From Beanies to Bestsellers: How Acorn Kids Grew a Seasonal Niche into a Year-Round Brand

A Melbourne winter. A real gap in kids’ wool headwear. A founder with a finance brain and a product heart. That is how Acorn Kids began.

In this episode, Fiona Savaris shares how a winter beanie line turned into a year-round headwear brand that stockists love, why wholesale still wins for volume, and how she just launched swimwear by leveraging prints, suppliers, and existing demand. If you care about cash flow, indent, stockist relationships, and direct-to-consumer growth, you will love this founder story.

• Learn how to use indent orders to protect margins and place smarter production bets
• See how a wholesale-first strategy can fuel longevity and repeat stockist revenue
• Steal the exact assets that help retailers sell more hats, beanies, and swim hats
• Hear the behind-the-scenes of a category expansion into swimwear that makes sense

THE SPARK

Fiona could not find warm, design-forward kids hats in Melbourne. She starts winter-only with wool beanies, mittens, and scarves made through a women’s collective and Brunswick production.

THE SHIFT

Summer hats unlock smoother cash flow. Parents need hats for daycare and kinder. Kids lose hats. Heads grow. DTC sells summer all year.

THE ENGINE

Wholesale remains the volume play. Disciplined launch timing, no constant discounting, and shared lifestyle photography keep stockists profitable.

THE SYSTEM

Present ranges on Brandboom, take indent orders, back winners, manage MOQs for healthy margins, and hold core SKUs for reorders.

THE EXPANSION

From swim hats to swimwear. Same brand prints. Specialist makers. A product customers already asked for.

THE TEAM

Two full-time. Outsourced specialists for Klaviyo email marketing, Meta ads, photography, design, and sales support. Agents plus trade shows to reconnect face-to-face.

THE REAL LIFE

Growth is not linear. Family health, market swings, and pacing. How to keep building without burning out.

Timestamps
00:00 Origin story in Melbourne. Wool headwear that kids actually want to wear.
06:30 Winter-only to summer hats. The cash flow unlock.
12:15 Wholesale first. Protecting stockists and full price sell-through.
18:20 Indent explained. Sizing curves, MOQs, and backing winners on Brandboom.
24:05 Printing your own fabrics. Reusing prints across styles.
27:00 New swimwear launch. Why timing and supply chain mattered.
32:40 Who buys and why. Repeat purchases and lifetime value in kids headwear.

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I’m Mel Robbins! from @thelotco

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Over 25 years as a Retail and Wholesale Strategist (Sales and Marketing for Brands).

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