Update on our fabulous trip to come soon, promise.
In the meantime, I would like to rant about a li'l somethin' somethin'.
I was in a Hallmark store over the weekend and noticed a new line of what appeared to be Vera Bradley knockoffs. (Sidenote: I have a small obsession with Vera. I have nearly the entire line of the Peacock pattern items...which was sadly retired last year.) Anyway, the sales associate said to me, "Have you seen our new line of handbags by Stephanie Dawn? We are so proud to have it here."
I nibbled on her bait. "Really, why?"
"Well, after Vera Bradley sent about 90% of her work overseas, the displaced workers from her factory in Indiana bought out a part of it and began to manufacture their own product."
*gasp!* Could it be?!? I didn't jump on the offense right away because I wanted to do my research to be sure. And after some careful Googling, I do see that 500 employees of VB's suppliers were laid off in May. Some reports say that she then hired 500 of her own employees back. Other sources say those jobs went overseas. I couldn't find anything at her official site to back up the info, but I'm still very curious. I don't want to continue supporting a company that is sending a majority of its jobs overseas.
I visited the Stephanie Dawn website and they seem to really promote the fact that their bags are all exclusively made in the USA...which tends to drive the point home for me, but I still can't be sure. On the "about us," page it almost hints that Stephanie Dawn is the granddaughter of one of the founders of Vera...IDK.
Anyone know the real scoop? Fill me in!
PS - Don't forget to enter bleu soleil design's fabulous giveaway! Click here and be sure to tell Jackie I sent you!
1 comment:
That's interesting. I have no idea what happened... but what I'm wondering is if it's OK for them to have spawned from Vera Bradley and have such similar products and designs? I guess if they are original designs, even if very similar to VB, it's not copying?
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