Selling wholesale

"Trip to the Coast" my previous blog entry, was about our long weekend on the Connecticut/Rhode Island border and visiting our friends Steven and Suzanne at their new store.  So, to continue on where I left off, I had mailed a sample apron to them.  Well, they liked what they saw and wanted to have my aprons come and play in their store.  They next task was to design some aprons that I felt would go in their store since I had mentioned in my previous blog entry I literally had ONE apron left in stock.  

A few weeks ago when I discovered I was so low on aprons, I stood in front of the cubbies where all my fabric is stored and started pulling fabrics out that could possibly be made into aprons.  It requires 1 yard each of 2 coordinating fabrics  of 1 yd. of one fabric and 1/2 yd or 2 coordinating fabrics that would make up into a what I call a color block apron.  I was very pleased to see just how many possible aprons there were.  It was from this fabric stash that I proceeded  to start designing aprons for the Capizzano's store.  Over the next couple of weeks, I designed and made up 9 different aprons.  I took photos (both sides) of the aprons and e.mailed them off to Suzanne asking her if any of them would work in their store.  She immediately ordered 4  of the color clock aprons (pictured) and said she liked a 5th apron which featured Laurel Burch's Celestial Dreams fabric but the the fabric it reversed to she felt was not vivid enough.  I went digging through my stash to see if I could make another apron and had just enough of the Celestial Drams fabric to make a color block apron IF i removed the pocket from the first apron.  Finding the other 2 fabrics to coordinate with that LOVELY fabric was easy.  Suzanne liked the second apron much better (and so did I) so I packed the 5 aprons (hoping they wouldn't get too wrinkled) off to Capizzano Oils.  Suzanne had emailed me that she had found this metal vine in an antique store and was going to use it to display the aprons.  Once I saw the photo of the aprons on display (see center photo) I was delighted!!!!

Since their store is over 100 miles away, I felt it would be best to wholesale the aprons to them rather than try and service them, as I do with my local vendors, on consignment.  This will be my first time wholesaling aprons.  I had to come up with a price that would cover my costs and labor that they would then be able to mark up some and still keep them at a reasonable price to their customers.   Let's face it, this is the perfect time of year to find out if they are going to sell or not.   I am hoping their customers find them a welcome addition to this delightful store that helps  support their healthy eating habits.  My husband and I are have enjoyed cooking with all the delicious and healthy olive oils and balsamic vinegar we brought back.  One of the things that Suzanne posted on the store's facebook page was about beauty, design and function.  That really rang a bell with me and is why I can see how my aprons are hopefully going to be a welcome addition to what is a very well thought out store.   Here's their website http://capizzanoco.com/

Featured aprons : Top left - A touch of class, top right - To Porto, with Love

Bottom left - Sweet and Sassy, bottom right - Grapes