Suzy’s Zoo 483Suzy Ducken, Jack Quaker, and Dooley
Stegasouposaurus.
In 1996, Suzy was recognized for her out-
standing creations by the National
Cartoonist Society when she was awarded its
top annual award for greeting cards. In 1999
the company introduced Little Suzy’s Zoo,
geared to infants and toddlers, which features
a baby duck named Witzy and the creatures
that inhabit his backyard. Little Suzy’s Zoo is
a success beyond anything the company had
previously achieved. The company’s newest
characters are Wags and Whiskers, which are
dogs and cats with names like Dottie
Dachshund and Simone the Perfect. Each
character has a distinctive personality, and
characters are eventually retired when they
lose their appeal in the marketplace.
The company and its products are con-
servative, appealing to middle-American,
homespun tastes. As Spafford would say,
“Suzy’s Zoo cards are G-rated.” Spafford does
all she can to maintain the wholesome mid-
western image she has created (she was born
in Ohio). She is a member of many San Diego
and southern California boards, including:
Sharp Memorial Hospital Foundation, Rees-
Stately Research Foundation, the San Diego
Rotary Club, and the San Diego Hall of
Champions. She gives generously of her time
and money to support charitable causes.
Spafford is a very visible person in the San
Diego community.
Through licensing agreements, the charac-
ters appear on classroom supplies, fabric,
plush animals, disposable diapers, wallpaper,
infant and toddler apparel, and other items.
Suzy’s started licensing its designs and char-
acters in the mid-1970s. Throughout the
1980s and 1990s its licensing income grew
slowly but surely. During this time the com-
pany also expanded into international mar-
kets; currently, Suzy’s Zoo products are sold
in 40-plus countries worldwide.
Over the first 20 years of its existence, the
firm grew to be a typical small business oper-
ation. With its comfortable market niche and
philosophy of slow growth, Suzy’s Zoo was
always operated profitably. But changes in
greeting cards, and in the way those greetings
are delivered, present operational and com-
petitive challenges. With its founder and
chief designer now approaching retirement
age (Suzy was born in 1946), the company
must also make plans for future transitions.
And the launch of Little Suzy’s Zoo led to
explosive growth and changed the nature of
the business and organization.EARLY HISTORY OF SUZY’S ZOOSuzy’s Zoo founder and President Suzy
Spafford started the business in the mid-
1960s when Spafford was working toward
her bachelor of fine arts degree at San Diego
State University. She recalled that she had
always had a knack for drawing animals,
going back to her childhood days in Ohio. To
earn extra money for school, she worked
summers and weekends at local art marts cre-
ating colorful pastel and water-color draw-
ings, particularly cartoon characters custom-
designed to buyers’ tastes. She sold her draw-
ings for $3 apiece, generating $3,000 to
$4,000 per summer. During her senior year
in college (1967), Bill Murr, a Berkeley,
California, medical instrument manufacturer,
saw Spafford’s work at an art mart in San
Diego. He proposed that the two of them
team up and start a small greeting card busi-
ness. Murr provided $600 in funding, and
Spafford created eight card designs and
agreed on a 90 percent (Murr) to 10 percent
(Spafford) split. Suzy’s Zoo was officially
launched.
Spafford worked out of her home, cre-
ating designs that were shipped to Murr in
Berkeley, who supervised the printing, then
boxed and distributed the cards to local sta-
tionery stores. The cards immediately sold
well in the Bay Area and on a smaller scale in
Washington and Oregon. Within two years,
the cards were selling throughout California.
Sales increased steadily through the first sev-
eral years. In the early 1970s, Murr decided
he no longer wanted to handle the day-to-
day operations. Spafford bought Murr’s
inventory and reversed the financial arrange-