Why does this doll sell for $295 while a competitive doll sells for only $19?
Go to Babyland General Hospital in Cleveland, Georgia like I did and learn why. Cabbage Patch dolls are a top 10 Toyland stop, making this a must go to location, for millions of children over the last 36 years.
This $295 doll is one-of-a-kind, hand-stitched, hand painted, plush Cabbage Patch Kid – original Appalachian Artwork. It takes 2 or 3 weeks to lovingly assemble one by local employees providing almost artisan qualities. The 19 dollar doll is the entry level harder doll made under a licensee arrangement and made in China.
After visiting Babyland and conversations with several Cabbage Patch nurses, several points appear noteworthy:
- Passion – Founder Xavier Roberts is still intimately involved with the business he started as a 21 year old art student in 1976.
- Innovation – Over 4 decades, the original “Kids” product line has expanded through a series of related product extensions.
- Re-investment – From humble beginnings, the new hospital is a 70,000 square foot, southern style mansion on a 650 acre manicured yard.
- Value to customers – Wade, the first “baby” sold for $30 and re-adopted for the museum portion of the hospital was valued at $37,000.
- Measurable success – Over 128,000,000 babies have been adopted.
Again, the FiscalDoctor part of me struggles to understand how much “Wade” sells for now! My wife Kathy has no such qualms.
Always looking for a way to learn from what seems to be a different perspective, what I think about when I help clients are the following questions:
- Which of these points do you do well?
- Where could their successes serve as an inspiration for your growth?
- Which of your practices should you stop doing, after looking at their results?
Call me at 678-319-4739 to discuss this doll, your situation, or just to say hello.
