Suffield Pottery Importer Has Big Vision
Sunday, February 13, 2011
By KATHRYN M. ROY
SUFFIELD - What started as a dream to create a company that sells products that appeal to women has blossomed into a multi-million-dollar enterprise here.
Gloria Smith, owner and president of the Zanger Company, considered the premier importer of Polish stoneware in the U.S., was the first person in America to bring the extraordinarily detailed pieces of functional art to America.
Twenty-four years later, the Zanger Co., located at 21B Kenny Roberts Memorial Drive, continues to succeed, with $10 million in pottery sales through its brick-and-mortar warehouse, its website, and through the television shopping channel QVC.
It all started when Smith attended a trade show in Frankfurt, Germany, where she searched for a unique product that had yet to be imported to the U.S. She soon discovered Polish stoneware, a kind of folk art, with each piece made by hand, and developed a working relationship with the acclaimed factory, Ceramika Artystyczna.
"The evolution of the stoneware has really developed because I've given the artists some ideas that they've been able to run with," Smith said. "It's a combination effort of coordinating and working together as a team."
Smith said one of the best parts of her business is working with the women artists of Ceramika Artystyczna. About 70 percent of the employees of the cooperative factory are women, and about 60 percent share ownership in it.
"It's a brilliant company business model," Smith said. "They have a vested interest in their products - the shapes of the vessels, the decorations and so on."
The intricate designs on the pieces, whether they be geometric patterns or floral bouquets, require time and skill to create.
"It's a skill that can't be matched anywhere in the world," Smith said.
The designs are created using tiny sponges cut in a particular shape.
"They can do a three-dimensional flower cut out of a sponge, where the flower looks like it's blowing in the wind, with multiple layers of petals," she said. "You can do that on canvas with a skilled artist, but it will take a long time, whereas pieces of pottery can be done in two hours."
With major customers such as QVC, the pieces need to be completed quickly. Smith travels to QVC studios in Pennsylvania about every other month to appear live on the channel with her stoneware.
"QVC has helped the factory tremendously; they did have to ramp up to really create that volume," Smith said. "When I was on (QVC) in December, we did a product that numbered to 8,400 pieces. That takes almost a full year to produce that, and a lot of coordination, because they can't put pieces of all the same size into the kiln at once."
Smith handles the brisk business with just two employees. One handles the website and its business, the other handles "off-the-street" business from those who come into the warehouse, photographs pieces and pulls the orders.
The second employee does all the packing. All three women are involved in unpacking shipments. Smith focuses on QVC business, wholesale orders for retailers and brainstorming new ideas for shapes and designs.
Since she has been involved with Polish stoneware for so long, Smith is always astonished to meet people who have just discovered it.
"What's wonderful about Polish stoneware is that is really crosses socioeconomic lines," she said. "There is no age range; men and women like it, and children respond to it."
The longevity of the products is part of their appeal.
"In a world that is highly mechanized, this is still made in an old-world fashion; it's hands on," Smith said. "There's something rich in that that we can really wrap our heads around. And it has an heirloom quality that can be passed on through generations."
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