by Meaghan Brophy
Pinnacle International Agencies is a wholesale distributor of licensed loungewear, accessories, and new lighting products. In business for over five years, Pinnacle offers a range of popular licensed products for United States retailers. Their licenses include DC Comics®, Doctor Who®, Harry Potter®, Marvel®, Rocky®, Star Trek®, The Walking Dead®, and World of Warcraft®. According to John Nelson, Vice President of Pinnacle International Agencies, “Everything Star Wars® is a best-seller. Chewbacca is definitely number one. Star Trek® is also popular. The original series is followed by older generations, and The Next Generation is followed by a younger demographic.” Nelson continues, “Even though BBC is UK based, it has a tremendous following in the US. To me, it was really a surprise how many Dr. Who® followers there are.”
Pinnacle’s most popular products are the branded men and women’s robes. Star Wars® and Star Trek® characters, superheroes, and Harry Potter® house robes are all popular options. The distributor also carries branded and themed pajamas, socks, slippers, underwear, towels, coolers, and accessories. For this year, Pinnacle is expanding their Star Wars®, Deadpool®, and Batman vs. Superman® loungewear collections. In addition to new loungewear, “We are extending our range of goods and accessories to include a lighting group,” says Nelson. “The initial focus is going to be on Warner Brothers® and DC Comics® with nightlights and desktop lighting neons. These products should be available in July.”
“Online ecommerce is the biggest market segment that we have,” explains Nelson. “We are very selective with online ecommerce platforms such as Amazon and eBay. We had 160 customers promoting our products on Amazon and we had to whittle that number down to 15. We have the #1 robe on Amazon and everyone wants that.” Nelson explains that it is important to be selective with retailers on Amazon and eBay, because when there are too many retailers selling the same item on the same platform, they compete by price-cutting. Limiting the number of retailers on Amazon allows for all of the online and brick and mortar retailers to maintain the recommended retail price, which is double the wholesale cost
Pinnacle International Agencies is looking to grow the existing brick and mortar side of their distribution. “Online ecommerce customers tend to buy a wide variety of product. Other retailers can be focused on a specific license or genre that fits their demographic.” For new brick and mortar customers, Nelson recommends building a complete, focused display with a range of products from the same license or genre. Brick and mortar stores also have the advantage of being able to showcase the quality, says Nelson. “We have a defect ratio of .003%. We are not a mass-market company. There are other companies out there, but their quality is not even close to ours.”
All orders require a $250 minimum. “You’ll find that if you pick three robes and buy three or four of each, you’re over the minimum anyway,” explains Nelson. Most robes cost $20 – $30, and most pajamas, socks, underwear, and accessories cost less than that. To view their complete collection and to place orders, register on their website www.pinnacleagencies.us.