Customized Art for Kids
Written by Mary Welch Tuesday, September 28 2010
Snapshot: Abby Port
Abby Port, owner and founder of the Red Koala Canvas Art Co. Inc., launched an online store selling art for nurseries and children’s rooms. Prior to Red Koala, Port worked in the sports marketing industry. She earned her degree in marketing from the University of Georgia and her master’s in sports marketing from Georgia State University. She lives in Woodstock, Ga., with her husband and four sons.
Womenetics: Tell us about Red Koala Canvas Art Co.
Abby Port: Red Koala sells customizable and personalized art for nurseries and children’s rooms. The consumer simply emails us a picture of a room, and one of our artists designs a piece of art to match. All of our art can be personalized with a child’s name and additional text.
Womenetics: How did you come up with the concept?
Port: At the time I came up with this concept I had three children. I was faced with the challenge of finding art for their rooms. Even though my husband’s family owns an art gallery, I still couldn't find what I was looking for. Everything was either the wrong color or the wrong look. I started asking, “Why is nobody providing art that could be customized before it was printed?” I decided to pursue this idea with the help of my husband. We came to the conclusion that with my business background and his family-owned art gallery we could do something really great with this concept. 
Womenetics: Who makes up your market?
Port: My target market is moms with new babies and small children. My secondary market is gift-givers including grandmothers and other mothers.
Womenetics: How do you find your artists?
Port: I initially found artists through my connection to my husband’s family-owned art gallery. As we developed our company, artists began finding us and submitting their work for consideration.
Womenetics: What advice would you give other entrepreneurs?
Port: Believe in yourself and don’t give up because it doesn’t happen overnight. It takes time to grow a business and build a consumer base.
Womenetics: In this economy, isn’t your business more of a splurge than a necessity? How do you overcome or manage this perception?
Port: The current economic situation encouraged me think outside of the “art box." Yes, what we sell is a splurge, and that is a tough space to be in right now. One way we overcame this was to sell items at a lower price point. To do this without compromising our core products, I decided to focus on the gift-giving market. Through boutiques, we now sell smaller pieces of personalized art that make great gifts. This has been a very successful strategy in overcoming the recession and consumers’ lack of spending on themselves. Even in a bad economy, people will continue to spend money on gifts. 
Womenetics: How do you market your site?
Port: Most of our marketing strategy is through social media and word of mouth. Art is really tough to sell online. People want to know that they are getting a quality product before they spend their money. By showing our art at festivals and asking consumers and friends to share their experiences both online and verbally, we instill a level of trust with new customers. The art sold in boutiques introduces new consumers to our company and the quality products we deliver.
Womenetics: What are your biggest challenges running the business?
Port: My biggest challenge is finding time to get everything done. There is always another boutique that I want to talk to, or another piece of art I want to design, or another artist I would like to bring on board. However, I have four children who also need my attention. One of the main reasons I wanted to start my own business was to have more time with my children. I want to be home when they get off the bus, help them with their homework, and drive them to activities. That means more hours working late at night and early in the morning and realizing that I might not get it all done in one day. 
Womenetics: How do you ensure quality?
Port: We manufacture all of our products from start to finish. I carefully choose all of the materials we use in our products, and I see every piece before it ships to the customer. So far, we have excellent customer satisfaction with no complaints or returns.
Womenetics: What is the future of the company?
Port: Growth through retail sales at boutiques throughout the United States. We are in the process of setting up these accounts and have received positive feedback from the stores we have contacted. As the economy improves, we also look to expand into décor stores that cater to children. We will continue to offer our products to consumers online, but we believe that the true future of the company is a mix of retailer and direct customer orders.
Mary Welch is a freelance writer for the Atlanta Journal Constitution, Dawson Times, Plan Your Meeting magazine, and Atlanta Business magazine. Previously, she held many positions with Leader Publishing, including editor-in-chief of Atlanta Woman, editor of Business to Business magazine, and editor of Catalyst magazine. As editor of Business to Business, she assigned, edited, and conceptualized a series that was awarded Silver in the 2005 GAMMA Awards for Best Series. Welch was a reporter for the Atlanta Business Chronicle for eight years and freelanced for publications including Glamour, Advertising Age, South, Georgia Trend, and Oz. From 2000 to 2003, she served as vice president of media relations for Bank of America, during which time she authored Forever Green: A History and Hope of the American Forest with Rolling Stones keyboardist Chuck Leavell.
