Kushies Product Focus

Kushies Baby designs, manufactures and markets an innovative collection of quality baby products and accessories. The company strives for excellence in all areas to ensure its customers receive the highest attainable workmanship and quality. This is exemplified in our continued dedication to service - an uncompromising commitment maintained for more than 50 years.

The company was established as Diana Dolls Wear Ltd. in 1953, by Mary Malinowski of Stoney Creek, Ontario. Founded as a small "cottage-style" industry, it grew to become the only Canadian manufacturer of doll clothing and accessories, with a customer list that included all the major Canadian department stores. In 1987, Mary Malinowski retired and on January 1st 1988, Susan Malinowski and Sam Perez purchased Diana Dolls Wear Ltd. assets.

With a seasonal product line focused on Christmas, Diana Dolls Wear Ltd. naturally began to look for additional markets possibilities for the company to expand. The decision was made to concentrate efforts on the infant children's market, with the initial product to be a re-useable form-fitted cloth diaper. The internationally trademarked name Kooshies was created for the new product line. As President, Sam Perez, explained, "It was a unique name easily pronounced in many languages, enabling the product to be marketed worldwide under one name."

After designing the revolutionary 100 per cent cotton, reusable diaper, Kooshies undertook a year of extensive testing and refinements, and went on to patent the Kooshies diaper.

Kooshies was awarded the privilege of displaying the "Ecologo" of the Canadian Ministry of the Environment on their patented cloth diapers and have received numerous awards and "Best Buy" rankings for their products. Sam Perez recalls, "Timing was an extremely important factor. In the late 1980s there was a new and growing awareness in Canada concerning environmental issues, and Kooshies offered a quality, environmentally - friendly product at the right time".

The Canadian public also responded to the "Kooshies' washable diaper with an overwhelming positive response as Kooshies offered a product better for the environment, a product that made diapering convenient for parents and healthy for the baby.

In just over a year, Kooshies became the industry leader in Canada, with sales exceeding initial projections tenfold. Their market was also expanding into the United States at this time. Since 1990 Kooshies has grown to become a market leader in more than 35 countries around the world.

State-of-the-art manufacturing equipment and meticulous inspection standards for the expanding Kooshies product line, which currently encompasses over 350 baby products, ensures the continuation of the company's high quality standards.

The year 2003 has been notable for Kooshies. When Sam took over the company in 1988, the name was spelled "KOOSHIES". This name had been successfully registered with a worldwide trademark. However, there was opposition from a company registered in the United States and over a ten-year period, without any real progress, the parties finally reached a settlement early 2003. Sam realized the solution would be to change the spelling. This year the corporate logo, labels and packaging have been changed to "KUSHIES".

Today, Kushies is located in a huge, beautiful facility in Stoney Creek, Ontario - less than an hour's drive outside of Toronto. All of our corporate and manufacturing personnel are housed under one roof, resulting in increased efficiency. Sam reflects that, 2003 has been a big year for us. From educational toys to clothing, Kushies covers an entire range of consumer products. "We have a lot in the works and a lot on the go," boasts Sam."It's an exciting place to be".

Looking to the future, Perez emphasizes "Kushies will have an increasingly strong presence in the baby products industry with products that are complimentary to each other. Our commitment to quality and customer service will allow Kushies to continue to make a change for the better."