Jacqueline Smith: Billboards bag a niche of their own

Tag : bag fabric

Glenda Keegan was one step ahead of the trends when she decided toturn turfed-out roadside billboards into top-of-the-rangeaccessories.
Four years ago, she got the idea of resurrecting the discardedadvertising material as stylish bags and her Auckland business hasdeveloped into an eco-friendly fashion statement.
Keegan had been mulling over the concept for a number of yearshaving worked for a billboard company, where she became aware ofthe amount of waste the billboards contributed to landfill.
New Zealand billboards, made of PVC vinyl, are designed towithstand high winds, rain and ultraviolet rays, and are expensiveto manufacture and print.
Sensing an opportunity to prolong a billboard's life beyond itsfleeting roadside appearance, Keegan would carry around a square ofthe PVC vinyl, pulling it out at parties to ask people what shecould do with it.
"I wanted to create something distinctly New Zealand," she says.
Because she found most recycled goods on the market "gimmicky",Keegan wanted to produce something anyone could keep and use.
She and her previous business partner began stitching the fabricinto bags on a home-sewing machine and tested them on friends, wholoved the product.
Advertising businesses were more than happy to pass on their usedbillboards, as the exchange saved them hefty dumping fees.
But the road to creating an attractive, useful and high-qualityproduct proved more challenging than the novice businesswomanenvisaged.
"We knew the concepts of sewing and what goes into making apattern, but we didn't understand large-scale manufacturing. It wasa huge learning curve."
Keegan picks and cuts out the billboard material for each bag byhand and found it difficult to find a manufacturer who was willingto pull the design together using the materials she wanted.
The business was not going to compromise on quality or design, noron its commitment to New Zealand-made products, and Keegan went togreat lengths to source the most durable components she could findlocally, settling on reinforced polyester seatbelts for the bagstraps.
She eventually struck a deal with a manufacturer on the North Shoreand the bags were launched with an exhibition at the end of 2004.
Rapid sales confirmed the bags had reached the right market, whichcame as a relief, as most of the previous year had been trial anderror.
"A lot of the initial designs were hideous and the fabric doesn'tstretch or move so they were ugly and impractical bags that wouldhave fallen apart."
But the final range of laptop bags, clutches, totes and satchels isselling quickly in 18 high-end fashion and gift stores nationallyand also on the internet.
"The website has been particularly important, as we are able tomarket the bags to New Zealanders who are living overseas and arelooking for something Kiwi," Keegan says.
The bags were launched just in time to catch the wave of consumerssearching for environmentally friendly, locally produced,high-quality, long-lasting products, with those people prepared topay for something that met those criteria and looked good.
Many customers send them overseas as a special New Zealand gift andthe company is also attracting an increasing number of corporateclients.
Keegan bought out her business partner in May 2006. Up until then,they had been working full-time and developing their company, WASLtd, on the side. But the company began taking over their lives, aswell as Keegan's garage.
Keegan would work four days a week as an occupational therapist.The other days, and most evenings, were spent picking upbillboards, cutting them, designing bags and advancing thebusiness.
"We were both working full-time. My business partner wanted to dosomething else and I wanted to take it on full-time," she says.
The company started turning a profit midway through last year.During the past 12 months, Keegan has built relationships withcorporate clients and explored the possibility of introducing arange of other recyclable products under the brand.
A self-taught businesswoman, she has tapped into the knowledge offriends who also own small businesses, but most of her decisionshave been instinctive.
"A few people have told me I could save money by moving themanufacturing offshore but, because the bags are hand-crafted andhand-picked, it would be difficult to take overseas," she says.
Instead, she hires groups of university art and design students tohelp cut the billboard material for the bags.
Depending on its condition, one billboard will make 15 to 20 bags,and students help Keegan select the most eye-catching designs forthe front panel.
Last month, Keegan struck a deal with billboard advertising companyOggi, which uses the idea of turning clients' billboards into bagsas part of their sales incentives.
Over the next year, Keegan hopes to develop further herrelationship with advertising companies, help them reduce theirwaste, recycle a larger number of billboards and look at recyclingother materials in a similar way.
"There are so many options for recycling materials, what we aredoing is just scraping the surface," she says.