Medi-Rub Corp. thinks it has the answer for people with poor blood circulation and sore feet.
The San Clemente-based company makes vibrating, box-like massagers designed to stimulate blood flow in the feet and calves.
The devices are supposed to prevent cramps, swelling and other foot problems.
They’re made at Medi-Rub’s 8,000-square-foot headquarters with steel, industrial thermoplastic and other materials.
Medi-Rub sells its massagers at podiatrist offices, orthopedic supply stores, pharmacies and retailers such as The Good Feet Store chain of Carlsbad, Foot Pain Center in Seal Beach, Nevada’s Sierra Foot & Ankle Inc. and Central Park Therapy in New York.
The massagers sell for $260 to $280.
Medi-Rub has generated about $70 million in revenue since 1976, which averages out to about $2 million a year.
The company has 85 workers at its headquarters and an office in North Carolina.
Yolanda Holly, a polish immigrant who moved to America as a young girl in the 1960s, owns Medi-Rub.
Holly had a cousin who died of diabetes at a young age. The death hit her hard.
So Holly started researching the disease to help her cope with the family tragedy.
While studying diabetes, she learned that many problems associated with the disease are caused by poor blood circulation.
Holly wanted to develop a device that could help people like her cousin deal with swollen feet and other painful side effects that stem from diabetes, poor circulation and other ailments.
Her bid to develop a foot massager was met by challenges along the way.
Being a woman in her early 20s,and from another county at that,deterred engineers from working with her, according to Holly.
“It was so difficult trying to get engineers to take me seriously,” she said. “They wouldn’t even meet with me.”
Holly cold called and visited product engineers before finding one who wanted to take a chance on her.
Jeff Barreth helped Holly research and develop her first prototype, which took several months and a lot of cash.
Holly cleaned homes, ran errands and worked other less glamorous jobs to fund the early research and development of her massagers.
Her product was met with some skepticism when she started pitching them to podiatrists, medical clinics and hospitals.
“People didn’t know what to do with it,” Holly said. “It was a new concept to them.”
Holly hit the medical trade show circuit to help spread the word about her massagers.
After marketing her product at different shows for several months, Medi-Rub’s massagers eventually caught the attention of doctors.
They started referring the massagers to patients and other doctors.
Holly used initial profits to fund more re-search and development. She worked with engin-eers and podiatrists to improve her massagers.
“All of the money I had went into the product,” she said.
Once Holly’s foot massagers started selling to doctors and consumers, she started developing more products, including a back massager now used by many chiropractors and physical therapists.
Today, Medi-Rub counts some 600 distributors that sell its products.
Holly’s company shows its massagers at about 850 trade shows every year to help drive sales and boost marketing.
“There’s an adrenaline rush that comes with these shows,” she said.
Medi-Rub has seen interest from health spas looking to incorporate Medi-Rub’s products into their treatments.
“There’s a huge growth opportunity there,” Holly said.
There are challenges that come with being a manufacturer.
The cost of materials has increased through the years along with insurance, healthcare and labor expenses, Holly said.
“It’s extremely expensive to make products in the states,” she said. “A lot of companies can’t do it, so they make their products in China, India or Mexico.”
Medi-Rub could make its products overseas but opts to do it here because of the perceived quality of American-made products.
The personal care industry is flooded with massagers, with a good chunk of them coming from overseas.
Medi-Rub is trying to stay ahead by constantly improving its massagers for durability, Holly said.
There are no heirs to the Medi-Rub business, she said.
Holly is mum about whether she eventually will sell the company. She said she has no plans to retire any time soon.
Web Ties
Garden Grove-based Wild Attire Inc. expects to hit $5 million in sales this year making and selling ties online.
Wild Attire runs the sites ties.com, neckties.com and wildties.com.
The private company is backed by investors and employs about 17 workers at its 6,500-square-foot office.
Wild Attire makes and sells different styles of one mainstay product,ties,like Nevada-based Internet retailer Zappos.com Inc. does with shoes.
