from our members
Silly Phillie Is Serious About Baby Gifts! ®
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illy Phillie® Creations has been making unique baby gifts for over 30 years. In fact, many of its products are considered classics within the industry, as popular today as when they were first introduced. The Original Baby Hoagie, Special Delivery Pizza, Welcome Wagons, and Rocking Horse Gifts Sets are prime examples of the company’s most iconic baby gifts. The Brooklyn Army Terminal in Sunset Park has been home to Silly Phillie for the past 26 years. The company operates a full-scale manufacturing facility to complement its “made-to-order” business model. That includes fabric-cutting, garment-sewing, embroidery, gift assembly and fulfillment. Silly Phillie® baby gifts are certified Brooklyn-Made by the Brooklyn Chamber. Silly Phillie® gets its catchy name and creative energies from majority owner and product designer Phyllis Gordon S’Dao. Phyllis has been the face and driving force behind the business from the beginning. As a result, it is not surprising that most people in her industry know her simply as Silly Phillie®. Born and raised in Brooklyn, Phyllis is a graduate of the Fashion Institute of Technology. After several early jobs in the garment center, she became an entrepreneur when she and her marketing executive husband, Richard S’Dao, launched Silly Phillie® Creations. From the start, Phyllis’ creative vision was to bring a distinctive style and whimsical approach to children’s items. The company hit its stride toward the latter part of its first year when Phyllis created an infant bath towel with a clever never-before-seen design feature. Orders began flowing in from both boutiques and large department stores, and the company grew quickly. Silly Phillie® evolved over the years into a full-scale baby gift manufacturer. No company survives as long as Silly Phillie® has without the ability to overcome challenges. The most significant ones faced by Silly Phillie were the downfall of smaller boutiques in favor of bigger department and chain stores, outsourcing of production overseas, which hurt small domestic manufacturers in particular and the explosive growth of the Internet and e-commerce shopping. Phyllis attributes the ongoing success of her business primarily to two factors. First, Silly Phillie® has never veered away from its roots of making better-quality merchandise in the USA. That decision, while perhaps limiting growth potential,
effectively helped secure a unique niche for Silly Phillie® that it remains in today. Second, she adds modestly, is the company’s ability to consistently introduce new and exciting gifts that resonate with its target audience. Silly Phillie® baby gifts and layette accessories are sold in retail stores such as boutiques, hospital gift shops and florists. In addition, company products can be purchased directly via www.sillyphillie. com, Etsy and Amazon. And finally, Silly Phillie® drop-ships for scores of other ecommerce retailers, including some very large ones. Brooklyn Chamber members may purchase gifts on www.sillyphillie.com at a 20 percent discount using the promo code BCC100. You can contact Phyllis by phone at 718-492-6300, or by email phyllis@sillyphillie.com with any inquiries.
visit us at www.ibrooklyn.com. where brooklyn business clicks. 4 Brooklyn Progress
• November/December 2016