continued. . . 

And so they did. Over the next six years, sales tripled despite a flat industry. “In a way,” Haas posits, “the difficult retail climate helped our business because people were looking for unique things; they’re tired of the same old stuff. Ours is a special product, a different product.” Last year alone, sales soared a phenomenal 80%, necessitating a move to a new factory in Sierra Madre, 20 miles northeast of L.A, a 7,500-square-foot space which they’ve already started to outgrow. (They’re hoping to expand again within the year.) There were four new hires in January alone, bringing the total number of employees to a still bare bones 14.

Hardy who oversees day-to-day operations is pleased with how far the business has come, but he recognizes the company is only as good as its last collection. “This is a finicky industry,” Hardy proffers, “and if you miss one trend retailers can forget you. Design is the most important thing we must stay on top of.” His brother-in-law agrees. “Staying fresh is our greatest challenge and it gets increasingly more difficult to innovate,” Haas allows. That’s why Harris – who is responsible for the lion’s share of design – has proven pivotal. The former Peace Corps volunteer lived in Thailand for three years and her knowledge of the language and its people, Haas stresses, is indispensable. “Helen understands the artisans which makes it easier when they work together on designs,” Haas says. “Helen can, for example, convey how the eyes of squirrel should look and the workers understand.”

The Louisiana native, who continues to work out of Shreveport, visits Thailand five times yearly (about 80% of Vagabond House’s product emanates from Thailand) where she works hand-in-hand with carvers on a cornucopia of designs – about 100 new pieces yearly – most of which are nature inspired. “We really respect design,” Harris offers in an endearing drawl, “listen to our buyers, and take every comment to heart.”

And in design rests the company’s greatest strength and greatest challenge. “We leave no stone unturned to make a great design happen,” Haas notes. “We’ve worked on pieces for years to get the quality and materials up to our standards. We’ve learned that the smallest detail makes the difference between a good design and a bad design.” And judging by those lofty sales increases, the good far outweighs the bad.

And the $3 million operation is on track to triple again by 2012.

continued . . . .