The company carries about 8,000 different styles of neckties that sell from $10 to more than $30.
It sells its own brands of ties such as Silk Rhino and Principessa Regale, which are made at overseas factories.
The company also sells ties designed by other companies such as BCBG Max Azria Group Inc., Tommy Hilfiger Corp. and Kenneth Cole Productions Inc.
Morgan Dunn worked for an Internet company in Arizona before getting laid off when the dot-com bubble burst earlier this decade.
Out of work, Dunn figured he would become his own boss by buying the wildties.com domain name from his former employer in 2000.
Wildties.com was struggling when Dunn bought it. The company didn’t have a good way to manage stockpiles of ties, he said.
At the time, wildties.com didn’t keep ties on hand but rather ordered them when customers bought them from its site. That didn’t work out so well.
Customers would wait for months before receiving their ties, which led to complaints and a drop in sales.
Dunn brought in a partner to help deal with the challenges of getting wildties.com on track.
He and David Hansen, now the company’s chief technical officer, restructured the business by bringing inventory in house and improving customer service.
Aside from revamping daily operations, the partners had to market their company hard in the recession earlier this decade.
The company started out by offering a wide selection of novelty ties in wacky prints and colors.
Word of mouth spread and wildties.com began generating sales from necktie wearers and collectors.
Wild Attire grew over the years by making acquisitions. In 2005, the company bought neckties.com.
Earlier this year it bought ties.com.
The company has brought in more investors, Dunn said.
Wild Attire is trying to carve its niche as a seller of affordable neckties.
It’s able to keep its prices low by making ties overseas.
It also buys large quantities of ties from its suppliers, which helps keep prices low.
“Neckties have a high profit margin,” Dunn said.
Although Wild Attire is able to generate profits, the company still has to deal with high costs for materials, labor and insurance.
“In the last three years we had a 350% increase in overseas manufacturing, but whether that will come down because of the economic downturn is yet to be seen,” Dunn said.
The weak retail market and financial crisis have posed challenges for Wild Attire, Dunn said.
Since October the company has seen sales drop about 12%.
It hopes to generate sales during the holiday shopping season but knows the outlook is bleak.
“We’re heading into what we hope will be a busy season for us,” Dunn said. “It’s difficult to tell how much the downturn will impact us.”
There is the possibility that Wild Attire will be able to benefit from the downturn.
Layoffs could push more people to buy ties as they try to dress more professionally as they look for new jobs, Dunn said.
“People are be-coming more aw-are of their ap-pearance,” he said. “They want to look professional as they look for jobs.”
Jeweler Goes Online
Tustin’s Ruby’s Whim has started its own Internet store at rubyswhim.com.
The two-year-old maker of handmade bracelets, earrings, necklaces and other jewelry has sold its products at boutiques such as Hannah Bean in Santa Ana.
Now the jeweler wants to sell directly to consumers.
“We’re very niche, but it’s time to let everyone know what we do,” founder Erin Cone said.
Ruby’s Whim is privately held and doesn’t disclose revenue.
The company counts six workers including Cone at its 650-square-foot studio in Old Town Tustin.
Ruby’s Whim sells jewelry made with pearls, silver, Swarovski crystals and hard-to-find materials such as mink fur and European mother of pearl casino chips from the 1800s.
The company’s jewelry sells anywhere from $32 to $695.
Cone has been approached by buyers from department stores who want to sell Ruby’s Whim jewelry. But she said she prefers to keep the company’s products in boutiques and the online store.
Since the jewelry is handmade with rare materials it would be hard to make mass orders of products, Cone said.
“My jewelry is appreciated by a certain type of shopper,” Cone said. “It’s not mass market.”
Selling jewelry over the Internet will give Ruby’s Whim a chance to expand without the overhead of running an actual store.
The company hasn’t seen a dip in business because of the economic downturn, Cone said.
Ruby’s Whim jewelry still is generating interest from collectors, she said.
“Even in tough times people still want a little pick me up,” Cone said.
