TAMBO Teddies are loved all around Australia and it’s the aim of the business’s new owners to share that love with the world.
The iconic sheepskin bears that were created 21 years ago to help the little town in Queensland’s central west survive drought and a wool industry downturn is undergoing a revival following the sale of the business last month.
The three local women who have taken over the outback cottage industry have six sewing machines ready for orders and are looking for willing hands to man them so they can pursue a vision of expanding into a global market and offsetting local economic impacts.
“We only get 40,000 visitors through Tambo in a year so we visualise other outlets – airports maybe,” said one of the new owners, former woolclasser and self-confessed woolaholic Alison Shaw.
Now an arts and cultural officer with the Blackall-Tambo Regional Council, Alison and co-owners Tammy Eckel and Kiralee Fox are bursting with ideas – maybe laser cutters rather than Stanley knives, maybe a stuffing machine instead of the old wooden spoon now in use, and lots of new colour ideas.
Already a website has been set up and a Facebook page is collecting both orders and comments on customer preferences, as well as where their current market lives.
No matter what innovations they end up with, Alison said the cachet of a handmade Australian wool product was what put Tambo Teddies on the map in the first place and was a selling point they didn’t want to lose.
Sales surpassed the 38,000 mark in the weeks before the business changed hands, a number that Alison said brought enormous admiration for former owner Mary Sutherland.
“Since learning the process of making a bear I have a lot of respect for Mary and the others for all the work they did to set the business up,” she said.
It was originally begun in 1992 after a community brainstorming session to find another industry to sustain the small town.
Charm Ryrie and Helen Sargood, along with Mary, ignored popular opinion that the venture wouldn’t work and the rest is history.
It’s a strange twist to the tale to find that it’s another local female trio that has banded together to take the “outback teddy capital of Australia” onwards and upwards.
Their first decision was to move the one full-time sewer, Verna Kruckow to the front of the shop to strengthen the in-house customer side of the business.
Anyone who steps inside can now personalise their order and watch a bear take shape before their eyes.
Verna has been plying the industrial sewing machine for 11 years and says that if she gets a “good” skin – crossbred pelts are used because they are less inclined to tear – she can sew and stuff a bear in 45 minutes.
It’s a strategy that seems to be paying off – 20 bears were sold in one week at the end of March, before the official tourist season had even started.
Alison said the partnership was keen for everyone involved to know all facets of teddy-bear making, so that each could turn their hand to whatever needed doing.
At the moment the three of them – Kiralee and Tammy are local school teachers – are coming after work to cut out skins for Verna to sew the following day.
“We are very aware that people who place an order and receive it in a few days are happy customers and talk to others about their positive shopping experience,” she said.
“People say, you should do this or you should do that – well, this is our chance.
“I just think we’ve been given a plum to pluck and do great things with.
“And we all love Tambo and think the Teddies have done a lot for our town – it’s great to be part of keeping that alive.”
The full range of Tambo Teddies can be viewed on the website: tamboteddies.com.au