Go Back to www.WebWholesalerMagazine.com
FEATURE
Knockout Adds
Personality & Profi ts
ence instant gratifi cation walking out of the
J
UST A few short years ago, Pamela
store, popping the item on their hitch plug,
Slaughter of Knockout Decals
and driving away with it in full display.
had to educate potential buyers
Th e decals themselves, which Pamela
as to what exactly a hitch cover was.
calls “stickers on steroids,” are made of
Now, her company is one of the largest
a polyurethane gel that is designed not
online wholesalers of hitch covers, in
to fade, crack, peel or yellow, meaning, as
addition to similar car and truck impulse
Pamela explained, “they last longer than your
buy products like decals and license plate
vehicle will last.”
covers. Th e company started in 1999, and was not
In 2003, Knockout made the transition to online
initially web based. Rather, Pamela began by showcasing her
wholesaler. Since the company never joined up with the big
products the traditional way, at fl ea markets, fairs and swap
name stores, customers generally fi nd knockoutdecals.com
meets. In those display rack days, the fl edgling company
by chance, whenever they happen to be searching for the
boasted a whopping 1,000 diff erent designs for gel decals
types of products Knockout carries. But fi nd the website
and hitch covers. Since transitioning to an online wholesaler,
they do, since Knockout has eked out a position as one of the
Knockout has been able to eff ectively narrow down its prod-
premiere suppliers in the category. Th e company just added
uct line to what sells best.
license plate covers to its lineup this year, and currently off ers
“Once we started selling to retailers,” Slaughter explains,
160 designs. “If you do the research on license plate frames,
“we found that 1,000 designs scared them. Th ey didn’t want
there’s nobody out there that carries the designs that we
that many. We thought they were kidding, because from our
have,” Slaughter points out.
experience, when you have that many, they sell like crazy.
Th e distance Knockout Decals has come over the past
But we learned a bit about retail buyers, which is why we
decade is something of which Pamela Slaughter is very proud.
narrowed it down to 400 designs.” Originally, the enterprise
It’s an achievement brought about through sheer determina-
sold strictly to car dealerships, producing mainly hitch covers
tion and enthusiasm for her product, as evidenced by the many
and decals with the respective customer’s company name
months she spent living in a motor home, bringing her wares
on them; that is, until customers started requesting product
around to fairs and guns shows for 52 weeks a year. Today,
with smiley faces, popular catch phrases, and other custom
Slaughter’s determination is just as strong, and shows in the
designs. Knockout plugged away at the show circuit for a
painstaking way in which Knockout continues to streamline
couple of years, before working out a distribution deal that
and refresh its product line. “We bring out new designs on a
enabled them to start selling directly to retail stores.
quarterly basis,” she says. “We test market them in a litt le area
“We started manufacturing more and more for mom and
before we ever introduce them to the full marketplace. We try
pop stores, and some bigger stores,” says Slaughter. “Walmart
to keep it fresh, and narrow it down to what sells.”
and K-Mart came to us; we had all sorts of big companies
coming to us. But we fi gured, why sell to them at a lower cost,
For more information:
when we could still catch a good dollar for the item? We told
KNOCKOUT DECALS, INC.
them we wouldn’t sell to them. And we still haven’t.” Knock-
15 W 1200 N Ste. B & C, Orem, UT 84097
out’s hitch covers are made of automotive grade plastic, the
Tel: 801-224-1111 Fax: 801-226-5288
same material from which bumpers are made. Th ey feature
Website: www.knockoutdecals.com
a spring loaded clip, which means that customers experi-
Find other great ideas for running your business at: www.wholesalecentral.com/wholesale–news
50 February 2010
Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52  |  Page 53  |  Page 54  |  Page 55  |  Page 56  |  Page 57  |  Page 58  |  Page 59  |  Page 60  |  Page 61  |  Page 62  |  Page 63  |  Page 64  |  Page 65  |  Page 66  |  Page 67  |  Page 68