Speaker 1: Bloomberg Audio Studios, Podcasts, radio news.
Speaker 2: You're listening to Bloomberg Business Week with Carol Masser and
Speaker 2: Tim Steneveek on Bloomberg Radio. Well, we've gotten some various
Speaker 2: reads on the consumer thanks to recent reports from Nike, Carnival,
Speaker 2: and the US airlines. We're also going to get a
Speaker 2: read when the banks report in the coming week. So
Speaker 2: what about a view from a small business. Candace Softy
Speaker 2: is the founder and CEO of Snoga Athletics. She joins
Speaker 2: us in New York in the Bloomberg Interactive Brokers Studio. Candace, Welcome.
Speaker 2: We do want to get your read on the consumer
Speaker 2: on the market. But first, Snoga makes what you describe
Speaker 2: as modest activewear. Define it, what exactly is it?
Speaker 1: So? I created about twenty years ago out of high school,
Speaker 1: a skirt with an attached lugging. So the skirt comes
Speaker 1: to that the knee sometimes a couple inches above for
Speaker 1: any woman who's looking to a little bit more, be
Speaker 1: a little bit more covered in the gym.
Speaker 3: Why did you think we needed to do that? Although
Speaker 3: I kind of loved the idea, but go ahead.
Speaker 1: So it all started literally twenty years ago, right when
Speaker 1: I graduated high school, I decided for religious reasons, I
Speaker 1: was going to start wearing skirts. Nothing was out there.
Speaker 1: There was no Instagram, no Facebook, and I created the
Speaker 1: first sample. I actually worked for my father at the time,
Speaker 1: who was in the clothing manufacturing business, and I created
Speaker 1: a sample for myself, sold a door to door. There
Speaker 1: was some interest and I figured if I needed it,
Speaker 1: someone else must need it. But the world wasn't as
Speaker 1: small back then because of you know, the lack of
Speaker 1: social media.
Speaker 2: So I wonder about the you know, what was happening
Speaker 2: at that time, because I feel like that was like
Speaker 2: pre at leisure at that time.
Speaker 1: Definitely was there washing out there.
Speaker 2: Yeah. So since then, I mean, at leisure has just
Speaker 2: taken off. So you were early to something, you saw
Speaker 2: something early. What has happened to this market since you
Speaker 2: entered it. I mean it seems like it's become so
Speaker 2: much more competitive.
Speaker 1: Yes, it actually we actually created a category. Honestly when
Speaker 1: we started back when I was nineteen, so a little
Speaker 1: lesson twenty years ago. When I started the business, we
Speaker 1: were selling door to door. I had a couple of kids.
Speaker 1: I stopped for a few years, and then I ended
Speaker 1: up partnering with my mother and my husband. We're now
Speaker 1: family business and we grew the line from one style
Speaker 1: now to about thirty different styles. And yes, we just
Speaker 1: molded in with the rest of the world, melted in
Speaker 1: with the rest of the world of ath leisure. So
Speaker 1: we didn't look at it like ath leisure. At the time.
Speaker 1: We looked at like exercise clothing. But now the word
Speaker 1: is ath leisure and that's what we're doing.
Speaker 3: You know, it's so funny. I was thinking about it
Speaker 3: in prep for this segment, and I think there was
Speaker 3: something there ran in the Times and it was like
Speaker 3: or something on social about people are there's like a
Speaker 3: little bit of a debate between like tight you know,
Speaker 3: it's leisure more where at the gym, versus stuff that's
Speaker 3: a little bit more baggy. And I do feel like
Speaker 3: it is evolving. You think about though, as you said,
Speaker 3: you wanted to wear like a skirt or something like
Speaker 3: you were thinking about wearing shirts. Yes, but there are
Speaker 3: different cultures and people who work out but still want
Speaker 3: this kind of you know, wardrobe and clothes to wear.
Speaker 3: And it sounds like that's really part of what you
Speaker 3: were thinking in the mission.
Speaker 1: Yes, so that's pretty much the whole story. I was
Speaker 1: just saying as a kid, I was watching an OPRAH
Speaker 1: episode and there was a Muslim lady who was a trainer,
Speaker 1: and she was explaining in the interview that she used
Speaker 1: to wear a baggy long T shirt because she couldn't
Speaker 1: find anything that that would suit her working out. I
Speaker 1: was a kid at the time, so obviously the stay
Speaker 1: in the back of my head. Now fast forward years later,
Speaker 1: when I was in the same position, I couldn't believe
Speaker 1: how many women fall under the same umbrella with wanting
Speaker 1: this and now ten years officially into this business, it's
Speaker 1: more than just religious reasons, as women that just either
Speaker 1: their age or they just don't feel comfortable in the
Speaker 1: legging alone, right exactly?
Speaker 2: Is all direct to consumer? What's your distribution?
