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The Vermont Teddy Bear Story
Teddy Bears bring back tradition
It all started with a tag - a tag on a grandson’s bear that bore the name of a foreign country. This began the evolution of the Vermont Teddy Bear Company.
In 1981, John Sortino wanted to bring the teddy bear tradition back to America. By 1983, Sortino was selling his bears on the streets of Burlington. In four days, he sold his first bear. It took nearly a year to sell 200.
But the road to success came with the spark of an idea from a stranger, a tourist who wanted her bear shipped to her home. Welcome the Bear-Gram.
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Tour guide Heather shows the kids how bears can be personalized by hobbies. In 1990, Sortino took his concept to New York City where radio stations endorsed the Bear-Grams in a marketing strategy that rocketed Sortino past his yearly sales goal in just two days.
Today, the Vermont Teddy Bear Company sells over 450,000 bears each year and has four sister companies, all born from the coined Gram concepts.
Calyx Flowers is a luxury florist company specializing in unique arrangements and gift sets. Pajama Gram lets you choose among hundreds of sleepwear styles and delivers it in a hatbox. TastyGram delivers “creatively packaged” gourmet foods. And finally with Gift Bag Boutique, the newest sister company, you can customize your own purse, clutch, or tote and fill it with products of your choosing.
“People like the fact that everything is made right here in Vermont,” said Public Relations Associate Meg Terrien.
Because of the unique Bear-Gram concept, the product can be shipped nationwide with a personalized and customized bear. “The majority of our customers are not Vermonters,” Terrien said.
Most of the bears, she said, are made in the Newport factory. The Shelburne location houses the tours, personalization, and retail areas.
“People like the fact that everything is made right here in Vermont.”
More than 150,000 people visit the Vermont Teddy Bear Factory each year. Many are tourists from the Northeast, but Terrien said people have come from places as far away as Miami, Texas, and California.
Factory tours run year round and kids under 12 enter for free. The tours bring you through each section of the bear-making process, and the tour leader explains the concepts behind Sortino’s vision.
Each bear part is individually cut on 14 layers of fur using a hydraulic press of 34,000 pounds and sewn by a sewing staff. The Shelburne staff sews 400 bears a day and the Newport staff sews 800.
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By purchasing one My Little Hero bear two are donated to children who are in need of a teddy to hug. The joints of the bear use a lock and washer system. This system is a safety measure that ensures small parts will never be accessible to children. The joint system also allows for 360 degree movement of all four limbs and the head of the teddy bear. Sortino was the first person to make a teddy bear with all movable parts.
The bear is then sent to the stuffing station where each part is stuffed at 100 miles per hour. The stuffing is made from fiber free, hypoallergenic material, making the bears flame resistant.
To enhance the bear’s authenticity, the tag is printed with a Made in Vermont logo, and the pupil of each eye says Born in Vermont.
Each bear is covered by a lifetime guarantee; something that Terrien said is “the most attractive thing to customers.”
While the upcoming holiday season proves to be one of the busiest times of year, Valentine’s Day brings in the most revenue, netting 30 percent of the company’s yearly business, Terrien said.
The factory opens its doors to 1,000 seasonal employees from the holidays until after Mother’s Day at the end of May, Terrien said.
During the busy season, the highest selling bears are the Baby’s First Christmas bear, the Loverboy Bear during Valentine’s Day, and the Momma’s Boy bear during Mother’s Day.
“We haven’t quite figured out what we’re going to do next.”
While you can purchase many of the theme-inspired bears, all teddies are customizable, complete with eye color, fur color, outfits and even personalized tattoos.
The “Friend for Life” bear allows kids to choose a bear, fully sewn but un-stuffed, in an array of color choices. The children choose a felt heart, which they kiss and put inside the bear, bringing it to life.
The stuffing wheel is complete with choices of imagination, happiness, friendship, magic and love. The bear is stitched up and a birth certificate is filled out, marking the birth of your bear. These bears are called Born Abroad bears because the shell is made in China.
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A family creates their own Friend for Life bears and complete birth certificates for their Born Abroad bears. While the Teddy Bear Company grows in success, the desire to give back does not go unnoticed. Many bears in the factory benefit charities and organizations. For each Panda, Koala, Grizzly, Polar, Black and Moon bear purchased, $5 is given to help endangered species at International Fund for Animal Welfare.
The My Little Hero bear program donates two bears for every one purchased to children who need teddy bears the most. The program started in 2002 and since its commencement 13,000 bears have been donated to children in need, said Anita Germain, of donations at the factory.
“We sent a whole bunch of Little Hero Bears to victims after Hurricane Katrina,” she added.
The Vermont Teddy Bear Company has exceeded the expectations once put forth by Sortino in 1981, bringing American-made teddy bears to the homes of people across the country. With sister companies, customizable Grams and high revenue, the company may continue to grown in the Green Mountain state.
“We haven’t quite figured out what we’re going to do next,” Terrien said.
Vermont Teddy Bear Timeline
- 1981: John Sortino was inspired by his grandson’s lack of American-made bears to handcraft teddies.
- 1983: Sortino sold his first bear from a peddler’s cart in the Burlington market.
- 1990: The Company advertised the Bear-Gram concept in New York City, over-selling their yearly sales goal in two days.
- 1992: The Vermont Teddy Bear Company was recognized as the 80th fastest growing private company in the United States.
- 1993: The Company is ranked 58th in the fastest growing private company.
- 1995: The Company moved into the 60,000 square foot location on 57 acres in the Champlain Valley.
- Today: Vermont Teddy Bear Company sells more than 450,000 bears a year.
* Information provided by Vermont Teddy Bear Factory Web site
How the Teddy Bear was born
The first teddy bear was said to have come from President Roosevelt’s hunting trip in 1902, where he went on a four-day bear hunt. He did not kill a bear, but members of the party captured a cub, and tied it to a tree so the President could kill it. Roosevelt refused to shoot it, sparking a political cartoonist to sketch the affair, calling the bear "Teddy."
A Brooklyn shopkeeper and his seamstress wife created a bear to resemble that of the cartoon, calling the bear “Teddy’s Bear.” After selling out of the bears, he phoned President Roosevelt to ask permission to call the bear Teddy, whereupon the President agreed in a hand-written letter.
* Information provided by Vermont Teddy Bear Factory Web site
Visit Vermont Teddy Bear Company sister companies