Manufacturing in Chaos

Well that sounds dramatic but  "chaotic" seems to sum up things here in the USA lately. I'm not talking politics but in my view the collective country seems to be holding their breath, waiting to see what's going to happen-with a million different concerns. 

As a creative, an art school drop out-I never thought I'd pay much attention to Trade Wars. But flowers as a job and the medium I use to create most of my work for the last 14 years are part of several trade agreements. Some of them dating back to the 70s and 80s. A 12% tariff on one stem doesn't seem like much but collectively, it can eat into the entire supply chains' already small profits. If you knew how many hands touched one stem of a flower, you'd never think they were "too expensive" again. It's a very human practice, not manufacturing but actually growing something. 

Having seen the price fluctuations in flowers these last 14 years, it's why I knew I wanted to make my vases here in the United States. I could go on and on about the benefits of keeping production here, the jobs my vases support, the woman owned boutique production studio I work with. I'm very proud of that choice, even when faced with my prices being perceived as high in comparison to cheap overseas factory production.

So while I had grand hopes for my first full year of making vases, in order to roll with the waiting that most people seem to be doing with non necessity purchases, I won't be introducing new vases as often as I'd hoped. That also means that restock inventory may not be as plentiful. As much as I love supporting the team at my production studio, we all have to wait and see.  Barely Cinched & Baby Twist will both have limited inventory through the Spring. 

My ideas are still here, the prototypes in progress are going to continue. I've said it a million times but my business came out of the 2008 recession. Waiting for things to change is hard, making changes to survive the wait is necessary but if we're known for anything positive here in the USA, it's our ability to dream, to strive to create the life we want and that means not giving up when it's really hard and scary.