History of Zak Designs
While attending his cousin's wedding in Hawaii more than thirty years ago, Irv Zakheim noticed the tremendous demand for puka shell necklaces. With an eye for recognizing opportunities and a heart for taking advantage of them, Zakheim moved to Hawaii and began selling the necklaces on the beach. Eventually, he started importing the necklaces from the Philippines to feed the craze. That was the beginning of Zakheim's import business, and the seed for the company that blossomed into Zak Designs, Inc. – today's global leader in licensed children's dinnerware and fashion forerunner of contemporary tableware.
When he moved back to Los Angeles, his entrepreneurial spirit returned with him, but his importing focus shifted. Zakheim recognized that the fashion fad would not sustain the long-term goals of the business he wanted to build, so he turned his attention to the textile industry.  Using the relationships he had formed in Hawaii and the Philippines, he began importing hand-embroidered goods to distribute throughout the country. While this venture was successful and strengthened the structure of Zak Designs, Zakheim realized that if the company was going to grow, he needed to find an open niche in the market that his company could fill.
He found that niche in licensed children's dinnerware. Building on his knowledge of the importing business, Zakheim brought his company into the world of melamine and acrylic dinnerware and diligently searched for familiar children's characters to feature on the plates, bowls and cups Zak Designs was making.
The idea appealed to licensors and increasingly more of those familiar characters began appearing on Zak products. It didn't take long for people to notice Zak Designs' presence in a market that few had previously realized existed. One of the companies that noticed was the world leader in animation, and in 1988, Zak secured rights to Disney's Chip ‘n Dale Rescue Rangers. The product sold well and helped Zak Designs establish a foundation of trust with the industry giant. That trust was rewarded the next year when Zak obtained the rights to Disney's live action rendition of the classic comic, Dick Tracy. As part of the deal, Zakheim also agreed to create a line of products to help publicize a lesser-known animated movie that Disney wanted to promote. That lesser-known movie was The Little Mermaid, and the success of the products that Zak Designs developed to promote the film set the company on a course it has never turned away from. |
