HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 1993-03-31, Page 7TOWNSHIP OF
HULLE'TT
1993 MINOR BALL
REGISTRATION
DATE: Saturday, April 10th,
1993
TIME: 10:00 A.M. - 4:00 P.M.
PLACE: Londesboro
Community Hall
Auburn Library
Following this date,
Registration at Municipal
Office, Londesboro, only.
An additional $5.00 late
registration fee will apply.
T Pie 047* ad-or-5 ms. kap Chitcfrol off and away /romlurni &Wiwi .
THE CITIZEN, WEDNESDAY, MARCH 31, 1993. PAGE 7.
Business in the bag for Brussels-area couple
:sktr'41,
for The Ark, a non-profit, youth
drop-in centre in the village.
Made of 100 percent, 10 ounce
cotton canvass the Brussels Barmy
Bags, proudly emblazoned with the
village logo, are available at
Cardiff and Mulvey, CIBC, The
Citizen, The Country Inn, IGA,
J.R.'s, Just for You, McDonald's,
Oldfield's, Radford's and Thomp-
son's. None of the retailers have
asked for commission and Mrs.
Cummings is recovering only her
cost, so of the $8 purchase price,
which includes all taxes, $2.70 will
be donated to The Ark.
The bags are machine washable
and dryable and colour safe. The
material resists mildew because it
is natural fibre, says Mrs. Cum-
mings. The durable product has
been tested and rated for 300
machine washings.
Business is building so fast, that
Mrs. Cummings hopes to employ
someone this summer. Presently
her sister-in-law has been helping
her build inventory so Mrs. Cum-
mings can go on the road to market
the product. The eventual plan is
for her husband to do the marketing
of the product.
"It is amazing how word has
travelled to this point with very lit-
tle advertising," said Mrs. Cum-
mings, adding that most customers
to date have come through family
and family contacts. "The business
is in a rural community and I think
In stitches
The box tacker is used to put
the handles on the Barmy
Bags. The handles are made
from woven cotton and come
from a company in Stoney
Creek.
we are more aware of that.
"Also, they are an environmental-
ly friendly way to advertise for cor-
porations. For these reasons they
have been basically self-selling,"
she said.
The Barmy Bag lady
Dorothy Cummings of RR2, Brussels, who with her
husband Robert is owner of Barmy Tech, is in the business
of manufacturing and selling reusable bags, adorned with
personalized logos for businesses or organizations. Part of
the proceeds from her Brussels Barmy Bag (shown here)
she is donating to the local youth drop-in centre, The Ark.
By Bonnie Gropp
After less than six months of
operation, business success seems
to be in the bag for a Brussels-area
couple.
Dorothy and Robert Cummings
purchased Barmy Tech just last
year and demand for the company's
"Barmy Bags" has taken off
beyond even their expectations.
The idea to purchase the compa-
ny came as a result of the Cum-
mings plan to start a business
which would employ the two of
them full-time. An advertisement
for the sale of a cotton bag manu-
facturing company in the Kitchener
paper caught their eye so they went
to speak to the owners. "They
showed us the equipment and
inventory in addition to the cus-
tomer list," said Mrs. Cummings.
"After giving it some thought we
noted that the company was small
enough we would not have to go
into debt. We agreed small was
perhaps the way to go as neither of
us has run a business before."
At the end of October, the couple
emptied their living and dining
room, moving the furniture up-
stairs, to clear space for the equip-
ment and materials. Extra lighting
was installed, then Mrs. Cummings
went to work learning how to use
the industrial serger, straight stit-
cher and box tacker. She also
streamlined the bag size to its pre-
sent 19"x17" so there would be less
cutting and waste.
Rather than retailing the bags,
Mrs. Cummings said, they are try-
ing to theme them. "We are
approaching company head offices
to get bags with their logo for staff.
It's a way for offices to promote
business and gives the employees
pride in carrying them," she said.
Artwork is designed or duplicat-
ed by Traces Screen Printing in
Waterloo as this was the company
used by the former Barmy Tech
owners and Mrs. Cummings says
she is pleased with the effort and
prices. Also, it is convenient
because her brother, who drives
daily to work in Kitchener, does the
pick-up and delivery for her.
Recently, Barmy Tech has begun
a special promotion of the bag, the
inspiration for which came from a
newspaper article. The story dealt
with the government's plan to intro-
duce a personal reusable "blue bag"
for shoppers. Inspired by the blue
box recycling program the idea was
for shoppers to reduce waste by
carting away their purchased items
in the bags rather than in plastic or
paper ones supplied by the stores.
What distressed Mrs. Cummings
was that the bags purchased by the
Retail Council of Canada were
made in China. The feeling was
that the price for a bag here was too
high.
"The thought that the government
would go outside Canada to get
these bags and didn't appear to try
hard to fmd a supplier in Canada
troubled me," she said.
Mrs. Cummings went to the
liquor store where she bought one
of the bags used there then phoned
the Canadian Apparel Manufactur-
ers Association to inform them
what she could have made the bags
for.
"If the bags had been made in
Canada, it wouldn't have cost more
than it did to buy them out of the
country and keep some people, who
could have been hired to manufac-
ture them, on unemployment bene-
fits," she said.
Taking matters into her own
hands, Mrs. Cummings approached
Brussels council with the idea of
the village having their own
reusable bag. Council supported it
and suggested that it might be
incorporated into a fundraising idea
. . .
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•
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