TiMi Copenhagen––

Taking On A New Country And A New Business

By Kaaren Valenta

When Tine Hoffmeister and her husband, Jan, moved to the United States from Copenhagen, Denmark, seven and a half years ago, they came with some trepidation. But now, you could not entice them to leave.

“My husband was told it would be a two-year transfer but we weren’t happy,” Ms Hoffmeister said. “We’d heard a lot about the States and the crime rate. But I knew it was always healthy to see other cultures and after one week here I was saying, ‘this is not so bad.’”

For the first two years, Tine Hoffmeister was not allowed under US law to get a work permit. During that time, she decided that once she was able, she would start her own business.

“American is the land of opportunity,” the Sandy Hook resident said. “Americans may not feel like that so much anymore but if you come from another country, you know that it is true.”

Originally a lab technician in Denmark, Ms Hoffmeister said she “got a little bored” so she started taking business courses at night and then became a sales representative for a company that produced laboratory products. Her job was to call on customers throughout western and eastern Europe and Russia.

“Sales and marketing are very different in eastern Europe,” Ms Hoffmeister said. “Eastern Europeans don’t want to deal with you until they know you as a person and become friends. You can’t just go there and make a sale. I found it was very interesting to learn the business customs of the countries.”

So when she decided to start her own business in the United States five years ago, she knew she should have to have training. She attended the Entrepreneurial School for Women, a program run by the University of Hartford in Hartford and Bridgeport. Then she contacted two Danish designers and asked if she could market their merchandise as a wholesaler in the United States.

She called her company TiMi Copenhagen, LLC, a name derived from her first and middle names –– Tine Mie –– and her hometown. The company is a wholesale supplier of silk scarves, blouses, shawls, sarongs, and purses, as well as beaded jewelry, belts, and other products. Several times a year she holds a sale in Newtown, selling samples and other merchandise at wholesale prices or less.

“I could never have my own business in Denmark, even though it is a very liberal country where most women work,” she said. “It would be much too difficult to do this. But in some ways it is easier to work in Denmark because there is much better child care –– at one-fourth of the price you have to pay here and with lots of choices of places to use. Men are taught from childhood to do dishes and laundry and other chores. Most women get a fairly good education in Denmark.”

About the time that Ms Hoffmeister was starting up her business, she and her husband decided to buy a house.

“We were renting a house in Stratford so we started looking for a place along the coastline, but we wanted something with privacy and everything was too expensive.”

The couple went out on drives in their car on weekends and one Sunday they wound up in Newtown, where they stopped at a realtor’s office.

“We saw three houses that day and bought the third one,” Ms Hoffmeister said. “We like it so much now we see ourselves staying and only going back [to Denmark] on vacation.”

Ms Hoffmeister started her business by attending the big accessories and gift shows in New York City.

“It has been a learning experience and it still is,” she said. “I started by scratch and working in a new language, which I thought would be a handicap, but everyone has been very nice and helpful to me.”

Her merchandise has been well received because of its quality, she said.

“One of the designers, who does the silk scarves, even does dresses for the princess of Denmark,” Ms Hoffmeister said.

She expanded her product line by adding silk and wool shawls and beaded jewelry from Vietnam, Thailand, Nepal, and India. “They do amazing work by hand that you wouldn’t be able to get from Europe at these prices,” she said.

Ms Hoffmeister now has eight sales representatives who sell her work throughout the United States to stores, by mail order, and through catalogs. But since September 11 she has seen a definite drop in business.

“Sometimes I go on the road, too,” she said. “I see that small specialty stores are really having a rough time since September 11. A lot of them have gone out of business.”

When American Skandia, the financial services company that Mr Hoffmeister worked for, was bought out by Prudential Securities last year, the Hoffmeisters were faced with the fact that they would have to return to Denmark.

“My husband decided in February to leave and to start his own business here,” Ms Hoffmeister said. “I went to school to learn to become a realtor and have joined Prudential Real Estate. But I still love my business and plan to continue.

“In fact, I discovered that I love doing a start-up business and would love to teach other women to do it,” she added.

Ms Hoffmeister held a TiMi Copenhagen sale at The Meeting House last week. To get on her mailing list for the next sale, probably in the fall, call 364-0423 or 209-2326.