Speaker 1: Yes, so the majority of our company is Yes, our
Speaker 1: website and we're on Amazon. We're in boutiques around the country.
Speaker 2: Where do you see the biggest driver of traffic is
Speaker 2: our at.
Speaker 1: Our website is our main driver of traffic.
Speaker 2: Yes, more so than Amazon, much more. And do you
Speaker 2: prefer people buy directly from you rather than through Amazon?
Speaker 2: It's more expensive to Okay.
Speaker 1: That's interesting, Yes, because we are our customer service is
Speaker 1: our main part of how we started and wanted to
Speaker 1: separate ourselves and every other Well, there wasn't really any
Speaker 1: other company. Now there is, but that's a main part
Speaker 1: of our business is you know, making our customers happy,
Speaker 1: bringing them back.
Speaker 3: And I love it that. You know, it's for women,
Speaker 3: but it's also for girls, so you're thinking about, you know,
Speaker 3: a younger generation who probably have the same needs, demands or.
Speaker 1: Wants exactly, and we sell little girls now also.
Speaker 3: Yeah, so okay, we are Bloomberg. You've been doing this now,
Speaker 3: you said for ten years ten years.
Speaker 1: I did start it and then I stopped it, so
Speaker 1: I guess officially ten years.
Speaker 3: Officially ten years. So give us an idea of like
Speaker 3: the growth of this business because I do think certainly
Speaker 3: coming off the pandemic. Well well oh let's go there.
Speaker 3: Like what was it like working through the pandemic?
Speaker 1: So it was very interesting, we got we were very lucky.
Speaker 1: We had our the pandemic hit, the world is shutting down,
Speaker 1: and our last shipment just slid right in perfect timing
Speaker 1: before the world was basically flashing down, and we did
Speaker 1: very well. We did very well during the pandemic. Did
Speaker 1: demand ramp up, Yes, it really did, because people were
Speaker 1: at home, they were working at at home. People were
Speaker 1: on their on their computers more, on their phones more.
Speaker 1: We were also on social media on Instagram at the
Speaker 1: perfect time when that first started a few years in,
Speaker 1: so we got the best of Instagram as at first before.
Speaker 3: I I know Tim wants to jump back in again,
Speaker 3: but what about supply chains? Like, what was that like
Speaker 3: during the you do you guys manufacture overseas?
Speaker 1: We manufacture both overseas and domestically. You do, yes, we do.
Speaker 1: So we did a little bit of both and we
Speaker 1: it just thankfully it worked out.
Speaker 3: What's the cost difference in doing it? Because I think
Speaker 3: this is something it's interesting post pandemic, we are talking
Speaker 3: to more and more companies that have multiple supply chains
Speaker 3: or growing their supply chains to make sure and often
Speaker 3: having a supply chain in the market that they sell.
Speaker 3: Is there big differences in terms of cost and doing
Speaker 3: business an overseas supply chain versus the US supply chain.
Speaker 1: There is there is a cost difference. It's also a
Speaker 1: little bit easier overseas, for it is for certain things
Speaker 1: like it's like a with trims and and things you know,
Speaker 1: come out a little bit faster. But we do make
Speaker 1: it a point to manufacture here. Also, are do.
Speaker 2: You plan to move manufacturing completely over here?
Speaker 1: We're we're thinking about doing more of a percentage here.
Speaker 2: Yes, Like so Carol was asking about cost, but I mean,
Speaker 2: is it feasible to actually not import? You know, we
Speaker 2: talk a lot about what the President wants to see,
Speaker 2: and that's you know, manufacturing return here to the US.
Speaker 2: But there are some things that just make it incredibly
Speaker 2: difficult right to cost.
Speaker 1: Here in New York City, it's not as simple to
Speaker 1: manufacture active where as it is maybe somewhere in La. Yeah,
Speaker 1: but once you set yourself up for that kind of system,
Speaker 1: which you just you I guess, it just ends up
Speaker 1: working out with the numbers and you could tweak here
Speaker 1: and tweak there. Anything's possible.
Speaker 3: How do you think about you know, we, as you
Speaker 3: would guess, talk a lot about news coming out of
Speaker 3: Washington and love talking to small business owners, medium sized
Speaker 3: business owners. It's so much the backbone of the US economy.
Speaker 3: We feel like we also talk to you know, the
Speaker 3: CEOs of publicly held companies, big companies and the idea
Speaker 3: of uncertainty that's out there, not sharing what's going to
Speaker 3: come down in terms of regulations and policies, it's making
Speaker 3: it tough for I think some companies to move forward.
Speaker 3: Tell us how any of this is impacting your environment.
Speaker 1: I think it would be nice to have more support
Speaker 1: for small businesses. I don't think there is nearly enough
Speaker 1: support at all, But I think, yes, you do need
Speaker 1: the small businesses because now you're finding the small businesses
Speaker 1: are the ones that are having these ideas and that
Speaker 1: larger companies are buying them. So we have to support
Speaker 1: the small businesses a lot better than we are now.
