A 'Golden' Opportunity

I've never seen anything change as rapidly as our industry has in the last five years,” says John Coyne, chairman of Coyne's & Company. “It's going through a major recession, almost a depression.” These are words from a veteran of the giftware industry, a member of a family-owned company based in Minneapolis that's celebrating its 50th anniversary in 2005. Despite his serious warning, Coyne is optimistic. “The challenge for us and the retailer is to find out what the customer wants and provide it,” he says.

Coyne's & Co. started providing what customers want back in 1955 when Ed Coyne began his business representing the Fenton Art Glass Company in three Midwestern states. Coincidently, family-owned Fenton celebrates its centenary this year (see story page, 52). “It's incredible when generations of two family-owned companies get to work with each other over so long a period,” says John, who joined his father's company in 1959 after completing college.

Soon, the company increased its represented lines and began importing gifts from Europe, such as 250 patterns of bone china cups and saucers popular at the time, as well as glass from Czechoslovakia, Poland, and Italy. The targeted audience was specialty retailers in the upper Midwest.

Ed Coyne passed away in 1970 and five years later Coyne's took on partner Bob Haake, who had represented Enesco. They continued the relationship with Enesco for close to 15 years.

In 1981, Coyne's introduced a division for which it is probably best known today: Parade of Gifts. It's a direct marketing operation that develops gift catalogs, postcards, and other promotions for retailers. Parade of Gifts represented a departure for the industry. While other syndicated catalogs operate by direct shipping from factory to retailer, Coyne's warehouses 20 to 30 percent of the gifts, collectibles, and decorative accessories offered in its catalog, and consolidates shipments.

At the beginning of the 1990s, Coyne's took another step that has since become an industry standard: licensed artist lines. Collections from David Frykman, Jim Wickesberg, Marianne Richmond, Nancye Williams, Peggy Jo Ackley, Ronnie Walter, and Williraye Studio are among the lines carried by some 8,000 retailers nationwide. Other collections, such as Warehouse 104 and Sage Country Mercantile, have been developed in-house.

John Coyne retired from active duty in 1999. His son, Michael, became the third generation to lead Coyne's & Company as president, while brother Tim serves as sales manager and Chris as network administrator. John is still involved in the business, however. “It's my passion,” he says, “I can't walk away completely.”

Which brings us back to what John Coyne sees as the future of the giftware industry. “The customer base is eroding and volume is eroding with it. It's no longer enough to know your traditional core customer, you have to generate new customers,” says Coyne. The first step is to create products that will attract new shoppers' tastes.

“We're going very aggressively in that direction,” he says. “We'll be releasing new concepts in January that are more contemporary, geared to younger people.”

The second step is to get the word out about the new products. “There's only one way to do that,” says Coyne, “Advertising. It's tempting to cut the expense, but it's dangerous. You have to put your name out there and have the right product.”

And take hold of a golden opportunity.

Celebrate Coyne's & Company's 50 years in the giftware business by visiting its showrooms during the summer markets.