The Vermont Teddy Bear Company (VTB) is one of the largest producers of

teddy bear A teddy bear is a stuffed toy in the form of a bear. Developed apparently simultaneously by toymakers Morris Michtom in the U.S. and Richard Steiff under his aunt Margarete Steiff's company in Germany in the early 20th century, the teddy b ...

s and the largest seller of teddy bears by

mail order Mail order is the buying of goods or services by mail delivery. The buyer places an order for the desired products with the merchant through some remote methods such as: * Sending an order form in the mail * Placing a telephone call * Placing ...

and

Internet The Internet (or internet) is the global system of interconnected computer networks that uses the Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP) to communicate between networks and devices. It is a '' network of networks'' that consists of private, pub ...

. The company handcrafts each of its teddy bears and produces almost 500,000 teddy bears each year. The company was formerly traded on the NASDAQ stock exchange under the ticker symbol BEAR, but was taken private by The Mustang Group, a

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

-based

private equity firm A private equity firm is an investment management company that provides financial backing and makes investments in the private equity of startup or operating companies through a variety of loosely affiliated investment strategies including lev ...

, on September 30, 2005, partially to avoid the reporting requirements of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act.

History

The company was founded in 1981 by John Sortino, who sold handcrafted teddy bears in an open-air market in

Burlington Burlington may refer to: Places Canada Geography * Burlington, Newfoundland and Labrador * Burlington, Nova Scotia * Burlington, Ontario, the most populous city with the name "Burlington" * Burlington, Prince Edward Island * Burlington Bay, no ...

Vermont Vermont () is a state in the northeast New England region of the United States. Vermont is bordered by the states of Massachusetts to the south, New Hampshire to the east, and New York to the west, and the Canadian province of Quebec to ...

. Sortino happened upon the idea of packaging and selling bears through the mail when a tourist visiting Burlington wanted a bear mailed to her home. The concept was called the "Bear-Gram", which features the customized teddy bear placed in a box (complete with an "air hole") and stuffed with other goodies. By 1995, VTB had sponsored on the East Coast various guns-for-bears exchanges and expanded to the West Coast in 1996 starting with UC Irvine's Student Physicians for Social Responsibility and the Brea Police Department. In May 1997, the Vermont Teddy Bear Co. filed a copyright infringement suit against Disney over "Pooh-Grams" being similar to its mail-order "Bear-Gram" trademark and logo. VTB acquired Calyx & Corolla, an upscale flower company headquartered in

Vero Beach, Florida Vero Beach is a city in and the seat of Indian River County, Florida, United States. Vero Beach is the second most populous city in Indian River County. Abundant in beaches and wildlife, Vero Beach is located on Florida's Treasure Coast. It is thi ...

, in 2003 but is no longer associated with VTB. One of Vermont Teddy Bear's marketing slogans claimed that sending a teddy bear is "a creative alternative to sending flowers." In 2005, the company launched a new sister company, Gift Bag Boutique, which offered handbags and purses along with many make-up accessories. Along with PajamaGram, which sold gift

pajamas Pajamas ( US) or pyjamas (Commonwealth) (), sometimes colloquially shortened to PJs, jammies, jam-jams, or in South Asia night suits, are several related types of clothing worn as nightwear or while lounging or performing remote work from hom ...

, and TastyGram, which offered gourmet food gifts, the creation of this sister company brought the total number of companies under the Vermont Teddy Bear umbrella to five. Gift Bag Boutique and TastyGram stopped accepting orders as of June 26, 2008. For

Valentine's Day Valentine's Day, also called Saint Valentine's Day or the Feast of Saint Valentine, is celebrated annually on February 14. It originated as a Christian feast day honoring one or two early Christian martyrs named Saint Valentine and, thr ...

of 2005, Vermont Teddy Bear caused widespread controversy by offering a "Crazy for You" Bear which wore a white

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with a red heart embroidered and a tag entitled "Commitment Papers" came with the bear. When mental health groups from all over the U.S. asked for the bear to be pulled out of production, VTB kept the bear up for sale but sold out quickly and Elizabeth Robert, the company head, resigned from the board of Vermont's largest hospital,

Fletcher Allen Health Care The University of Vermont Medical Center (UVMMC) is a five-campus academic medical facility under the corporate umbrella of the University of Vermont Health Network that is anchored by a 562-bed hospital. UVMMC is located in Burlington, Vermon ...

