HOUSEWIFE ENTERS WORLD OF BUSINESS NV woman's chal tidy up Canadian cl SHE HAS been obsessed with tidying closets since she was a teenager. By MICHAEL BECKER News Repurter Today, years later, the obsession has been transformed into a tangi- ble idea for a new product. While most of us keep our good ideas firmly locked in at the con- ceptual stage, a North Vancouver woman has worked her idea through a series of smali business entreprencurial hoops into some- thing real. Lorraine Logan has developed her obsession into a better way of simply organizing ties, scarves and clothes. In the process she has balanced being a mother of two with famil- iarizing herself with the finer points of international patent pro- cess, overseas manufacturing and marketing — all from her North Vancouver home. Her invention, called the Acces- sory Mate, is quite simply a high- tech plastic clothes hanger with loops, allowing the consumer to marry selected accessories with specific wardrobes. “T used to drive my dad crazy organizing closets. At 15 1 took home dress-size tags from the clothing store | was working at and incorporated them into our closets,”* 34-year old Logan said. Just a little over a year into mounting her personal campaign to organize the closets of the world, Logan has become a one- woman small business dynamo. The first step after conceiving the concept was to patent the idea for North America. The patenting process was followed with the development of a prototype and the location of a manufacturer in Taiwan, Logan’s choice of moving pro- duction of her product overseas was governed by hard economics. “Tt would have cost approximately $25,000 for an injection die steel mold in Canada. In Vaiwan the quote was one-sixteenth of the cost,"’ she said. Logan estimates the intial in- vestment for producing her pro- duct in Canada at $50,000. ‘ht seems there’s more opportunity outside of Canada. Here you're faced with high labor costs and conservative store buyers. Buyers in the U.S. are more ready to take chances on new things and tend to think in bigger volumes,’’ she said. After personally clearing her lenge: sets first 5,000 hangers through customs last week, Logan now finds herself immersed in piecing together a marketing scheme and network, “t's the most frustrating aspect. There’s lots of junk on the market and a lot of it just doesn't work. Some buyers aren't keen about quality or care whether an idea works. They just care if they can make a buck at it,”? she said. Logan and her husband have sunk $10,000 of their own money into the project to date after intial- ly estimating an outlay of $4,000 to get the product off the ground. ‘Every step has been a learning experience. With each step I've had to learn the language of the trade, ‘Camera-ready art’ is not a term most housewives are comfor- table with,’ she said. Her assault on organizing the closets of Canada becomes earnest this week when she takes her high-tech hanger to the retail movers and shakers in Toronto. Logan hopes to sell 50,000 hangers in her first year of produc- tion. ‘I really belive in this and PU get this out there no matter what it takes,’ she said. For more information cali Raine Enterprises Ltd. at 985-477). Share the Hobbit House experience e Outdoor patio for lunch & dinner. ® The Brandy Room with it’s large natural stone fireplace. e 2 for i appetizers and entrees Monday to Friday — to August 14th * Te participate just presetit this ad. e Reservations recommended Call 987-3388 HOBBIT HOUSE RESTAURANT 3650 CAPILANO ROAD NORTH VANCOUVER Students make the grade PAGE NEWS photo Cindy Bellamy LORRAINE LOGAN demonstrates one of the uses for her new product — the Accessory Mate — in her North Vancouver home. Logan conceiv- ed the idea for the new gizmo and is now marketing it. BRR AEE EERO EE « Pre-Grand Opening of our: New Richmond Spa! * x * * 4 4 x x KkeKRAK AK AK K « FACILITIES & SERVICES EXCLUSIVELY FOR WOMEN * Aerobic & No-Sounce Aerobics daily * Whirlpool & Sauna * Lifecycles & Fan Bikes * Cushioned Wood Floor * Individual Lockers * Private Showers * Supervised Programs * Nutritional Guidance * and much, much more! * CASH PRICE NEW ADULT PATRONS ONLY HURRY! kkk ke kkk ok wk kek ke ae REGISTRATION CEN: RE x ; 7740 ALDERBRIDGE WAY x - 5635 276-2242 § MM YO YMA YOO OK OO KO ML OL