continued. . . 

Despite the changing times and ever-increasing competition, Molayem remains optimistic about retail’s future. “Vendors and retailers will learn to specialize and those that offer excellent customer service will survive,” Molayem speculates. “It’s about ease of shopping and focus. We’re proud of the fact that we work with almost everyone but we’re conscious of not putting all of our eggs in one basket. When anyone gets too large we step back. The secret to success is the right retail partners and the right product.”

And the right payroll. “It’s truly a team effort here,” Molayem crows more than once, and he’s intent on giving credit to an all-star line-up of more than 300 – a figure that’s tripled over the past five years. It’s such a familial and familiar corporate culture that the 20-person executive team meet daily for lunch. Ben Mahmood, the longtime Federated/Macy’s dinnerware buyer, came on board almost six years ago to oversee major accounts. “My retail experience allows me to work with our buyers and planners more efficiently,” Mahmood acknowledges. “I can easily relate to store execution opportunities, issues, and strengths, and our customers’ merchandising, marketing, and inventory needs.” Those customers, he wages, want more exclusive programs to differentiate their floors from the competition’s. “Our ability to offer customers tailor-made programs based on their needs and requirements is our biggest selling feature,” maintains Mahmood. “We’re able to offer private label programs with the capability of replenishment through our L.A. warehouse.”

It’s a well-honed ability to continuously design exclusive, relevant, saleable, and trend-right dinnerware that sets TTU apart. Well more than half of TTU’s volume is private label, just about evenly split among big boxes, department stores, and mass merchants. (A small but growing percentage of production is exported.) These stats contribute to the most significant figure: TTU has registered double digit growth the past five years in light of a flat industry.

This soaring growth has necessitated an in-house 25-person design team which includes surface, industrial, and graphics designers. “One of the things that made us successful and important to our customers,” Molayem iterates, “is our quick turnaround of product. We can turn on a dime because of our design capabilities.” Molayem boasts that reaction time – concept to design to sample to packaging – is among the industry’s fastest according to TTU customers. “We have a horizontal management structure,” Molayem brags, “which cuts quickly through any red tape to make things happen.”

Jennifer Auster – who spent 15 years at Pottery Barn and Williams-Sonoma prior to joining TTU – leads the design and development team. “We work together to bring the latest techniques to market,” Auster avers. “If our buyers only knew the blood, sweat, and tears involved. Our structure allows sales and design to work side-by-side and challenge each other; it doesn’t matter how trend-right we are if the products don’t sell.” The synergy between sales and design – empowered by Molayem – is a critical component to TTU’s success. “One competitive advantage,” Auster posits, “is leveraging our design savvy while analyzing sales opportunities to ensure the program not only looks great but has the legs to sell.”

Auster’s squad has a remarkable track record of launching collections which find immediate homes. “We continue to out-do ourselves,” she agrees. “It’s more difficult to get additional floor space for all of our great ideas than to come up with the great ideas.” Those ideas flow from virtually every portal, she purports, including the company’s extensive digital library, where they analyze older well-liked patterns or designs that weren’t picked up which can be tweaked for reinvention. “We get a lot of inspiration exploring trends outside of ceramics,” suggests Auster, who adds that a system of checks and balances enable designers to remain innovative and unique. “It can be easy getting repetitive so we have regular reality checks,” Auster reminds.
Retailers often steer the design direction on their visits to HQs, a minimum of twice yearly. “We get a great deal of data from them in developing collections,” Molayem grants, who echoes the consideration that no single department works in a vacuum. This holistic approach to production guides the company through 25th anniversary activities which promote TTU in ambitious year-long advertising and in a new TTU brand image which will be unveiled at next month’s Housewares Show.

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