OK, just in case you stumble on this entry days after it was originally posted, please take a look at the day it was published before reading any further. That should give you a good clue to its seriousness. Or lack thereof ...
Some huge changes to talk about, folks!
Like so many small businesses, the Real Deal Brazil has had a hellish time in this sluggish economy. Add to that the outrageous spikes in recycled-tarp prices in Brazil, and shipping from the rural center of such a vast and often underdeveloped country, plus the various customs hurdles, which are, honestly, a money-suck, and it’s been really, really hard. And it’s only getting harder.
But we’re still here!
Still, if we’re going to continue past this, then going forward, fundamental changes have gotta take place. It’s that, regrettably, or close our doors. And we aren’t quitters.
After some serious research and lengthy negotiations, we’re finally at the point of transferring production to where we can afford to keep this thing up and running. So, to China we go! Happily, we’ve found a Beijing-area town that specializes in fabric goods and industrial sewing, and a small nationalized company that can take things over immediately, for a reasonable price, even with shipping considerations.
The hat photo at top is just a mockup sent by our new sewing company.Fabric is having to change, of course, since they neither have recycled canvas truck tarps in China, at least not for sale, nor can we remotely afford to import them from Brazil. We are, however, very pleased with the fabric change we’ve selected: We think the purple is fantastic! It’s really individual and fun, and fits, we think, the spirit of our brand. The sequins you see in the photo are hopefully within our budget as well, but that detail isn’t set in stone yet.
Hat style will also shift a bit, to more of a classic fedora a la Indiana Jones, since that’s what they do best there.
And we won’t have to go up on our hat prices at all!
All Brazilian product names will stay the same. We don’t want to add any further confusion to the transition.
Bags will likewise be the same new fabric; beyond that, we don’t know yet about the various styles. It’ll all depend on what this company can manage.
We’ll start getting new product in soon, and will then start updating realdealbrazil.com. In the meantime, we’ll keep selling the remainders of what we have, until we run out. We wish we could discount the remainders, but honestly, we’re too broke for that.
The best of an unfortunate situation. So we hope you can get as excited for these changes as we've become!
3 comments:
For the first half of this article, I was pretty much having a panic attack. Then I remembered today was April 1st. Haha, nice one guys.
Not until I got to the part about the fabric change did I realize this was April 1st. Phew!
I never did believe it!!!
Post a Comment