Day Runner Grows Beyond Creators’ Plans : Organizers: The company now employs 350 people and operates out of a bigger facility in Fullerton.

FULLERTON —  It was an idea whose decade had come.

In 1980, the dawn of an era that would dub ambitious baby boomers yuppies, Boyd and Felice Willat created a deluxe version of the little black book.

No mere calendar, this clutch-sized portmanteau served to organize a busy professional’s life--from power breakfasts to late-night meetings. It had a compartment for a checkbook and calculator, pockets for credit cards, an address section, loose-leaf pages that could be divided into such categories as “objectives” and “project plan outline.”

A couple of years later, after at first calling their invention a “Source Book,” the Willats arrived at the name that stuck: Day Runner.

Huh? Where did that come from?

“Well, ‘Blade Runner’ was the hot movie then,” Felice Willat, 47, explained. “And this was a time when everyone was getting into fitness and running--aerobics this and aerobics that.”

Oh, yes--the ‘80s.

For five years, she and her husband--who were formerly film production coordinators--organized their own hectic schedules from their West Hollywood home. They began with a staff of two store-to-store salesmen peddling the $25 product, and a handful of factory workers stitching them together in a nearby warehouse. By 1985, they had 65 employees scurrying about their three-bedroom house, 35 telephone lines and six computers--plus two small children underfoot.

“We were like the Keystone Kops,” Felice Willat said, laughing.

But all of the frenzy paid off big that year--sales topped $10 million, she said. Clearly, Day Runner Inc. had outgrown its roots, so the Willats moved their company to an office building in Culver City.

Day Runner has since mushroomed to 350 employees, once again overpopulating its digs. Therefore, the company in August relocated to Fullerton after having a 140,000-square-foot facility with an on-site factory custom-built.

Today it scarcely resembles the small, family-operated business it used to be. In fact, Day Runner is no longer family-operated.

Six years ago, the Willats turned over the management of their brainchild to a fresh team. Though still major shareholders in the privately owned company, they have otherwise taken a back seat. Felice Willat is now vice president of consumer affairs for Day Runner, while her husband is a board member.

“The company had gotten too big--we were overwhelmed,” Felice Willat said. ‘We were anxious to work with a group of professional people.”

Enter Mark Vidovich. At the time, he owned a computer software distribution company in Compton. The Willats learned of the successful entrepreneur through the two companies’ mutual attorney, and sought out his expertise.

Vidovich became Day Runner’s chief executive officer. He enlisted a management staff, expanded on the Day Runner line and increased sales by beginning to export overseas. The organizer now sells in three languages besides English: German, French and Spanish.

“We took a nice, little company with a nice, little, well-designed product, and made it a much bigger company with a much bigger product,” Vidovich, 42, said.

A longtime Irvine resident, Vidovich had been eyeing Orange County as a possible Day Runner destination for some time. The company needed space to spread out, he said, and Fullerton offered lower land costs than did Culver City.

“A lot of our employees already lived in this area,” he said. “The move made some people very happy, and other people not very happy.” A handful of employees with homes in the Los Angeles area decided to quit rather than make the commute, Vidovich said.

Vidovich declined to reveal annual sales figures, but said Day Runner “has 6 million users around the world.”

Although December is the month when almost everyone throws out their old calendars and prepares to ring in the new year, Day Runner’s fourth-quarter sales seldom make a dramatic jump, Vidovich said.

“That’s because the Day Runner is not just a calendar,” he said. “People buy it year-round.” For the most part, even refills for the product are non-seasonal: undated weekly calendars, telephone directories, “Things to Do” memo pads.

A questionnaire is included with each organizer to help the company informally track its customers’ demographics. An equal number of men and women use Day Runners, Vidovich said, and most are between the ages of 25 and 45. Professionals at high-tech companies represent the largest percentage of Day Runner customers, followed by small-business owners, executives and educators, he said.

New models, sizes and materials have been added to the Day Runner lineup over the years. Brightly colored cardboard Day Runners for children and teens cost as little as $10, while briefcase-sized agendas in leather go as high as $250.

But the one that started it all--a vinyl, 5-by-8-inch binder now priced about $55--remains the company’s best seller. Felice Willat attributes the original’s longevity to that elusive goal yearned for by harried modern man and woman:

“It holds the promise of organization.”

Day Runner Headquarters: Fullerton

Chief Executive Officer: Mark Vidovich

Established: 1980, by Boyd and Felice Willat

Employees: 350, about 200 of whom work in the on-site factory

Product: The Day Runner organizer, which includes a date book, a compartment for credit cards and loose-leaf pages that can be divided into various categories. Sold in English, German, French and Spanish editions

Product Price: $10 to $250

Customers: 6 million

Source: Day Runner Inc.