Katie's bumpers.
by Peterson, Eric
ColoradoBiz • August, 2008 • A QUARTET OF COLORADO CANINE PRODUCTS FOR THE DOG DAYS
OF SUMMER:
After 9/11, Jill Nazimek was looking for a career change from
high-tech sales and got some sage advice from her parents' champion
Newfoundland, Katie: Make striped and checkered bumpers (floating canvas
or plastic cylinders) used in training for water rescue, one of the
13-year-old dog's specialties.
[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]
"They have a hard time seeing white bumpers," Nazimek
said.
A prototype quickly snowballed into a full-fledged manufacturing
operation that today produces a slew of different colorful fetch toys
made of durable fire hose material, and all products sold in Colorado
are made in Colorado. Along the way, "They went from a utilitarian
thing to a total toy," she said. "It's all about
fetch."
Now sporting the title "Chief Fetcher" on her business
card, Nazimek hasn't looked back. "Now we're
international," she said, touting a network of 2,000 retailers--and
no big boxes. $10 to $20 retail.
Made by Katie's Pet Products Inc., Golden, (303) 642-0544,
www.katiesbumpers.com. There is a store locator on the website.
COPYRIGHT 2008 Wiesner Publications,
Inc. Reproduced with permission of the copyright holder. Further reproduction or distribution is prohibited without permission.
Copyright 2008 Gale, Cengage Learning. All rights
reserved. Gale Group is a Thomson Corporation Company.
NOTE: All illustrations and photos have been removed from this article.