This past Saturday, March 12th 2016, Tesoro Design opened their studio doors for their very first open house, appropriately titled Cupcakes & Cocktails.
As I am sure most of you know by now (in case you don't, now is the time to pay attention), Tesoro Design and gleek are related. Brit and I are co-owners of Tesoro, a leather handbag company with all products handmade in America. Gleek, is the lifestyle blog for the Tesoro woman (or man, come Fall).
Since Tesoro products are only available through our website,www.tesoro.design, we decided to have the first of what will be many open houses. As great as technology is, there is yet to be an app where shoppers can feel the products they see online. Sorry, but you still need to leave your house for that.
Located just through a darling little alley in downtown West Chester, PA, we invited the public into our studio to see where our bags are made, snack on sweet treats and mimosas, meet Brit and I, and even buy something if they were so inclined.
Mainly, our sales have been 100% family, friends, and friends of family since launching the site at the end of January. We really can't complain with how sales have gone, but the time had come to let strangers experience Tesoro first-hand. Cue the open house.
As much as we would like to keep all the bags for ourselves, we would also like to stay in business.
Lucking out with the weather, the day was sunny, not too cold, and all you really needed was a light jacket (Miss Congeniality reference. I had to).
Balloons and a chalkboard sign guided shoppers through the alley and led them to our door. Brit placed her bike (not just for show. She actually rides it in the summer) outside our studio with some freshly cut flowers in the wicker basket. It was lovely.
From 10AM to 6PM our doors were open for business. Not even two hours in and we had our first sale to a total stranger! Safe to say, that was a very proud moment for Brit and I.
Honestly, the entire day felt like a dream.
All the positive feedback we received was overwhelming. To show everything we have achieved over the past 5 months, well, it felt damn good.
Tesoro is a creation and a lifestyle that both Brit and I are incredibly proud of. It is ours. Sharing what we have built, and seeing how others are embracing Tesoro, is the strongest form of motivation and the highest compliment.
There are not enough ways to say thank you to all those who made our open house what it was.
To everyone who came in simply to say "congratulations," to those who fell in love with one of our products, thank you.
All of the local businesses who handed out our invitations and sent people over, we owe you. Being in a little town where small businesses are so prominent, a positive mention to a customer really can make all the difference.
Exhausted from the excitement of the day, we kindly gave ourselves Sunday to recuperate.
Now we are back at it again. The whirring of the sewing machines can be heard throughout the day, as Brit puts together the Spring/Summer line (just wait until you see it!). A marketing campaign is in the works as are some other very exciting plans we hope to share with you soon.
Thank you for coming on this journey with us and we'll see you soon.
xoxo Brit & Em
