Christmas sale and at last new stock

The four weeks leading up to Christmas is every retail business' most crucial time of year. Sales soar as people spend their hard earned money on gifts. As we have experienced people desperately refrain from buying for themselves in the preceeding months in order to afford that meaningful present; something they know will be appreciated and remembered. This goodwill I think is commendable, it shows that love does still triumph over materialism.

The Teapot Tree's crucial time of year became The Teapot Tree's most frustrating time of year. We had been invited to the party, due to our hard work in the preceeding months but at the last minute could not attend because the customs officers in Bolivia unintentionally stripped us naked, paralising us from the kneck down. Our orders, due to arrive within three weeks, did not. Three weeks became five, five became nine and we arrived with our bottle of wine as everyone else at the party was sneaking off home with the receptionist.

Our inbox is full of disapointed emails from would-be customers, our storage full of beautiful but forgotten and unloved bags. I have consoled them with cheerful stories of potential future owners. I have tried to instill the virtues of patience but I know deep down they have missed out on that smile; that Christmas grin, as the present is revealed from crisp wrapping paper; that unforgettable surprise smile; that 'thank you for loving me' smile.

This is the story behind 'The Teapot Tree's' first ever sale. It is not a desperate attempt to rid ourselves of unwanted stock; but an attempt to brighten the lives of the unpopular kids who never got invited to the party until it was too late. So don't be fooled by that mind numbing hangover, the most interesting people were never the most popular in school!  

A busy week - new markets, new contacts, new opportunities

Once again we feel lucky to have one big problem. Keeping up with demand.

Our new large briefcases are all gone along with 8 other styles of bag. The waiting list for the satchels and briefcases are growing by the day and Christmas shopping has most definately begun.

Our first day in Brixton yesterday at the Brixton Experience was a great day. Lots of music, Samba dancers and drummers, lovely food and a showcase of Brixtons businesses amid a typical buzzing Brixton atmosphere. The last of our Sisal bags were snapped up and a lot of shoppers were out getting their Christmas presents early. We plan to go back on December the 10th when we hopefully have new stock in.

Where the Bags Come From

  


Our six months in Latin America saw us meet some incredible people. These people are where our motivation comes from.

We found hand-crafted items; extremely well made with quality materials. The only thing these people were lacking was a knowledge of style. I'm wrong in saying style because obviously they had their own style but the products, mostly I'm talking about leather bags, were made for tourists. They adapted traditional designs to suit the foreign traveller. The problem was though that our friends had very little knowledge of what the foreigner liked or disliked and had sadly invested deeply into the tackiest of tack. They were feeling their way around in the dark, making hundreds of bags, hoping that some at least would be liked.

So 'The Teapot Tree' was founded on the craftmanship and skill of a handful of astisans. How it was developed into a business was based on the realisation of the difficult lives these new friends of ours found themselves in. To us they deserved something more in life. To be rewarded for the skill and hard work and dedication. So we were in a position to share our knowledge and ideas and open up a much larger market. Several months of cutting shapes out of sheets of skins, saw us return to the UK with a collection of 11 never seen before bags.

Several months on and we now have a range of 17 bags and a problem of trying to keep up with demand. Every one of our bags is a unique piece (no two bags are the same). The excellent quality and the originality of the designs seems to stand out to shoppers who look for unique items that are also affordable. People are genuinely surprised at the affordability of our somewhat exclusive bags which, price wise, are in line with the mass produced factory bags on the high street.

We are determined to keep our business low scale production. Although, our biggest problem of keeping up with demand, is good for our suppliers. The more work they receive the more people they can afford to employ. The lack of employment in Bolivia is a huge problem and any little difference we can make backs up the reasons for starting the business in the first place. It improves our friends standards of living and gives employment to a handful of otherwise destitute people.

Although the majority of our customers are delighted by the value for money of our products, we do sympathise with those who cannot afford our more expensive bags. We regret that we cannot drop the prices as if we were to charge the consumer less then we would have to pay our suppliers less, which would then create a situation which the business was setup to prevent - slave labour. We pay our suppliers well and although we are not fair trade registered we adhere to our own morals and philosophies about good work practices, comfortable in the fact that by buying one of our products, you are certainly improving another human beings quality of life.

We do not hail from the glamorous world of design studios and fashion shows but from the warmth of ordinary people's living rooms and work shops. We are delighted we can compete with the in-trends and must-haves. It just shows that not all people are void of independant thought and taste, and most importantly do still have a conscience.

At last new leather bags in stock

It was like Christmas came early, as the order we started to design and plan approximately 3 months ago arrived yesterday. The frustration of not having a large selection of bags to sell is finally over. I have taken a few quick photos for everyone to see, what I think, are some really beautiful bags. I will be selling them tomorrow, Sunday the 30th, in Spitalfields and we will have them up on the site to buy from next week.

