Wayne Hawthorne, Naracoorte Community News
“A wry return smile” is applicable and an anagram of those influential in MiniJumbuk being what it is today.
“Miles, Wray, Turner”. Probus members learnt of the history behind MiniJumbuk when their Managing Director Darren Turner spoke recently.
As an introduction, Darren outlined his early life and career and how he joined MiniJumbuk almost 40 years ago. Since leaving school at year 11 he has studied and developed life skills. Mentors have been important, as has reading books on financial management. Positive thoughts have been important.
Darren spent 20 years in Apex, and this is where he met Don Wray and the 1983 offer to join MiniJumbuk arose. Don Wray was an entrepreneur, in 1978 buying into MiniJumbuk with Isobel Miles who had started the crafty type of cottage industry company in 1975. The company which Don eventually bought was making and selling miniature woolly sheep and experimenting with wool quilts and underlays. MiniJumbuk’s retail presence has been in Naracoorte since 1977, moving to its current premises in 1986. At the time, woollen blankets were the rage, and continental quilts and doonas were new. A contract was written in 1979 to manufacture the world’s first commercially sold woollen quilt under the Onkaparinga brand. In 1983 Onkaparinga decided to stay in blankets and the contract finished the following year. MiniJumbuk had designed a multi-layer woollen underlay based on a European design and saw potential to launch under the MiniJumbuk brand.
At a small stand in a Melbourne exhibition, MiniJumbuk displayed the WoolOver quilts under the Onkaparinga label and launched the MiniJumbuk UnderWool underlay. the Onkaparinga sales reps were present and liked the MiniJumbuk underlay and within two days, national commission agents and retail outlets were set up.
Carding of wool soon became 24-hour shifts some days to meet demand. By 1985/86 sales had increased four times within 18 months.
This meant cutting fabric, making quilts, creating invoices, signing IPEC labels and going home to bed to get ready for the next day became a pattern. J.B. Young (Grace Brothers) took out a large indent order for next winter season and required 3-4 months production to complete the order. By mid-1980’s there was a national sales network and the brand was established. In 1987 MiniJumbuk won a national small business of the year award. It was about growth, branding and distribution. Woolmark provided $5,000 to spend with their design Agency in Melbourne and they became a marketing mentor for branding and packaging. The MiniJumbuk Sleep System was created by adding pillows with quilts and underlays all made from wool.
It has not always been plain sailing. The 1990’s were turbulent, with potential insolvency and low cash flows threatening. They worked with their suppliers and got through. A Western Australian agent and mentor invested and got them up and running.
Twice the company has been close to bankrupt but survived with good partnerships and strong belief. It was in Don Wray’s DNA; a handshake said it all.
Partnerships with suppliers, customers and staff have been critical in long-term relationships. Now TOLL takes 2-3 truckloads of product each day.
Covid in 2020 caused panic and initial shut down. It was a case of adapt or give up. A Chinese supply partner with good people was in the same space so MiniJumbuk kept their orders going and were rewarded with lower cotton prices, and passing the benefits on with cheaper fabric.
Myer had just come on board as an on-line partner in November 2019. MiniJumbuk worked a 3-day week, keeping all staff on. Some casuals voluntarily gave up time to permanents, but Job Keeper meant they could push on and stay as a full team. MiniJumbuk did not go directly on-line, but Myers offered a 50% discount around Easter 2020 when all the stores were closed.
Orders went from 42 per week to 1700 in 4-5 days for that promotion. On-line caught on, and now they pack and ship over 20,000 orders per year for Myer. When other big retailers could not get product from overseas MiniJumbuk benefited as an Australian manufacturer and gained more business by default, with sales up 20% then another 15% the following year. Safety stock is normally three months for raw materials. Altering trading terms to 14 days meant less risk and more dollars into raw materials so stock increased to seven months cover. Covid was all about managing risk and ensuring a bigger share of a smaller pie. Other competitors didn’t survive.
MiniJumbuk now have about 50 staff. They purchased two new quilting machines and make around 3,000 quilted products per week plus pillows.
It is about three-P’s. People, Passion, and Product. It is all about knowing what customers need. Quality counts, and sometimes you need say no to some things rather than saying yes to everything.
MiniJumbuk and its employees are passionate about wool.
This article appeared in the Naracoorte Community News.
