Orange County Register

A Japanese towel company has decided that its way into American consumers’ heart is through the stomach, or at least the visual equivalent. 

Prairie Dog, who’s U.S. headquarters is in Irvine, is introducing Cake Towels that look good enough to eat. They’re being shown this weekend at the Los Angeles Gift Show.

The Le Patissier line of Cake Towels include towel sets that look like ice cream cake rolls (above), parfait sundaes (below right), cupcakes (below left), muffins and cheesecake. Retail prices range from $4 to $10 for small “cakes” to $20 - $30 for large “cakes” to $18 to $80 for gift sets.

Although Cake Towels are new to the U.S., they were created more than three years ago by company designer Tadayoshi Iwaki.

“These are 100% cotton towels, very durable that you could use over and over again,” said spokesman Takashi Kobayashi. But he acknowledges that most people receive Cake Towels as gifts and use them only for decoration, not drying their hands.

Click here to see the online catalog. Prairie Dog America sells to retailers and hotels rather than to individuals. The parent company sells online andthrough distributors in other countries.

“I knew some people in California so rather than send everything from Japan, I had them open a subsidiary here,” Prairie Dog President Yoshiyuki Matsuoka said through an interpreter. “The response (from buyers to Cake Towels) has been phenomenal.”

That’s a pretty American name for a Japanese company but when entrepreneur Matsuoka was just starting 15 years ago, he wanted a unique name. He was looking through a children’s book and saw a picture of a prairie dog.

“He thought they were cute so he researched and found out they live in families and help each other out,” Kobayashi explained. “He wanted to base his company on family values and cooperation, so he chose Prairie Dog to name his company.”

Prairie Dog America’s office and warehouse are at 15375 Barranca Parkway, E-104 in Irvine. Retailers can click here to get ordering information.

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