Overseas production expansion Ĭirca 2007, the company started to employ overseas manufacturing to lower costs and keep up with demand. They have the option to purchase the remainder of the company in 2024. In 2019, the company purchased a 75% stakeholder share in Creative Genius, parent company of Pura Vida Bracelets, a bracelet company based in La Jolla, California. The initial "#itsgoodtobeagirl" campaign was perceived as patronizing and old-fashioned, but was quickly amended to portray women in active, unusual jobs and promoted the company's image as being socially conscious. Licensing deals were made with other companies to use Vera Bradley designs on their goods. The logo was updated, goods made of microfiber and leather were introduced, technical accessories such as bags with grommets and pockets for charging electrical devices and computer and tablet bags were made, and advertising was done on Hulu, Pandora Radio and Spotify as well as in Glamour and InStyle magazines. ![]() In an attempt to appeal to millennial buyers, who perceived the goods as not pertinent to their lifestyles, the brand was refreshed. The annual Spring Outlet Sale in Fort Wayne proved to be so popular that in 2005, the company sold out of products and the next year, a per-person spending cap was initiated. Small shop owners who had helped the company gain its market early on were disgruntled, but the Vera Bradley owners claimed the wider exposure would be able to drive more people to the small shops, when they might've passed them by previously. Ĭontinued growth was initiated when the company started selling online in 2004. Ī news story on Good Morning America generated more interest in the products when it featured an interview with college students about various campus trends, and one of the sorority girls had a Vera Bradley bag. The bags sold well, and family members ran the business out of Baekgaard's basement, with the first logo for the company being created by Baekgaard's teenage daughter, and mother Vera becoming a sales representative in Florida. They disassociated the bags from the clothing they sold in order to find out what the demand would be if the customers were not aware the bags were produced by them, calling them "Vera Bradley", after Baekgaard's mother. Once back in Indiana, they borrowed a total of $500 from their husbands, bought some fabrics inspired by the Pierre Deux French Provençal look popular at the time, and had a seamstress friend develop prototype bags. While traveling back from Florida through an airport prior to a spring trunk show, they noticed the bland, masculine carry-on bags that many travelers were using and thought that women would want to use something brighter and more feminine. Eventually the pair started selling clothing together through trunk shows at homes. Baekgaard asked for help hanging the wallpaper and this experience developed into a wallpapering company they created, called Up Your Wall. Baekgaard was redecorating her home by hanging wallpaper when Miller, who was new to the area, came over to her house and introduced herself. ![]() The founders, Baekgaard and Miller, met in 1975 in Fort Wayne. ![]() A selection of open Vera Bradley products with traditional contrasting cotton fabrics and distinctive diamond stitching
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