Scores of new toy introductions and another big jump in sales are what Douglas Sapp has on his mind for the coming year.
Sapp, president and CEO of ReSaurus Co. Inc. of Columbus, plans on increasing his toy offerings by 100 percent and his sales by nearly 200 percent in 1999. Sapp has already seen a large increase in demand for his company’s toys in the past year—including an almost 15 percent rise in profit margin—thanks to a good marketplace and his ties to the video game industry.
“We are seeing our products move at such a high velocity, that it’s difficult to keep up with demand,” Sapp says.
The company has also grown internally, expanding business space by 31,000 square feet and hiring 15 more employees in the past year.
Though ReSaurus got its start in movie-themed hand puppets such as “Flipper” and “Babe,” its mainstay has become action figures, including dinosaurs from “The Lost World” and “Godzilla.” This year, Sapp plans to diversify ReSaurus further by adding three toy lines designed to appeal to girls. The products, the company’s first nationally televised line targeting this group, include toy horses and collectable dolls. By diversifying his offerings and target audience, Sapp won’t be as reliant on any one product—though he has no plan to let his line of action figures stagnate.
“We’re primarily a boys’ action company and we will continue to work on that,” Sapp says.
The company has 75 items on the market and plans to introduce another 75 this year. That’s more than ReSaurus added in the past two years combined. The company introduced about 25 items in ’97 and 30 in ’98.
The company also plans on moving more into the video game industry and movie-related products in 1999—and expanding its international distribution base. ReSaurus is in the final stage of opening a Hong Kong office, through which international purchases will be run. About 20 percent of the company’s business is done internationally, but Sapp expects that to increase to at least 30 percent in the upcoming year.
With this expanded growth, increased revenues and new toy introductions, expect ReSaurus Co. to break the $25 million mark in ’99.
ReSaurus Co. Inc.
240 Outerbelt St., Columbus
Top officer: Douglas J. Sapp
Founded: 1993
Employees: 24
Estimated 1998 revenues: $10.5 million
Sales growth, ’96 to ’97: 838%
Ownership: Private
Major Clients: Toys R Us, Target, Wal-Mart, K.B. Toys
