Medical Garb With A Smile - S.C.R.U.B.S. grows to $16 million-a-year business - Brief Article

Nation's Business, May, 1999 by Carla Goodman

Carla Goodman is a free-lance writer in Sacramento, Calif.

Sue Callaway's $16 million-a-year business all started 11 years ago when she worked in a San Diego hospital and decided to replace her nurse whites with colorful, carefree, homemade garments. Soon, co-workers were flooding her with orders for her casual wear.

The result is S.C.R.U.B.S. (Simply Comfortable Really Unique Basic Scrubs), a mail-order and retail-store enterprise based in nearby Santee.

Callaway's all-cotton tops, drawstring pants, and accessories--including surgical caps and stethoscope covers--offer nurses, doctors, dentists, and veterinary workers good reason to leave behind their white polyester uniforms and blue or green scrubs.

Many of her creations are graced with playful dogs, happy dolphins, or smiling teddy bears in vibrant purples, teals, or royal blues. For a softer look, there are stonewashed denims and pastels reminiscent of Monet's garden.

"Our garments help healthcare workers express themselves and have their own identity," Callaway says.

The flying pigs, seascapes, and fantasy themes on her firm's garments calm patients and "bring some humanity to a very sterile environment," says Dr. Juan F. Gutierrez-Mazorra, chief of anesthesiology at Children's Hospital of Birmingham in Birmingham, Ala. "Her scrubs are like props. They help us transport children into another world,"

Gutierrez-Mazorra recalls the day he wore a S.C.R.U.B.S. top and surgical cap covered with clowns to take a frightened child to surgery. "The boy knew he was going to have surgery. But he was so taken with my clown outfit that we walked together to the operating room and talked about clowns," Gutierrez-Mazorra says. "To give care with compassion, you have to get down to a child's level. Sue's garments are terrific because they help us do just that."

Moreover, the clothing is not just for pediatric settings. It can draw a smile or ease anxieties regardless of the patient's age.

Callaway, 38, was a nurse in the neonatal intensive-care unit at Children's Hospital and Health Center in San Diego in 1988 when she wore her first handmade scrubs to work--and then began getting orders for them. An avid seamstress, she started Callaway Casuals in her home and trained neighbors and friends to help cut and assemble garments.

Within two years, her side business was bursting at the seams with 600 customers, some waiting eight weeks for their orders. "I was so involved in the sewing, I wasn't able to focus on the bigger picture," says Callaway, who was still working 12-hour nursing shifts.

There was good reason for Callaway Casuals' popularity More and more, hospitals were dispensing with requirements that staff members wear hospital-issued uniforms. Workers could select their own garments. Says Callaway: "They wanted cotton and styles that were fun and flattering."

For advice on expanding her business, Callaway turned to Steve Epstein, 50, a San Diego entrepreneur with two decades of apparel-industry experience. Epstein was selling his men's apparel import business and saw Callaway Casuals as suited for a mail-order business. "Sue's scrubs are unique," he says, "and fill a need for something fun in a somber business like health care."

In 1992, Callaway, Epstein, and their spouses pooled savings and loans from family and friends to form S.C.R.U.B.S. Epstein, president, manages the firm's general business operations.

Callaway, who left nursing in 1994, designs patterns and selects fabrics for the company's garments and accessories. Most of the sewing and assembly work is handled by two subcontractors. Callaway's husband, Rocky Cook, 44, oversees the company's warehousing needs, and Epstein's wife, Ida, 50, handles bookkeeping and supervises the company's 215 employees.

Epstein attributes S.C.R.U.B.S.'s rapid growth--from 11,000 catalogs mailed in 1993 to 18 million sent out last year--to the company's emphasis on quality control and customer service.

To attract customers who want to feel the garments and try them on, Epstein opened the company's first retail store at the headquarters in Santee. Last year, S.C.R.U.B.S. opened six of its nine retail stores in shopping malls across the country.

Callaway's apparel is catching on beyond the health-care market, particularly among retirees, teachers, and vacationers who want attractive, easygoing clothes for everyday activities. But the company is keeping its primary focus on health-care and veterinary workers.

"I can see a great fabric and visualize a dozen different markets for it, like vacation apparel or children's wear," Callaway says. "But sometimes you have to sit on your hands and stay focused. To grow and open more stores, that's what we have to do."