BlueQuail Clothing Company
BlueQuail Clothing Company began with a mother seeking ways to protect her outdoors children from the sun.
As a parent mindful of the dangers of sun exposure for her children, Amanda Lundgren spied an unmet need in the market for families like hers who love spending time outdoors.
“I have boy-girl twins,” says Lundgren, 41. “First of all, a lot of sunscreen is not even safe for little kids. They say you can use this organic kind or just protect their skin with clothing. And I really struggled to find anything that was not either swimwear, like a rash guard or just big hats. And while we were at the lake, we were sitting on the boat, and I just kind of had this moment where my husband was wearing a Columbia shirt, and I'm like, ‘Why don't they have that for little kids?’
“You couldn't find anything smaller than a youth extra small. And even then, at the time, what Columbia manufactured for kids was only 20 UPF. It was still a cotton blend. So, I just thought, OK, I'm just going to solve a problem.”
BlueQuail Clothing Company
The BlueQuail braintrust, from left: Lundgren's brother Tanner Burnes, lead designer; Lundgren; and Lindsey Souza, who handles customer relations.
BlueQuail Clothing Company was born in the aftermath of that brainstorming session on the boat 10 years ago. The company has grown 40% year over year, Lundgren says, and has been an innovator and change agent in children’s protective clothing. BlueQuail’s products are stain-resistant, UPF50-plus rated fabrics in all designs. The story behind the name "BlueQuail" is interesting, too. She chose the name as a nod to her West Texas roots, as well as the blue quail’s unique trait of protecting chicks that are not its own when the species is endangered.
Lundgren, born and brought up in Midland, was raised to be vigilant about protecting herself and loved ones from sun exposure. Her father, she says, has been battling skin cancer for years. He was raised on a farm where sun exposure is not merely an occasional risk but rather a way of life working long hours outdoors.
Sam Burnes, Lundgren says, became a demanding taskmaster when it came to using sunscreen and wearing protective clothing.
“My whole life he has preached sunscreen and wearing long sleeves outside even as kids,” Lundgren says. “I was the palest girl at prom. I was not allowed to tan in a bed like everybody else. And I hated him for it, obviously, when I was younger. But he just learned a lot over the years about how a lot of damage is done before even the age of 18.”
Citing studies, the National Institutes of Health estimates that up to 80% of the damage caused by sun exposure occurs in childhood and adolescence. Reducing the levels of this exposure in pediatric age may have a more significant impact on the incidence of skin cancer than in adulthood. Moreover, four out of five cases of skin cancer can be avoided through prevention, according to the World Health Organization.
“First and foremost, some protection was the driving factor for our brand,” Lundgren says.
The company, based in Aledo, established itself through wholesale and retail partnerships before transitioning its growth strategy to direct-to-consumer sales via online e-commerce.
The company has four employees, including Lundgren's brother Tanner, the company's lead designer.
Lundgren began her line with three different styles and two or three colors that could be monogramed. “I was very against all the characters on clothing and Dalmatians on fire trucks and all that,” she says before adding that she has evolved on that issue.
“I’m a very creative person, and my kids were a huge influence,” she says. “As my kids got older, my son was like ‘Mom, I want a shirt with fish on it.’ And I’m like, ‘Really?’”
She thought to herself, “There’s a way we can do this where it’s tasteful.”
“I'm proud to say that I truly think that we've set the bar in children's clothing where a lot of people are watching what we're doing as far as prints,” Lundgren says. “And we've kind of changed the way a lot of companies are doing it.”
BlueQuail was Lundgren’s first foray into entrepreneurship at this level. Lundgren, a graduate of beauty school in Austin, was doing hair there before moving to Fort Worth after meeting her soon-to-be husband. She was doing that here, too, until the clothing line came into being.Her father, an entrepreneur in the oil-and-gas pumping unit space, has been an invaluable resource on business, she says, though “he did not foot me a single penny.”
“I've been blessed in that regard, but he knows nothing about the children's clothing line,” she says. “So, it's been a learning curve for both of us. He is all about his kids figuring things out on their own, but he has offered up any advice he can give. He definitely gives all the encouragement to be an entrepreneur because he said he wasted way too long of his life not doing it sooner himself.”
Lundgren has figured it out in the fluid market environment of fashion. And she believes she has transformed the marketplace in doing so. Only 10 short years ago, the consumer couldn’t find protective clothing for their kids. That’s no more.
“There are brands out there that were men's only lines, and I think that they saw the traction and they decided to expand to kids,” she says. “I'm a huge believer in a rising tide raises all boats, so, I'm fine with it. My son wears other brands and I'm fine with that. I think it's ridiculous to expect somebody to wear one brand every single day. But I know for a fact that there are companies that probably would've never expanded into children had they not seen the success that we were having.”