Tomorrow I can be selling apparel if that's where we felt the market wanted us to be. I could be into motorized scooters tomorrow. New merchandise includes a line of baby joggers, specially made bike trailers, infant and toddler car seats, backpacks to carry infants, travel toys and gear, Game Boys and mobile video systems. It was a long decision. But the rebranding must be done with care to guard against alienating current customers.
Companies spend years developing a name and an image.
They have to expect it will take a while to get established. It's going to take a fair amount of advertising and time to get credibility. Tootelian said the landscape is littered with failed attempts by companies to expand their product line. Even well-heeled corporate giants have misread their customers. The Gillette Co., known for its razor products, stumbled when it tried to introduce a line of pocket calculators, Tootelian said.