The large briefcases are stunning and from the amount of orders we received before it had even arrived, we expect it to sell out fast.

It's a beautiful Autumn day and I'm off out to play with the leaves. 

Market day in SOAS

The Teapot Tree was invited to attend a craft market at the School of Oriental and African Studies so we gladly accepted and spent the day amongst the international students, making new friends, contacts and quite a few new happy customers. Even though our stock was very low we received a wonderful reception. Three delighted customers took away our last three large briefcases and many others fought over the sisal bags. We are delighted with the feedback on the quality and style of the african bags so we will endeavour to design and get more made.

We do have a handful left on the website http://www.theteapottree.co.uk/ but when these are gone it will be another 6 weeks before they are available again. We look forward to being back at SOAS next Wednesday the 2nd November with a range of brand new stock.

Sisal Bags

The Kenyan bags went down very well in the market this week. Some people had never seen them before and others were delighted to see the Kiondo in London and enjoyed telling me about their homeland. As the stock of the leather bags is so low this week, the sisal bags are doing great filling the gap but now I will have the difficult decision of which to sell when stock from Bolivia arrives. Its a nice choice to have though. Here are a few photos of the new bags and you can see the rest on the website http://www.theteapottree.co.uk/. If you are interested in buying one please get in touch as soon as possible while I still have them in stock

Basket Bags

Over the past two months we have been working on getting a range of baskets designed and made. We have been lucky enough to have had the help of our good friend Steve who visits east Africa several times a year and a colleague of his who has contacts in the basket making world in Zanzibar. We have begun working with three basket making communities, taking already existing designs and adjusting them to suit our taste and style.

The first to arrive are the Sisal Baskets, also commonly known as Kiondo in Kenya. The Kiondo is a hand-woven handbag/basket made from sisal (a natural fibre grown in Kenya) with a leather trimming around the top and handle. It is indigenous to the Kikuyu and Kamba tribes of Kenya. Sometimes it’s finished with small beads and shells but we have opted for simpler styles without.

Traditionally, they were used to hold staple foods like beans and maize; and in more recent times, the bags have evolved into a trendy fashion accessory. Unfortunately, the influx of cheap goods from China (most notably the environmentally unfriendly plastic bag), has meant that their use is now in dramatic decline.

Weaving begins by stripping the Sisal plant's outer layers, leaving the plant still able to grow. The weaver dries the threads from the pale colored layers for a day and then boils them with water and dye to set the bag's colours. It takes between two to three weeks to complete a bag, and so most weave when they have time in between looking after their households. I cannot claim to wear one no matter how modern of a man I am; but I do think that the subtle colours provide a lovely natural feel.

We plan to keep working on the styles of these basket bags along with the help of our friends from Kikuyu and Kamba. We have chosen not to sell several of the styles from the first order as there are a few small adjustments to make but the rest of the batch are brilliant and full of beautifully made pieces. The only problem being that we didn't order enough.

I promise to have them up on the website within a few days. http://www.theteapottree.co.uk/

Sold Out Sunday

Sunday 1st October Spitalfields

I expected a busy day but I was somewhat taken aback by the groups that crowded the stall yesterday. It seemed like the word had gotten around and girls came in group to ask questions and try out the bags. Women pulled their partners towards the stall and tourists timidly nodded as I explained the origin of the bags. By 3 oclock I had a delighted yet uneasy feeling that the stall was looking awfully empty. Gaps in the hanging display and large sections of the table were left empty with no more stock to replace them.

This problem of having to wait five weeks for stock will definately have to be better planned in the future but you can only do so much when every item is painstackingly hand made for you. I am delighted about the enthusiastic responce over the past two weeks and look forward to setting up again in Spitalfields on Sunday October 16th with a brand new collection of stock. Until then the last few bags will be for sale through the website and of course once it starts to get cold our Alpaca Wear will hopefully be of some interest.

Going online

Due to the amount of interest in the bags and where they come from, we decided that it's time to go online. So, fueled by Mikaela's coffee and brownies, I have spent the last few days developing ‘The Teapot Tree’ website.

Sometimes people need time to think about investing their money into one of our bags. Often they don’t have the money at the time and would like to have another look at a later date. However, this is my first time trying website design and I have deicided that I officially hate the world of html, but I’ve stuck with it and the end result is not as bad as I'd expected. Its definitely a work in progress, but it's getting there slowly but surely.

http://www.theteapottree.co.uk/ 

New products, new orders

The past few days have been dedicated to our next bag orders. Two designs from Andes Handicrafts, six from Chuspita and eight from Adriana. Most are the same as the first order but with small adjustments to sizes, colours, length of straps etc etc. I have also ordered four new bags as the demand for bigger bags has motivated me to go ahead with some provisional designs. Although it can be awkward and frustrating dealing with others in a different time zone who have limited access to the internet and work in a different language, the results are usually very exciting.
So they are all busily working away on the next order. I have to keep reminding myself that each individual bag needs to be cut, coloured, shaped, stitched, stained, stitched again, packaged and posted. It’s a delicate mix of patience and persistence.

