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PlayTown Mats™ Map the Way to Fun For Main Street Gardens, All Roads Lead to Home
When Sam R. Harkreader was told his line of PlayTown Mats™ couldn’t be made in the United States, he saw a challenge. As he works to keep his cost down, he told TDmonthly Magazine, he’s “almost ready to jump up and down and claim victory.”  Sam, who is president of Lake Jackson, Texas-based consulting firm Main Street Gardens, Inc., sees his new PlayTown Mats™ as a growing “library of themes where kids pick and choose their favorites and build their own communities of play.” The lightweight, collapsible play mats, with colorful graphics of roads and buildings, fold up into tall “books” for easy storage or travel. “A 3-year-old can easily pull them out to play with,” he said. Made in the United States of corrugated polypropylene, the PlayTown Mats™ are easy to clean, Sam added, unlike their carpet competitors. The graphics are designed so that no matter how a child arranges them, the roads match up. The first mat slated for release is HomeTown Mat™, for which shipments begin in May. In June WorkTown Mat™ will be available, and then each month, as demand picks up, new mats will become available. HUMBLE BEGINNINGS  In the summer of 2008, to keep his 5-year-old son entertained, Sam drew some roads with markers on a large appliance box. The simple idea was so successful with his son that “a little voice said, ‘Hey Sam, there’s something here.’”So, that fall, Sam decided to put aside another project he’d been working on and focus on improving and developing consumer-friendly mats. “I realized it was a whole lot faster and neater, just a fun space compared to the energy business project I was doing, which would have been a huge investment and a huge endeavor compared to this, and," he laughed, “I have six children, so it was a perfect fit — like I had my own lab.” Shortly after deciding to go ahead with the PlayTown Mats™ idea, Sam found out about Toy Fair 2009 and decided to get his product ready for the show. “So it was a race to get ready for Toy Fair, and then Toy Fair was a big success for us. We left with well over a hundred commercial leads.” CONTINUING TO DEVELOP “I’m a quality improvement guy,” Sam told TDmonthly. “I’m in supply chain consulting and have been for years, and I have a strong quality background, as well. So I just went into improvement mode.” Instead of pushing to design the perfect product making a prototype, Sam said, “I applied a strategy of 'try something,' and when it fails, learn from it and fix it.” He worked in what he called “continuous cycles of improvement,” eventually “coming up with the right materials and the right images.” GETTING THE WORD OUT As far as marketing, he uses consistent branding — from product, to fliers, to business cards, everything has a similar look for easy consumer recognition. Also, his website is search-engine-optimization friendly and he already has independent sales reps covering most states in the United States. Sam’s biggest dream, other than providing a lucrative, successful product, is to keep manufacturing on home soil. “I believe I can make a margin that’s acceptable enough and do it in the U.S. And if I can, I want to keep it that way.” See the PlayTown Mats™ below: PlayTown Mats™ Work-Home Collection™ by MAIN STREET GARDENS INC. PlayTown Mats™ - Worktown Mat™ by MAIN STREET GARDENS INC. PlayTown Mats™ - Hometown Mat™ by MAIN STREET GARDENS INC.  Writer's Bio: Sheri Jobe has been a journalist for more than 15 years. As a freelancer, she splits her time mostly between the Midwest and New England. She has been published in business journals and regional newspapers. She also writes fiction. Read more articles by this author |
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