freddy&ma

we are hiring! know any good marketers/event planners?

As you may have noticed, we have been growing by leaps and bounds here at F&M.  As such, we are looking to expand our team and will be posting a few different positions we have available on here over the next few months.

The first position we have available is for a marketing manager/event coordinator for our custom events.  Our event business has been rapidly expanding and we would like to find someone to manage the business development, marketing and execution of these events.  It is a very interesting position and would be a great fit for a a seasoned marketer looking to work for a smaller company where their work can make a large impact.  Read more below:

another day at the F&M office

Yes, that is a quasi-portable hair salon style hair dryer.  We here at F&M go to great lengths to maintain our appearances.  Especially Ma.

where have we been??

Wow, we just realized it has been WEEKS since our last blog post.  That is not good at all!!!  We have just been so busy filling out gift cards, taking holiday orders and trying to get everyones orders finished before Christmas that we just have not had the time to write posts!

Things are STARTING to settle down a bit, so hopefully we can find some time to write this weekend....so many interesting things to tell you all!

lean & green

Did you know that Freddy&Ma is lean?
By utilizing lean manufacturing, F&M creates very little waste. Orders are made as they come in, so there are never any left-overs. And as our bags are made locally in the tri-state area, we limit our fuel & shipping needs.

only in NYC

So last night, as the staff here at Freddy&Ma was hitting their stride, which usually occurs around 11pm, we realized that we needed some extra filing space.  A quick search on craigslist found someone in Union Square that had a large filing cabinet for sale for $45.  This morning, Freddy headed downtown with his trusty handtruck to check it out.  It turned out to be about 3 feet wide, 5.5 feet tall and in great condition.  Freddy then preceeded to walk this monstrocity 14 blocks and 3 avenues uptown back to F&M global headquarters, stopping at Home Depot and Calumet Photographic along the way.  Only in New York could you locate and purchase a huge, inexpensive filing cabinet, walk it 1.3 miles through city streets on a handtruck and not even garner a second look from people on the street.  You have to love the city on days like this.

another airport, another week of progress at freddy&ma

It is amazing how much work you can actually do in one week.  Since arriving in New York last Friday, we picked up samples of our new spring styles, revised said samples, completed our press-kit, selected new fabric to use on new styles, solidified the new styles for our upcoming retail line of bags, reviewed our print library, brainstormed on how to improve our website, spent 2 days at THINK meeting with various fashion mag editors, went for some great runs in central park, updated the freddy&ma server, devised a way to make our already snazzy business cards look a little better, began preparing for an upcoming photoshoot for spring, mailed some handbags out to various folks and ate way to many times at guy&garrards.  now i am in the all too familiar terminals at LaGuardia waiting for a flight heading back to SF.  what a week!

customer service is not always easy....

One of the things we strive for at Freddy&Ma is to always offer the best possible service to our clients.  I have always felt that whenever handling a customer service issue, we should do exactly what we would want a company to do for us if we were the client.  This sounds easy, but it can be quite stressful at times.

We recently had an issue where a bag was ordered and shipped with a slight defect that had somehow made it through our customer service radar. 

our newest employee

we have a new employee starting today; a shiny white iMac G5.  She is fast and sleek and is a MAJOR upgrade to the Freddy&Ma IT department.  She will be managing the Freddy&Ma print database.  We hope she enjoys a long and bug-free life here at F&M.

late nights at F&M

Late nites are nothing new at F&M, in fact, 80% of the labor to this point has probably been accomplished after the midnite hour.  These late nite sessions often lead to brilliant ideas, such as how a hobo bag can be used to mask ones face from the pesky paparazzi.  Who knew an F&M bag could be so versatile?

our next adventure

Finding what I want these days in terms of clothing, swimwear, shoes and lingerie is nearly impossible for under $1000.  I have long been inspired by fashions of the 1950s, 60s and 70s and by the formality in dress that is no longer present in this country.  Once F&M bags are selling like hotcakes, I plan to design a line that will ultimately include all of the aforementioned categories.  I want people to see these clothes and think that they are vintage -- they need to invoke the aura of Audrey, Grace, Marilyn, Sophia, Bridget, Bettie, Ava, but have the fit that woman need today -- it's pretty tough to find a girl with a 22-23-24 inch waist.  I want people to start dressing up again -- even if it's just to run to the nearest WholeFoods to pick up some organic soy milk.