TEMPE, Ariz. - Fetish gear manufacturer SteelVineyards has signed a distribution agreement with Mr. S Leather and Madame S, a 30-year-old icon in the fetish novelty business.
The deal will expand SteelVineyards' market reach while granting Mr. S exclusive U.S. distribution rights to SteelVineyards' flagship product, the Triple Hinge CBT Collar.
The arrangement will "be good for a lot of smaller mom-and-pop stores," SteelVineyards co-owner and co-founder Anna English told AVN Novelty Business. "DVD sales are down across the board, and lots of stores are now looking to the fetish and BDSM markets" to fill gaps in their bottom lines.
Although SteelVineyards has "been doing limited wholesale" since the company's debut in 2002, English said she and her husband Michael, the company's other co-owner, prefer to focus their attention on manufacturing and education.
SteelVineyards' products are handcrafted of stainless steel in the U.S., and the process is time-consuming. But that's exactly what makes SteelVineyards' products enduring and popular, English told ANB.
"Our products aren't put in a mold, and we can't make 1,000 a day," she said. "They're made of medical-grade stainless steel, and we work with retail outlets to make sure they have the education they need to help their customers use the products safely."
When the opportunity to work with Mr. S came along, English said she and her husband were elated.
"Our relationship with Mr. S will allow quicker delivery to a wider variety of stores," she told ANB. "Mr. S will have our stock on hand, so delivery will be quicker."
The wholesale arrangement, combined with the 300-percent sales growth SteelVineyards experienced during 2008, meant the company had to ramp up production. The Englishes added a second full-time manufacturing shop and hired additional staff late last year.
The expense and management challenges have been worth the effort, Anna English said.
"We are confident this will allow an unbridled new reach for our product lines to be seen, offered and acquired," she said. "This adds a rock-solid avenue of service to customers seeking to obtain our products and an additional backstop for us to pull on should our production cycle not be in sync with a current customer's immediate needs.
"We are confident there could be no better partner than Mr. S to hold stewardship of our product lines," English added. "Their ability to continually propel their sales is a hallmark of Mr. S Leather's hallmark unending passion and commitment to total service of their customers."
For more information about SteelVineyards, visit TongueVine.com. For more information about Mr. S Leather and Madame S, visit Mr-S-Leather.com.
