I am finally sitting down to give this blog a whirl. I guess that my first entry should be about Mode Merr itself. I started selling Mode Merr designs in small boutiques in 1989 around Boston (my old stomping grounds) and in L.A which was my first stop after being kicked out of art school in 1991.
Mode Merr has remained a very small company by choice. Usually only 2 to 6 dedicated contractors and here and there we work with small sewing houses, always in the US of course and usually on the East Coast.
For a long time my goal was to get as big as my competitors and spread Mode Merr into every retro boutique and website on the planet. Over the years, I have come to realize that I really enjoy sewing and having a stronger connection to my customers so growing any bigger would become a conflict for me.
Right now, when an order is placed, I usually go under my vast cutting table to where my fabrics are organized and stored per clothing style. I get down my hand traced oak tag patterns and I cut the items one by one. Either myself, Deana or Jo Ann will construct the items and I will finish and press them, neurotically trimming the threads. Then I wrap each order in tissue paper, with a hand written note all tied up with a ribbon bow and send it on it's way. We manually enter each name and email into our shipping software to alert our customers that their goodies have been shipped.
As I start the New Year, I have been thinking how I would like this year to progress. Instead of expanding our reach, I have decided to pull back on big wholesale orders and our very streamlined items to focus on smaller retail collections of fun new designs with a dash of humor and cuteness that my older designs offered.
As always, I am open to hearing from my customers, many who have been there from Mode Merr's start on how to proceed.
PS this is my first blog entry, I think I will get the hang of it soon and will be adding photos, links and all the rest.
