Sorzal Distributors, Inc.

Sorzal Distributors, Inc.

Sorzal Distributors, Inc. is an importer and distributor of a wide variety of South American and African artifacts. It is also a major source of authentic jewelry and pottery made by Native American tribes of the southwestern United States-especially, Hopi an I d Navajo. The firm's headquarters is located in Phoenix Arizona, with branch offices in Los Angeles, Miami, and Boston.

Sorzal (named after the national bird of Honduras) originated as a trading post operation near Tucson, Arizona, in the early twentieth century. Through a series of judicious decisions, the firm established itself as one of the more reputable dealers in authentic Native American jewelry and pottery from the Southwest. Over the years, Sorzal gradually, expanded its product line to include pre-Columbian artifacts from Peru and Venezuela and tribal and burial artifacts from Africa. Through its careful verification of the authenticity of these South American and African artifacts, Sorzal developed a national reputation as one of the most re¬spected importers of these items.

In the early 1980's Sorzal further expanded its product line to include replicas of artifacts. For example, African fertility gods and masks were made by craftspeo¬ple who took great pains to produce these items so that only the truly acknowledgeable buyer-a collector-would know they were replicas. Sorzal now has native craftspeople in Central America, South America, Africa, and the southwestern United States who provide these replicas, which account, however, for only a small portion of the company's total sales and have found most favor among gift buyers and individuals looking for novelty items.

Sorzal's gross sales are about $12 million and have increased at a constant rate of 20 percent per year over the past decade. Myron Rangard, the firm's national sales manager, attributed the sales increase in part to the expanded distribution of South American and African artifacts:

For some reason, our South American and African artifacts have been gaining greater acceptance. Two of our department-store customers featured examples of our African line in their Christmas catalogs last year. I personally think con¬sumer tastes are changing from the modern and abstract to the more concrete, like our products. Previously, we had to push our products through our own showings.

Sorzal distributes its products exclusively through specialty shops (including interior decorators), firm-sponsored showings, and a few exclusive department stores. Often the company is the sole supplier to its clients. Rangard recently recommended on this highly limited distribution:

Our limited distribution has been dictated to us by the nature of our product line. As acceptance grew, we expanded our distribution to specialty shops and some exclusive department stores. Artifacts aren't always easy to get and the political situation in Africa is also limiting supply. Our perennial supply problem has become even more critical in recent years for several reasons. Not only must we search harder for new products. but the competition for authentic artifacts has increased tenfold. On top of this, we must now contend with governments' not allowing exportation of certain artifacts because of their national significance."

The problem of supply has forced Sorzal to add three new buyers in the Last two