Speaker 3: Candice, what would you like to see in terms of
Speaker 3: a specific small business policies, Like what kind of policy
Speaker 3: sees do you think are lacking that would actually help
Speaker 3: you and others in the small business community.
Speaker 1: Well, I just think like opportunities either if it's not,
Speaker 1: I mean it just I guess it depends on the
Speaker 1: state you're actually working out of. Also with tax benefits
Speaker 1: and certain opportunities like that. But that's a lot, that's
Speaker 1: a large part of it. Yeah, small businesses can carry
Speaker 1: certain certain expenses like that. Yeah, and and and and
Speaker 1: keep going strong.
Speaker 3: And it varies certainly right from state to state.
Speaker 1: Especially since you're trying to employ local people. You know,
Speaker 1: you're you're you need that support.
Speaker 2: Where do you see demand coming from? I know certainly
Speaker 2: I would imagine New York City is a big market,
Speaker 2: But where are your big markets?
Speaker 1: So are our main customer is in is in the South.
Speaker 1: That's our Yes, that's our main customer. We have more
Speaker 1: conservative customer. So, uh, we do a ton of business
Speaker 1: in Texas. We do. I mean it's really everywhere, but
Speaker 1: a lot of business in Texas. Uh, we do a
Speaker 1: lot of busines in Indiana. I'm trying to think of
Speaker 1: the main places.
Speaker 2: Do you know other do you know other demographic info
Speaker 2: about your customers?
Speaker 1: Well, our main demographic of our customer would be more
Speaker 1: of a conservative customer in the way they dress, in
Speaker 1: the way they live. But now, recently, we designed a
Speaker 1: skirt that's called a Perfect Pencil skirt that I would
Speaker 1: compare to the Lululemon Men's Tech pant for men. So
Speaker 1: it's a wrinkle resistant, ribbed, high performance fabric skirt that's
Speaker 1: for the everyday working person. Nothing to do with modest,
Speaker 1: not modest most women wear I should say most. There's
Speaker 1: a lot of women that wear skirts to work and
Speaker 1: it's just great roll it in a bowl, stick it
Speaker 1: in your stick it in your bag. You can actually
Speaker 1: wear it to the gym if you want it, wear
Speaker 1: it to skirt, back to work.
Speaker 3: I'd wear this to work.
Speaker 1: It's a great skirt.
Speaker 3: Oh my god, Wait, which one is it? Wait? I'm
Speaker 3: looking at it.
Speaker 1: A couple of different called our perfect pencil skirt. It
Speaker 1: has two flat pockets in the front, so it's very
Speaker 1: very flattering. It looks great on everybody from an extra
Speaker 1: small all the way to three X. We're very size inclusive. Yeah,
Speaker 1: and it's just it's an amazing skirt.
Speaker 3: I listen. I have often found yoga pants and different
Speaker 3: things that are really they actually look so good that
Speaker 3: you can wear them. So where do you want to
Speaker 3: go with this? Give us an idea, and give us
Speaker 3: an idea. How much the business has grown?
Speaker 1: So our business grew a nice amount of the past
Speaker 1: few years.
Speaker 3: That's a nice amount.
Speaker 1: That's a.
Speaker 3: Number.
Speaker 1: We're going like fifty percent for a few years, and
Speaker 1: then now it's taking smaller percentages, but it's growing, but.
Speaker 3: That's off a larger base, I would assume exactly.
Speaker 1: It's also we introduce a lot of new things to
Speaker 1: the line, trying to see what sticks. Our little girl's
Speaker 1: line is doing very well.
Speaker 3: I could see that.
Speaker 1: Yeah. Yeah, and we're trying to bring in our not
Speaker 1: trying to bring in We brought in this year our
Speaker 1: weekend wear, our dresses, our skirts, and next doing metal.
Speaker 3: So yeah, it's like you're branching out. Are the dudes
Speaker 3: going to get anything or nah?
Speaker 1: So actually it's funny. We do get some requests for
Speaker 1: our bike shorts with actual like a shorter legging attached,
Speaker 1: but we're focusing now one our little girls, in our
Speaker 1: and our ladies. There's still there's still a little bit
Speaker 1: of a hole in the market.
Speaker 3: So yeah, that totally totally makes sense. So fun to
Speaker 3: talk with you, and I truly mean it, like we
Speaker 3: talked to a lot of the large cap company is
Speaker 3: always important, but it's really fun to get an idea
Speaker 3: of what's going on, especially for small businesses. Because she continued,
Speaker 3: do your thing right. Yes, really good stuff, Kenna, Thank
Speaker 3: you so much. Have a great weekend. Kendace Afti. She's
Speaker 3: founder and CEO of Snoga Athletics. Joining us right here
Speaker 3: in our Bloomberg Interactive Brokers studio