. In May, VTB agreed to be acquired by a Mustang-Group-led investment group for $6.50 a share.

Factory and Retail Store

By 1995, the company moved into its new headquarters in

Champlain Valley The Champlain Valley is a region of the United States around Lake Champlain in Vermont and New York extending north slightly into Quebec, Canada. It is part of the St. Lawrence River drainage basin, drained northward by the Richelieu River into ...

. The company had two factories: one in Shelburne and one in Newport. The Newport factory closed at the end of June 2010 while the Shelburne location remains the home of Vermont Teddy Bear. The Shelburne factory is an especially popular tourist destination, and also served as a concert site for the annual

Vermont Mozart Festival The Vermont Mozart Festival is a series of indoor and outdoor concerts presented annually at sites throughout the state of Vermont. First held in 1974, the festival primarily focuses on the works of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. In 2010 the original Ve ...

. The company also maintained two retail locations in Vermont - Shelburne and Waterbury, however only the Shelburne store remains. They offer tours of their factory where they make over 750 jointed teddy bears every day. They have over 50,000 visitors every year. With the Vermont Cub Project created in 2017, every Vermonter four years of age can go to the Bear Shop in Shelburne and make a free Vermont Teddy Bear (up to $39.99) after getting a coupon through their website. If you visit the Vermont Teddy Bear factory, you can make your very own bear. With the help of a Bear Ambassador in the Make A Friend for Life room, there are lots of choices to be made. First, you can select a bear with any kind of fur that you like. Then you spin the special stuffing wheel to select what goes inside, ranging from magic to love and hugs. Once the Teddy Bear is stuffed just the way you want it, it gets sewn up and brushed. After the new bear is all finished a birth certificate is filled out.

Product Lines

Vermont Teddy Bear has a wide product range of over 300+ items, the most popular being the 15" Jointed Bears in honey color. The bears can also come in Buttercream, Vanilla, Black Licorice, Gray, Pink, as well as longer premium fur colors Maple, Espresso and Snow. VTB also has a wide range of outfits available for most occasions and events. They recently have started carrying a variety of other animals including sloths, monkeys, and even dragons. Every Vermont Teddy Bear is 100% unconditionally guaranteed for life. That means that if anything ever happens to your Bear you can send it to the Vermont Teddy Bear Factory and they will nurse him or her back to health in the Bear Hospital at no charge. In the very sad event that your Bear is too badly injured and has no hope for a complete recovery, they will replace your Bear with a new one for free! In addition to the regular teddy bears they also release limited edition bears with a very small quantity produced usually in editions of 35 or 50.

Advertising

VTB was listed among "'a broad range of direct marketers' pitched by the show's hosts themselves" who were taking out more ads on

talk radio Talk radio is a radio format containing discussion about topical issues and consisting entirely or almost entirely of original spoken word content rather than outside music. Most shows are regularly hosted by a single individual, and often featu ...

in 2010, according to Dan Metter, director of talk-radio sales of

Premiere Radio Networks Premiere Networks (formerly Premiere Radio Networks, shortened as PRN) is an American media company, a wholly owned subsidiary of iHeartMedia, for which it currently serves as its main original radio content distribution and production arm. I ...

.Wilkerson, David B
"Talk radio’s a hit in polarized environment
Ad sales are rising for Clear Channel's Premiere Radio Networks," '' Marketwatch'', Sept. 22, 2010, 6:00 am. EDT. Retrieved 2010-09-22.

References

{{Authority control Newport (city), Vermont Manufacturing companies based in Vermont Shelburne, Vermont Toy companies of the United States Privately held companies based in Vermont Teddy bear manufacturers American companies established in 1983 Toy companies established in 1983 1983 establishments in Vermont