big Yellow Box has grown to about 1,000 consultants, said Ms. Rusch.
"We're delighted with the progress we're seeing," she said. "There's a respect for this business that there wasn't 20 years ago."
