Our sewing shop

It happens like that...

Hello! Unfortunately, this time we are greeting you with different news than usual. In this newsletter we want to tell you how we experienced a "strong" lesson in our activities this summer - we lost more than 12 thousand euros.

After repair

The beginning of beginnings

First of all, I want to emphasize that we are quite young and, in pursuit of ever higher goals, we do not shy away from taking risks. That is what happened this time as well...

We have been working purposefully for 6 years now and each year we have improved significantly. But this year was different...

In recent years, as the number of team members and production volumes increased, our relatively small premises became cramped. The production workshop was 120 square meters, which made it very difficult for us to fit in. Despite the fact that we additionally had a separate 60 square meter warehouse and a 30 square meter showroom, we decided to look for a larger space, because working in the current one became increasingly difficult.

A few photos of what our sewing shop looked like:

Hasty decision

At the beginning of this year, we received an offer from the owner of the rented premises to rent other premises in the basement of the building, the total area of ​​which is as much as 400 square meters. Without much thought and, one might say, without even seeing these premises (at that time there were other tenants), we accepted this offer, since the rental price was really attractive. However, we did not enjoy our unexpected success for long... It soon became clear that this decision was a big mistake.

The day came when we received the keys to the new premises, and only then, after seeing the actual current situation, did we realize that we would not be able to work in such premises. So, without waiting, we started the renovation work:

• We installed ventilation systems (recuperation) in the premises;
• We have recently replaced the entire electrical installation;
• We installed air conditioners;
• We painted the rooms.

Additionally, many other smaller works were carried out, which required not only finances but also a lot of our time, because we did almost all the repairs ourselves.

In fact, we had a bad feeling about the quality of the premises from the very beginning of the work, because we felt too much humidity in them. It soon became obvious that the raw materials we use to produce clothes (fabrics, threads, rubbers, etc.) would immediately absorb moisture, which is critically bad. The premises were suitable for any other activity, but not ours.

This was the main reason why they didn't suit us. We can only be glad that we realized this before we actually moved in, since we did most of the renovation ourselves and therefore had the opportunity to assess the real suitability of the premises for sewing work. So, in a way, we were lucky and we avoided even greater losses in the future.

All of this cost us over 12 thousand euros. If we also calculated the costs that would be needed to equip other premises (because we were moving out anyway), this amount would be even higher. So today we can confidently say that we “sold” our time and energy this summer for nothing.

BEFORE AND AFTER. Which premises we rented and which we left.

Thank you to the owner

We are grateful to the owner of the premises for understanding us positively and for parting peacefully. Although it is obvious that both sides suffered losses in this situation, we take full responsibility for the youthful risk only ourselves.

Our other new sewing shop

The premises are located at Panerių St. 43, Vilnius, in the Lelija territory (one of the largest tailoring shops in the entire Baltic States).

The total area of ​​our future premises is 300 square meters. I think this space will be enough for at least 2 years. How it will be later - time will tell.

In this tailoring shop, as always, you will be able to see and try on our products live. If you are curious enough, we can even show you the process of making clothes.

Also, when you order an item online, you can pick it up for free at a tailor's shop at a time convenient for you.

The end

After these events, it is clear that this summer, like the last few years, was a loss for us - sales dropped drastically. At the moment, we hope to get out of this crisis of our own making. After so many years of work, it would be very painful to stop our activities...

So, I hope to tell you about how we are doing in the new sewing shop in the next newsletter. Thank you for reading, see you later.