These ‘Little Guys’ Are Big Business
Photo courtesy of Cindy Pacileo
Come with me to the magical home of the Little Guys in the picturesque mountains of western North Carolina. In a busy ceramic studio, you will meet their creator, Cindy Pacileo, the talented impresario who gives each tiny creature an outsized and loveable personality.
She grew up in an active, creative family in Ohio. Cindy’s father took her on long walks identifying plants and animals along the way. By the time she was 3, Cindy and her father were drawing animals, and to this very day Cindy enjoys pen-and-ink drawing.
Graduating from college with a degree in drawing and printmaking, Cindy became director of The Station, a community arts center in Loveland, Ohio. While she primarily taught drawing, there was a nearby ceramic shop, and Cindy decided to teach simple ceramics to children. The children loved the class, making lots of animals and houses. Cindy started teaching adults and making her own creatures.
After getting married, Cindy began taking her ceramics to art fairs in the Cincinnati area. When shop owners saw her work, many asked if they could carry her work. The owner of one shop taught Cindy the most important lesson about selling wholesale when he told her she had to raise her prices at art fairs, so she was not underselling him!
In 1975, Cindy took her work to the Cincinnati Coliseum for a show featuring Appalachian art. When a shop owner from Boone, North Carolina, saw her frogs, he said, “I need these frogs!” The frogs were large, over 8 inches each, and the owner bought more of them for his frog pond than Cindy had sold in her past 16 shows. Her wholesale career was now a fact.
Cindy and her husband moved to the Boone area to be closer to her best customer. Nervous about such a big move, they projected the amount they needed to make to stay there. When they more than doubled that amount, they knew they were in the right place. The tourist shops in the mountains quickly became great customers for Cindy’s business.
Along the way, Cindy began to make fewer of the large sculptures and more tiny ones. The “Little Guys” as she called them took less time, were kinder to her back, and turned out to be more popular and profitable. Once she made that decision, Cindy made several more that were very wise.
Photo courtesy of Cindy Pacileo
She realized her Little Guys were a perfect size and price point for tourists. She elaborated on that theme, for instance making pigs in bathing suits for beach shops. Bunny rabbits and chicks emerged for spring. She began a line of small birds for Wild Birds Unlimited and made a special metal tree as a display for them. She turned her animals into charming ornaments so they would become a favorite for holiday shoppers.
Cindy works to help her retailers. If they are new and wavering, she offers them a money-back guarantee. She devises display racks so customers can see a wide assortment of Little Guys. Today her work is in galleries, shops, and catalogs across the country. You can visit the line at cindypacileo.com.
The Little Guys have been providing Cindy and her family with a reliable and enjoyable business for more than 48 years. In the back of her mind, Cindy thinks she should be slowing down. However, as she presently faces a huge onslaught of orders from her retail customers, she is too busy to do anything but keep making her precious Little Guys.
About the Author
Diane Sulg
Diane Sulg is Executive Director of CRAFT and founder & co-chair of American Craft Week (ACW). She is a handmade advocate that provides valuable information in her one-day seminars titled “All About Wholesale” at wholesale shows throughout the United States. Diane is the former owner of Maddi’s Gallery in Charlotte and Huntersville, N.C.