Up and Trading

South America was our home for six months. It took us in and guided us towards the people and places we were looking for. We developed our idea of finding artesans who used their hands to create unique items and we worked with them to develop a range of products to sell to the British market. We believed the combination of our knowledge of the market, our ideas and designs, along with other people’s skills and knowledge of materials and products, that we could create something special.

Several months on and sitting in our new London studio apartment surrounded by ripped cardboard boxes, piles of leather bags around our feet, stacks of felt hats on the wardrobe, little mountains of jewellery on the work-top and bundles of alpaca woolens obscuring the bed, we surprised ourselves by how far we had come in such a short period of time. We had really started something unique. Neither of us had studied design but the combination of my practicality and Mikaela’s eye for style had seemed to have worked.
We planned the initial days at the market, how to talk about our products, where they came from, who had made them etc etc; but foremost in my mind was the inevitable question, would anyone else like our designs or were we merely blinded by our own determination? We couldn’t prepare for being ignored but just accepted that it was always a distinct possibility.

Camden 7am Saturday 10^th of September.

Eventually I was lead to my first stall and nervously set up as best I could. I sat and stared at the people milling around. People bought jewellery from my next door neighbour but she had an amazing setup. One stall with thousands of unique hand-made jewellery with bits of butterflies and earrings of orange peel but no-one bought anything from that stall. Her other was packed with fake pearls and other crap bought from the wholesaler down the road and she struggled to keep up with the demand. I don’t understand.
People admired my bags, nobody wanted to try them on. My alpaca wear was stroked by a thousand people. I sat and sat and smiled. I swallowed hard and tried to remain positive. I paid my £15 and went home. Tourists go to Camden Market to see Camden Market not to go shopping.

Spitalfields 8.30am Monday 12^th of September

I was given a terrible spot surrounded by pretty much nobody. Empty stalls made the atmosphere eerie and off-putting. I thought the stall looked good and enjoyed some attention. I was given advise which I accepted gratefully and rejected in my head. I had a vision. I moved things around and chatted nervously to potential customers. I knew my products were quality, so it seemed did the aimlessly wandering shoppers. Why then did no-one want to buy anything? There was nothing wrong with the product, it was me that had to improve.
Thai girls came to check out the bags. Were they trying to steal my designs? I just have to sell a bag. Just one, any one. I talked a girl to boredom. I babbled on about Andean cultures. I got blank stares. Girls said they would have a look around and come back. Non did. Friends texted asking how many I had sold. What to do.
And then it happened. A girl came back. She came back and wanted to give me money for one of my bags. One of the bags I had painstakingly designed, packaged, imported, stored and displayed. I paid the stall's rent with the profit of the bag and went home happy.

Spitalfields 8.30am Tuesday 13^th of September

A much better position saw me spend three hours trying to set up as a succession of potential customers bombarded me with questions. I talked and talked and found I had quickly become comfortable. I was not a born salesman but I believed in what I was selling and it was beginning to show.
'Hey Betty come and look at these amazing bags,' a repetitive compliment I lapped up. A crowd developed often, people attracted by the melee. Men were attracted by the Unisex Briefcase but sighed in disappointment at the limited size. Women agonized on whether to buy a briefcase or a larger leather bag. Three bags sold and The Treepot Tree was in profit. Well actually hugely in debt but in profit for today.
Men demanded a bigger sized bag. I must spend my day off developing the changes for a larger scale version. A Chinese man wants to sell the bags in his shop. An Irani man was impressed with the quality of the work and ordered a larger briefcase. A woman anguished over how many bags to buy. I sat with my neighbour and listened to him complain about what a desperate state the market was in. This time last year he would have sold twenty jackets he claimed. Today he had sold nothing. I sat quiet, shouting and jumping up and down inside. People liked our stuff.

Spitalfields 8.30am Wednesday 14^th of September

A terrible spot again has brought me back down to earth. Hidden by mountains of cheap hats and overwhelming rails of Thai clothes. My products were overshadowed and ignored. Several women stopped to give praise but ran off before I could introduce myself. Its such a fine line between being welcoming and being imposing.

I tried not to get carried away and stay with our beliefs of uniqueness and low scale production. Stock was low and moral was high. Everything went far better than expected.

The day passed slowly. Someone bought a scarf as a present, several bags found a new home and the stall is beginning to look a little thin in stock. Several stall holders bought other bags which made me happy. Its one thing to accept compliments but another to know they are heart felt when they hand over their money. Women on their way home from work stopped for a look and took a business card.

And on and on it went. The first week of ‘The Teapot Tree’ was over. I was really happy that customers were acknowledging our efforts to work with individuals and their families to improve their livelihoods.