Good news has come out of the Black-owned business network. Tippy Tot Shoes, owned by Yolandra Rodgers, has signed a deal with luxury retail giant Neiman Marcus, BlackNews reported.
Rodgers began Tippy Tot Shoes in 2013, intending to help families with new walkers find comfortable shoes. Many people are used to the hard-bottomed walking shoes that seem to endure throughout generations.
Not only are the shoes bulky, but the hard-bottom, stiff shoes of yesteryear aren’t good for babies’ feet. Rodgers wanted to change that. Her idea was to offer a brand that was not only stylish but offered babies and toddlers the sole support they needed as they learned to walk.
Calling upon her own experience as a mother whose daughter took a little longer to begin walking, Rodgers became inspired when the pediatrician told her to purchase hard-bottomed shoes but she couldn’t find any.
Rodgers eventually found a shoe designer and after feedback from friends and family, she began selling her brand online through her website. Her sales soared.
She participated in FedEx’s Small Business Competition when an executive at the company saw Rodgers and her shoes on LinkedIn and suggested she enter. Rodgers never looked back.
All of her hard work has paid off.
Neiman Marcus and one of its subsidiary stores, Bergdorf Goodman, signed a deal with Rodgers to carry her brand of children’s shoes. This is quite an accomplishment. Black-owned businesses have a hard enough time breaking into larger retailers; let alone luxury retailers.
Tippy Tot Shoes is now the first Black-owned toddler shoe company to do a deal with the Neiman Marcus Group.
For all of her success, Rodgers understands her company’s appeal.
“My business has longevity; there will always be babies. And these shoes, they did away with them, but now they’re back and better than ever,” she said.
We wish her all the success in the world.
