Two partners turn an age-old idea into a contemporary business.
It’s called a whirligig, a piece of wooden folk art that spins like a pinwheel in the wind. In the 1600s, it was considered a child’s toy. But two years ago, two best friends took this old contraption and turned it into a popular back-yard novelty. Then they turned it into a unique Long Beach business.
Brian Tawa and Randy Joe, both 32, have little more than their 25-year friendship in common. Tawa, quiet and unassuming, has a bachelor’s degree in finance from California State University, Long Beach. Joe is the outgoing, assertive owner of a kite shop on the Redondo Beach pier.
Together, they formed a company named Whirlwind and set out to bring an old idea back to life by adding creative and colorful designs to the ever-present simplicity of motion. Today, a whirligig made by the company might look like a goofy road runner wearing pilot goggles with its yellow legs spinning in the wind, or a flashy, hot pink flamingo with rotating wings. They are designed as home or garden decorations that are sold in home improvement centers and gift stores, not toy shops.
“Randy found the product and asked me if I wanted to start this,” Tawa said. “Since I’ve always had a lot of faith in his judgment, I said OK.” Tawa had to drop out of the family grocery store business.
“Brian is bright and has the ability to catch on quickly,” Joe said. “He had no practical experience but he set up the business. He’s responsible and conservative in his thinking when it comes to finance, which is his strength.”
Before designing their first whirligig, Tawa and Joe studied and purchased existing whirligigs from people making them in their garages.
Samples Sold Within a Few Weeks
The whirligigs they bought were not quite showcase quality, but Joe put them up for sale at his Sunshine Kite Co. shop. When the whirligigs sold within a few weeks at prices ranging from $15 to $25, the partners were convinced that there was a market for the unusual wooden creatures.
A mutual friend at Republic Bank in Gardena believed in the venture, too, and helped the partners get financial backing.
Tawa and Joe used one whirligig, hand-painted just on one side, for their first catalogue photos. Along with a few sample whirligigs made in Tawa’s garage, the partners sent their catalogue to gift store representatives. Within a few months, they found themselves with a 3-inch-tall stack of orders, but no whirligigs to fill them.
It is cheaper to have whirligigs made overseas because production involves silk-screening and hand-painting. The factories that Whirlwind had contracted with through intermediaries in China and Taiwan were behind schedule.
But it was not long before the flow of whirligigs began to catch up with orders. While the partners often fly to the Orient to supervise production, they now have a little more time to concentrate on perfecting their work.
Whirlwind has 20 designs intended to appeal to a variety of customers. The partners also are negotiating for the rights to add Walt Disney characters to their product line.
In addition to updating the design, Tawa and Joe have repackaged the whirligig for easy display and assembly, and brought the price down from $25 to $18.
Nationwide Distribution Network
Whirlwind has about 1,750 distributors across the country and a few in Holland and Japan. Last year, the company grossed about $500,000, the partners said.
For Joe, the most difficult thing about having his own company is finding patience. “Sometimes I’d like us to be a little farther ahead, but I know that’s hard,” he said.
“He’s a perfectionist,” said Tawa. “And competitive.”
“It’s also nice to have the support of family and friends,” Joe added. “They give you so much and ask for nothing in return. It makes you just want to do better and work harder.”
In addition to moral support, both of their families give time and energy to Whirlwind. Tawa’s father and uncle, along with Joe’s parents, help with special orders. Joe’s mother brings doughnuts when she comes in to organize her son’s paper work. And Tawa’s uncle even remedied a production error by fixing 3,500 defective whirligigs by hand.
Both Tawa and Joe admit that people often question whether they can make a steady living selling whirligigs. But so far they have no doubts about what they’re doing.
“We’re not going to make whirligigs all our lives,” Joe said. “We would eventually like to develop more products in the lawn and garden industry, because it offers growing potential. There’s really no limit to the kind of products we’re going to make in the future.”
