Winooski, Vermont - November 30, 2007
If red stitching on white paper reminds you of a baseball, then Ali Marchildon hit a home run with her latest design. She beams, "We have a very unusual, unique product."
Marchildon launched a purse company called Flashbags with friend Laura Cheney almost two years ago. Now they're making accessories inspired by Red Sox nation.
After the Sox' World Series win this year, sales of merchandise boomed, mostly with t-shirts and hats. The Vermonters wanted a piece of the action. Marchildon says, "It is definitely a big break!" The company made a pitch to the Boston Globe, getting the paper's permission to use its wealth of team photos and front page headlines from the celebration. Cheney says, "The images are so alive!" The relationship with the newspaper is a logical step for the designers, who use layers of paper to shape their purses, protecting the material with a waterproof coating and dressing up the bags with colorful thread. Each piece is hand-crafted seam to seam. Cheney says, "It's been quite a ride from Ali's living room."
We first showed you Flashbags in February of 2006, when the upstart designers were using home sewing machines and cutting paper on the dining room table. Plastic beverage tubing became shoulder straps, and customers' personal photos and Vermont artwork formed purse bodies.
Little has changed in the actual product design since then, but now the team now uses industrial sewing machines. Marchildon explains, "It has increased our productivity times eight."
The founders have a large studio space, and ten employees, three of them full-time. They grew from one store selling maybe thirty bags a month, to nearly thirty stores. They expect to sell 1,000 bags this month, bolstered by the new Red Sox designs.
Marchildon smiles, excitedly saying, "I never imagined it would come this far this quickly!"
The company's growth is proof of the strength of guerilla marketing. They have lots of in-person sales based almost purely on people asking, "Hey, where'd you get that bag?" in supermarket lines or on Church Street.
Marchildon explains the appeal of her work is based in its versatility. "The possibilities are endless. You can put any image on any product," she says.
And the Red Sox line isn't just for women. Placemats, wallets, and credit card holders ensure any fan can "flash" the accessories.
Cheney chuckles, "The guys are always telling me how much they love their wallets!"
They've come so far, so quickly. Now Flashbags is poised to be a champion, too. A real "Made in Vermont" success story.
Cheney chirps, "It's a pretty cool feeling!"
The Red Sox products sell from between $28 and $78. You can find the entire line at the Flashbags studio on the third floor of Winooski's Champlain Mill Mondays through Fridays 10:00 AM - 4:00 PM.
For more information, call (802) 999-8981, or visit the company's website.
Jack Thurston - WCAX News