This is the ninth in a series of 12 PBN articles focusing on the backgrounds, challenges and successes of some of the area’s most influential and interesting business women. The series began Sept. 12.
Some people cook to relax, some read, some nap, but Margaret Howard sews, and she has taken the hobby from her basement to a new 3,000-square-foot manufacturing facility and storefront in Warwick.
Having spent 34 years as a registered nurse at Kent Hospital, Howard has learned a thing or two about the needs of nurses, particularly the need for quality nursing scrubs that can stand up to the wear and tear and long hours that are part of the lives of medical professionals.
A Rhode Island native, Howard, 34, began sewing her own scrubs about 10 years ago. Co-workers quickly took notice and began putting in requests for their own tailor-made scrubs. Eventually, she was sewing for about 30 friends and co-workers and saw the venture as an opportunity to make a little extra income. She began taking swatches to doctors’ offices and enrolled in basic business courses at the Community College of Rhode Island.
The North Kingstown resident remembers the words of a professor, who said, ‘You don’t have to know how to do everything, just be able to find someone who knows how to do what you can’t.’ So when Howard met Terrence Killea, who has a background in sales, she gained more than just a friend; she also gained a business partner.
They talked about starting the business for about two years. With a little encouragement from friends and family, she took the step and opened her shop, TLCare Wear Inc., in the Agawam Mill in West Warwick in June of 2005, before moving to a larger facility that opened last month at 1050 Tollgate Road in Warwick.
At the old location, Howard said, they had a lot of orders and repeat clients, but “they had to know where it was. It was difficult to get to, hard to find, and had bad parking.”
“It cost us a lot more to move here, but there’s more traffic,” Killea said of the new facility. “We’ve got a lot more people just walking in off the street who have never heard of us before.”
While Killea handles the sales and marketing end, Howard controls the manufacturing. She checks the quality of the garments to ensure they are up to her standards and that “things get done the way I want them to,” she said.
She cuts out the fabric, gets orders together, and makes sure they go to the right place. “And I buy the coffee!” Howard chimed in. (She also keeps her staff of six smiling with runs to CVS for chocolate.)
“I’ve been buying from her for about 10 years, even before she opened up the shop,” said Lynne Hanrahan, an R.N. at Kent Hospital and friend of Howard. “It’s more hands on, you get to talk to her, where as in the stores, you’re just taking [the clothes] off the rack.”
“She tailors them for you, if they don’t fit just right, she’ll make adjustments,” said Hanrahan. “Almost everyone at the hospital has bought from her, everyone knows her name.”
In the store, customers can browse through the pre-made garments that are available on the racks and observe the seamstresses at work through a window they installed. Or, they can have a garment custom made and measured to meet their specific needs from one of the 800 fabrics typically in stock.
Their prices, according to Killea, are $7 to $10 less than their competitors’. Howard made the decision to sell for less because “we’re the new guy. We want people to come to our door.”
As a nurse for 34 years, it was my way of giving back,” continued Howard. “Health care professionals give, and give, and give. It’s a way to give back to the people who are caregivers.”
Howard redesigned the traditional scrubs found in other retail stores to better suit the needs of the people who wear them, taking into account her own personal experience, complaints from colleagues and the input of her seamstresses. She designed the shirt with double-stitching at the side slits, so if one stitch tears, there is still a back-up stitch to prevent the seam from unraveling. She widened and lowered the neck to make the garment easier to put on, and reinforced the pockets for durability and double-lined the yolk (a strip of cloth) across the shoulders. And she opted for flat seams, as opposed to zigzag seams, which she says don’t stand up as well.
She also designed her own surgeon’s hat, reinforcing the forehead, adding adjustable elastic to comfortably fit different size heads and making a larger “poof” to allow space for more hair.
The biggest challenge, Howard said, is getting her name out there. “It’s hard for the new guy to break in,” she said.
Word of mouth, Killea said, brings in the bulk of their business. They have made scrubs for the CCRI and Gibbs College nursing programs, and have been commissioned by the Red Cross to make scrubs, as well. They also sell to non-medical professionals, such as caterers.
Both maintain other careers, Howard as an RN – she works three days a week at the hospital, and the other four at the shop – and Killea in sales.
“We’re building a brand,” said Killea. “We don’t sell anyone else’s stuff and we don’t sell to other stores. Our goal down the road is to open up more stores.”
When asked about her transition from a nurse to entrepreneur, Howard said “Every time I’ve jumped off one of these cliffs so far, I’ve landed on my feet.”
“Of course, there will be people who aren’t happy with your product, and they’ll bring it back,” she said. “And we’ll fix it for them. We’ll do whatever we need to make them happy.” •
