Pillows are “such a personal product”, Lucas Mills says.
So personal, the Eiderdown sales director says customers from even Auckland and Australia have made sure to pay their store a visit when in town to look at a few options.
Pairing a customer with the right pillow was definitely the most satisfying part of the job, he said.
“Having two young kids, I know the value of a good sleep more than before.
“It’s nice making sure someone out there is getting one, at least.”
Eiderdown is a New Zealand-made bedding manufacturer based in Mosgiel.
Their duvets and pillows are made from New Zealand wool and alpaca, as well as imported Hungarian duck and goose-down that come with a QR code that traces the product back to the farm they were sourced from.
They also offer a range of sheets, blankets and mattress toppers, and select products have made their way into the homes of customers in the US, UK and areas of Europe.
Leading up to the Covid-19 pandemic, Mr Mills said Eiderdown had very small volumes and was receiving a few orders.
There was “basically nothing” between January and March of 2020, but 142 orders were received in April and another 500 in May.
The company went on to do nearly 2500 orders throughout the rest of the year, off the back of the pandemic.
“We’re one of those rare stories where Covid actually helped.
“It kind of kick-started everything, it brought our plans forward.”
The business began five years ago, in 2019, after former Dunedin bedding manufacturer Ellis Fibre was placed into receivership.
Most of the Eiderdown’s now eight staff had came directly from Ellis Fibre, who saw an opportunity in the market and started the company.
It began as a factory and small retail store in Kaikorai Valley, with the long-term plan of establishing a website to be able to sell directly to consumers.
They were working on plans and getting everything set up when the Covid-19 pandemic hit.
“Within two weeks of that we had the website up and running and we were away laughing and never looked back, to be honest.
“It kind of kick-started everything for us.”
It was a very slow start and, coming from a base of no customers at that point, the company had to build up its contact base.
The pandemic had immediately “scuppered” their wholesale plans into China which pushed their focus more towards selling direct to local consumers.
They had the opportunity to sell their products as an essential item and, at the time, there was also a “massive push” for New Zealand-made products, Mr Mills said.
“And we were sitting on hundreds of New Zealand-made duvets and were able to sell them.
“As terrible as the Covid period was in terms of getting everything going for us as a business, it was quite helpful and got us in the right direction.
“That laid the base for where we are now.”
While it had still taken a lot of hard work during the pandemic to get the business going, once their online sales started to come through, they realised Eiderdown was on to something and they could make it work, Mr Mills said.
After relocating to its new factory in Mosgiel last year, the company opened a new purpose-built store in June, including a showroom and “duvet library” to display their products and demonstrate how they were made.
Customers could even wait at the store for their products to be made — five minutes for “the freshest pillow in the country” and 15 minutes for a duvet.
Having a store had become more of a focus since moving to the bigger factory, as they could now do it properly and had a dedicated area for it.
It had been great on the local front in particular, but selling online and direct to consumers was Eiderdown’s bread and butter, Mr Mills said.
Eiderdown reported duvet sales growth of 40% over 2023, and Mr Mills said the company had experienced another 40% rise in sales across the board in Australia and New Zealand this year.
New Zealand sales were up by 25% year on year, while those in Australia has risen 140% from last year and was growing quite steadily.
For the calendar year to date, they had sold nearly 9500 products — thousands more than last year for the same period.
There had been “massive growth” in their separate Australian website, which had doubled, but the new Mosgiel store had also “definitely helped” and was playing a part locally, Mr Mills said.
“We’re sort of becoming a bit more known and trusted, I guess.
“We get a lot of word of mouth as well which has been great, I particularly notice that in the shop, actually, a lot of people whose mums send their daughters down and all that sort of stuff.”
It had been really good to grow the company in Dunedin in particular and Eiderdown had received some good support from locals as a result, Mr Mills said.
It was nice to chat to customers face-to-face in the store, instead of just over the phone.
Starting the company had been a “step into the unknown” and after everything that had happened in the past five years, the outcome was pretty good, he said.
Eiderdown planned to expand their New Zealand-made range, expand their reach across the country and get their foot in the door in the US as well as a couple of other markets.
“And hopefully, keep offering great night’s sleep to lots of people.”
tim.scott@odt.co.nz
