Lotus Expands Line with Shoe Deal

By Deneen Smith
Kenosha News

SILVER LAKE-- Just before construction was completed on a new building at Lotus Enterprises in Silver Lake, the company received a phone call offering a new business opportunity.

Lotus, a distributor and wholesaler of natural health and beauty projects, was building a $1.5 million, 24,000-square-foot warehouse across the street from its headquarters, 1000 Lotus Drive, to accommodate its growth.

Two years in the making, the building was nearing completion last month when Lotus President Santosh Krinksy received a call from a representative of Crocs Inc., a manufacturer of popular, brightly colored shoes.

The company representative said Crocs was looking for a distributor to handle distribution of its shoes to the national health food industry market, and said a representative of Whole Foods had suggested Lotus as a distributor after talks with another, larger company in the industry broke down.

Krinksy said their own talks proceeded quickly, and they sealed the deal in just days despite Krinksy's admission that when he first saw a pair of Crocs he said, "Oh my gosh, look at those ugly shoes!"

Krinksy said the new shoe distribution business could grow Lotus' overall business by 70 to 80 percent. "It's enormous," he said.

If the building hadn't been nearly complete, he said, he would not have been able to negotiate the deal. He said the company had to race to get the building completed in time for the first shipment of 60,000 shoes to arrive.

"It was a godsend that we had an empty warehouse when we had eight truckloads of shoes show up," Krinksy said.
Although the new warehouse was built to accommodate existing business growth, the shoe business is now taking up about half the space in the new building.

Construction on the new space is continuing, with a mezzanine and a conveyor system being added. The entire project will take a few months more to complete.

The company will celebrate the expansion with a ribbon-cutting ceremony and reception next week.
Krinsky said the expansion could eventually mean Lotus will add to its work force. The company currently has about 90 employees.

As for the new shoe distribution business, Krinsky said it is a natural fit for the company, which handles everything from organic beauty products to publishing Buddhist tracts.

"It's a natural for us," Krinsky said. "We're telling women, 'Liberate your soles.'"