Costco Connection - March 2012

Here comes the sun

By Steve Fisher

UV SKINZ WANTS you to buy their products: stylish children’s clothing that lets kids play in the sun without being covered with sunscreen every two hours. But the products are secondary to the message they want you to learn: Skin cancer can kill.

The company was born out of loss. Rhonda Sparks was a young mother of three when her husband, Darren—an athletic man who enjoyed all sorts of outdoor activities— succumbed to a five-year battle with the disease at the age of 32.

When Darren was alive they had talked about finding something to replace the creams they were slathering on their children and themselves. Sparks says, “We thought, there’s got to be another way to do this.” They secured the company name and the URL for a website, but his death put a halt to any plans, at least for a couple of years.

But Sparks was committed to their mission of protecting others.

The concept of protective clothing wasn’t new to her. UV Skinz clothing is made from specialized fabrics that carry a sun protection rating of UPF 50+, which means they block 98 percent of the sun’s UVA and UVB rays. The protection comes from the tight weave of the fabrics as well as an anti-UV treatment that occurs during the initial manufacturing of the fabrics. The best part is that it is not necessary to wear any topical sunscreens under the garments, so chemicals are not being absorbed into children’s skin.

And though she says she was born with “entrepreneurial DNA,” “there was a lot of learning for me, and it was a lot of just pounding the pavement and sending out emails and making phone calls. A lot of trial and error.

“We went through thinking of designs and color combinations and the weight of the fabric and how we wanted it to fit on a child. My boys would run every time I got the tape measure out,” Sparks laughs.

“It just kind of evolved, with a lot of consultants in the industry, trade shows, sales reps. Finding factories we could rely on and create a partnership with. It definitely was an organic evolving. I invested a lot of my personal money, investors, banking relationships. It wasn’t a quick pop. It’s been a nice steady growth.”

for your

design by nature™ Radiant . . . Timeless . . . a treasure found Item #581121

COUR TES Y OF UV SKINZ INC.

Comments about Costco: “[Costco] has been tremendous to work with, giving us this opportunity to not only get the awareness out there but to grow the business. On a level of working with buyers and working with companies, Costco is top-notch. It has been tough to toe the line, but nothing I wouldn’t expect from a quality organization.” supplier profile

Name: UV Skinz Inc.

Founded: 2004

Founder/president: Rhonda Sparks

Employees: 14, plus numerous contractors

Address: 13775-A Mono Way Sonora, CA 95370

Contact at: info@uvskinz.com 877-UV SKINZ (877-887-5469) www.uvskinz.com

Products at Costco: UV Skinz Kids’ three-piece Sun Protection Swim Set

Sun Face Wall Art
constructed of steel,
with hand-painted ;nish.
For outdoor or indoor use.

Originally envisioned as a nonprofit company, UV Skinz is now a for-profit company, but the nonprofit aspect is still a focus. Sparks says, “We actually do a lot of great things. May is coined Skin Cancer Awareness Month by the American Cancer Society, so we produce thousands of little baby shirts [to be donated to hospitals and pediatric organizations as part of the company’s Save a Baby’s Skin campaign], and on the front of the shirts it says, ‘;;;;’; ; ;;;;;;;?’ because our whole motto is that no child should ever know what a sunburn feels like.” C