A few years ago, with only a prototype in hand, he pitched his idea to catalog retailers. Then he got his lucky break. With Wal-Mart's help, Mitchell contracted with a South Korean factory to finance and handle production. So far, about 20,000 have been sold. But Butler, at the Retail Federation, says Mitchell's experience is more the exception than the rule.
Many major retailers have big teams of buyers scouting for new products.
A more realistic approach involves targeting a single store in a smaller chain. That's what Schwartz did. He was in product sales for a major manufacturer in 1990 when he called on the buyer of the Drug Emporium chain. He told her he was thinking about starting a business. She suggested a type of men's ties.