museums&MORE Spring 2020

Elsie & Zoey Brand is Giving Back By Debbie Eisele

Melisa Fox, owner and Lisa Wolhart, vice president of sales and marketing for Howards Inc. provided details on how the Elsie & Zoey brand is giving back to help our waterways.

Company Mission

Our mission is to help clean, preserve and restore our waterways and shorelines for future generations. Elsie & Zoey is a 67-year-old, multi-generation, family-owned business and is a lifestyle summer and resort brand that is named after our daughters. Being intimately connected with the water throughout our lives and knowing there are so many families like our own, we wanted to create a brand that would help support the restoration and preservation of our waterways and stand as a catalyst for change. Naming the brand after our daughters serves as our constant reminder on the importance of this mission.

How do your products serve the mission?

Our commitment is to donate a portion of our proceeds to charities that directly work toward protecting, preserving and restoring our waterways. We also encourage local, national and global submissions for charity considerations and clean-up projects. Every purchase made helps go toward supporting these efforts.

What are the plans for the future?

We continue to look to incorporate sustainable practices within our own company, our operations and the products that we manufacture, not just with Elsie & Zoey but with all of our Howard’s brands. We are making the move to biodegradable packaging and the use of recycled paper with this upcoming launch. We are also researching, and plan to implement, the use of recycled materials and salvaged ocean debris to repurpose them into our products.

How can retailers get involved?

Retailers get involved by supporting the Elsie & Zoey brand through every purchase they make with us. Our products come fully tagged with our mission and comes with supporting point-of-purchase signs to help tell the story. Retailers and their customers can make charity requests by visiting www.elsieandzoey.com.

>>ALSO SEE: Turquoise Mountain is Giving Back.

Debbie Eisele

Debbie Eisele is the former managing editor for Gift Shop Plus, Stationery Trends and a variety of special issue publications, including: The Guide, Holiday Shop, Celebrations & Occasions and Waterfront Living.