Buckie baby business booms
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FROM starting a business in the front room of her house to featuring in some of the best magazines in the land is quite a journey, but one a Buckie mum has taken in her stride.
Jennifer Cormack only started her baby products and gifts firm Slothy Cubs last January in her Rathven home but has now featured in prestigious magazines Homes and Gardens, World of Interiors, Yummy Mummy and, most recently, Vanity Fair.
Homes and Gardens were first to come calling, with Mrs Cormack not entirely sure that it was not a scam of some sort.
She said: "When they first got in touch I thought it was probably a scam and ignored it.
"It wasn't until they sent a reminder email I thought I'd better go and do some research to see if it was legit. I couldn't actually believe they'd heard of my business.
"World of Interiors is Homes and Gardens' sister paper so my story was shared with them.
"Yummy Mummy was another surprise as they usually cover the affluent areas of London. Vanity Fair's email arrived on April 1 so my first thought was 'This is an April fool!'.
"I think the biggest impact on my business appearing in these magazines has had is the trust factor. There're so many products out there which are not safety tested, are poorly made and are potentially dangerous, and being associated with these magazines helps people trust my products.
"All of my products have been rigorously tested by safety labs, who basically see how much it takes to break them. I must've spent about £2000 on testing and its worth it. I can sleep at night knowing all of my products are safe."
Slothy Cubs had small beginnings but soon blossomed over the course of the year in a way Mrs Cormack could never have anticipated. A big inspiration was her own daughter Isabella, who will celebrate her second birthday this June.
"I started making teething necklaces when Isabella began teething," Mrs Cormack continued.
"I was a member of a breastfeeding group and I asked them what they thought of the necklaces and then I started selling them. It really snowballed after that, I never thought I'd get to this point."
As an online business, lockdown has not had much, if any, negative effect on Slothy Cubs and Mrs Cormack has bold plans for the future.
She said: "Lockdown didn't really hurt my business, it's almost all online.
"I only had stock in a couple of craft shops in Elgin and Turriff.
"During lockdown last year I did a lot of business with people who were unable to see family or friends' newborn babies but wanted to send them a gift. They ordered from me and I sent the gift directly, so they didn't even have to go to the post office, which was a big boost for people who were shielding.
"I've been very, very busy and if it keeps on growing at this rate I'll have to look at moving to wholesale only.
"At the moment one of the things I'm looking at is getting stocked in EU countries, with Germany and France first. It's a case of taking things in baby steps at the moment.
Incredibly, Mrs Cormack has fitted her burgeoning business around her role as a dental hygienist and, latterly, as a vaccinator in Elgin.
One question about Mrs Cormack's booming business does remain – where does the name Slothy Cubs come from?
She explained: "I just love sloths!
"When I was looking for a name for the business I thought sloths give you that happy, relaxed and calm feeling and Slothy Cubs was the result."
Find out more about Slothy Cubs at https://slothycubs.com/
