Flops Are the Fruit of Misfortune

Two years ago, Ken Girouard was producing television commercials for a prestigious New York advertising agency and was about to buy a Manhattan apartment when he fell victim to a hostile takeover.

He and dozens of colleagues lost their jobs after corporate raider Carl C. Icahn bought Trans World Airlines and took the air carrier’s advertising business elsewhere. Dejected and jobless, Girouard headed west, not stopping until he reached Venice Beach.

Unsure about what he wanted to do next, he began studying horticultural design in UCLA’s extension program. But instead of planning landscapes, Girouard designed a pair of wacky beach-type sandals bedecked with fruit and flowers for a tiny Malibu company he started.

“I named the company Two Left Feet because every time I tripped, my mother would say, ‘You have two left feet,’ ” said the 31-year-old Girouard.

His wacky sandals feature rubber grapes, tiny plastic dolls in swimsuits, miniature fish and faux pearls. The sandals sell for as much as $45 a pair in boutiques and resorts from Saudi Arabia to Malibu.

Girouard admits tripping quite a few times along the way while trying to establish his fledgling business with a loan from his parents and advances on his credit cards.

His first major mistake was not realizing that the lush plastic fruits and flowers he needed to decorate the simple thong-type sandals had become virtually unobtainable since lifelike silk flowers hit the market.

After dozens of phone calls, he tracked down a Nevada company willing to sell him 25 cases of plastic greenery. He was ecstatic--until he learned that the trucking company hired to transport his supplies had filed for bankruptcy. The precious plastic goods are still somewhere in the Midwest.

Undaunted, Girouard struggled to find new leaves and rubber grapes and settled down to decorate cases and cases of flip-flop sandals. “I freaked out when I had all the sandals in my house,” he admits.

He put together a collection of samples for a Long Beach trade show last January. There he picked up $3,000 worth of orders, and Two Left Feet took its first steps toward the Big Time.

Another problem arose. He had orders in hand, but no one to help him make the sandals. Thinking that it was kids’ stuff, he hired a troop of Malibu Girl Scouts anxious to earn money for a trip to Australia.

“It was a nightmare,” Girouard recalls. “There I was, surrounded by 25 10-year-old girls who thought the sandals were dumb and questioned everything I said.” Girouard finally filled his orders by hiring and training women who can create a pair of Fruit Flops every half hour.

He learned another tough lesson when he missed the peak January buying period during which retailers seek their summer-season merchandise. It’s too late for him to get merchandise into major stores that purchased their inventories months ago.

Still, Girouard hopes to be successful so he can better prepare for the summer of 1990. He is focusing his own sales efforts on beach resorts and cruise lines, which sell sandals year-round.

“I think fruit will always be in fashion,” Girouard said. “Carmen Miranda made fruit fun.”

Recently he has added a line of fruit-covered summer hats and straw handbags to complement his sandals.

Since he debuted the sandals at the trade show last January, he has sold nearly $10,000 worth of Fruit Flops. He has orders coming in through sales representatives working on commission and a display at a showroom in the fashion industry’s downtown California Mart.

“We keep Fruit Flops in our window and they bring in quite a bit of business,” said Robin Gattegno, a salesperson for Callas-Tighe, a trendy accessories showroom in the Mart. “People think they are fun,” Gattegno said. “Fruit is kind of retro--it takes you back a little bit in time.”

She said even if retailers don’t order the sandals for their stores, they sometimes buy a few just to use in eye-catching window displays.

Girouard, who works in a tiny, converted gardening shed behind a friend’s house, said his immediate challenge is figuring out how to boost production without reducing the quality of his handmade designs.

“I could also sell more if I could lower my costs,” said Girouard, who wholesales the sandals for $17.50 a pair when they are bought by the dozen.

Girouard, who works as a bartender two nights a week to augment his income, said he has begun scouting for factories to provide him with a steady, affordable supply of plastic and rubber fruit and foliage.

If sales continue to flourish, he may begin manufacturing Fruit Flops overseas, although he is worried about Far East factories copying his product.

He seems surprised by his relative success, modest as it may be.

“I made the first pair as a joke for a friend’s birthday--they had a banana and a lemon on them,” said Girouard.

Grants for Women

Earlier this week, U.S. Small Business Administration chief Susan Engeleiter announced three federal grants totaling more than $700,000. The funds are to be used to counsel and train women business owners.

“Women business owners are the fastest-growing segment of the small business community, yet they still face barriers that make it difficult to obtain capital and acquire managerial skills,” the new SBA administrator said.

“These three projects are the beginning of a new federal effort to help business women develop the skills they need to create and sustain successful companies.”

The grants are the first to be awarded under the Women’s Business Ownership Act approved by Congress last year. The act appropriated $10 million during the next three years to help private organizations provide financial, management, marketing and technical assistance to women business owners.

The Women’s Economic Development Corp., headquartered in Minneapolis, was awarded $210,000 to establish training programs in Denver, Seattle and Albuquerque. The Women’s Business Development Center of Chicago won $185,000 to train Illinois business owners. The Midwest Women’s Business Owners Development Joint Venture won $254,596 to establish programs in Wisconsin.

Each organization is required to match the federal funds dollar for dollar with private money.

Venture Editor to Talk

Arthur Lipper III, financier, investor and editor of Venture magazine, is the scheduled speaker at the June 13 meeting of the Los Angeles Venture Assn. The group will meet at 7:30 a.m. at the Valley Hilton, 15433 Ventura Blvd., Sherman Oaks. Tickets are $25 for members and $35 for others. For reservations, call (213) 450-9544.

Speech on Factoring

Apparel industry attorney Richard G. Reinis is scheduled to give a free one-hour lecture on factoring, financing common to the apparel business. The session is set for June 15 at noon in the Olympic Suite at the California Mart, 110 E. 9th St., Los Angeles. This is the first in a series of five lectures. For reservations, call 213-624-4246.