In 1986, Lois Van Wyk and her mother, Dorothy Ter Louw, started Casual Rags by creating unique appliqué sweatshirts for colleges throughout the Midwest. They also designed custom appliqué sweatshirts for the local annual Hot Air Balloon Festival in Indianola, Iowa. Continuing to grow, Casual Rags moved from Van Wyk’s basement into its current retail location to better serve their increasing customer base.
Keeping with family tradition, Van Wyk’s daughter Stacie Baker joined in 2013. Three years later, Baker took over upon her mom’s retirement. Van Wyk still helps at the shop a few days a week.
“When she started showing me all the customer records, I was so impressed and amazed that she’d built this company from scratch,” Baker said. “She worked so hard to get this business started and to create such a respected business. It is an honor to carry that on.”
Baker shared, “I never imagined I would be doing this. I majored in Geography in college. Then earned a BLA/MLA (Bachelors/Masters of Landscape Architecture). I worked in that field for a few years and really enjoyed it. Once we started our family, I decided I wanted to stay home with our kids. When our youngest was starting pre-school, I started helping a little bit around the shop, and then it just kept going from there…back when I was in college, I wanted to find a job that I loved as much as she did. I just didn’t know it was going to be the same job!”
Baker operates two embroidery machines—a single head with 12 needles and a two-head with 15 needles—and a heat press in her retail shop. Their 1,760-square-foot location offers a product display and sales area in addition to production space.
“We have years of experience and knowledge to draw upon,” said Baker. “We’ve learned to pivot and adjust as necessary. It’s good to try new things, but sometimes the tried-and-true ways are best. It’s important to keep learning and keep growing.
“My mom still helps a lot. My youngest daughter is currently helping as well…my oldest daughter has also helped in the past. Not to be left out, my son helps too. My dad is fabulous at keeping the yard mowed and looking nice. He also picks up the trash and recycles for me. My husband helps with some of the accounting and financial aspects. Casual Rags is a family affair, and I definitely appreciate all the support. Yet at the end of the day, it’s up to me to make sure Casual Rags is successful.”
She went on to say, “Exceptional customer service is also very important to us. I want our customers to be happy and love the products we provide. This goes for the individual who bought a decorated T-shirt off the rack or the large corporation for whom we ship out orders to agents all across the country.
“Quality is also very important. These three things—experience, exceptional customer service, and high-quality apparel and decoration—are the keys to Casual Rags being successful for nearly three decades.”
Branching Out
According to Baker, word-of-mouth has long been her company’s primary marketing strategy. “When my customers are happy, they continue to come back. More importantly, they tell their friends, family, business partners, and so on.”
A preschool class visited the shop to learn about what they do at Casual Rags. Each child left with an Indianola embroidered cap, after watching the sew out and helping to remove the backing. Photo courtesy of Casual Rags
Baker is also a big believer in “shop local.” To this end she supports the businesses in her community whenever she can. She also encourages her local community to use her business in a creative way and works with the local educators.
The other marketing strategy Baker implements is the creation and use of company stores for some of their customers. Because Casual Rags focuses on businesses as the primary customers for their embroidery and apparel decoration services, the company-store marketing strategy offers an efficient customer-centric solution that puts products and services right in the hands of customers on their smart phones.
For those not familiar with them, a company store is an online portal targeting a specific group by allowing them to order the products they want in advance and select their own designs. Each company store offers as many or as few products as the customer desires. Once the initial decisions are made, the company store website is created, and a custom URL is provided to the customer. Each store can be opened and closed whenever it makes the most sense, creating opportunities for customers or employees to place all their orders after which Casual Rags does the necessary decorating.
“Offering custom online store capabilities has been pivotal for our growth,” Baker said. “This has allowed us to do seasonal popup and ongoing stores for construction and design companies, contractors, sports teams, clubs, retirement communities, restaurants, family reunions, technology companies and even national insurance companies.”
Baker believes having patience, being organized, creatively solving problems and always learning are some of the skills most important for running your own business. “This is basically a one-woman shop. As I am the one doing the embroidery, I quality check each garment and decoration. If something isn’t right, it doesn’t go out the door,” Baker explained.
Reaching out for help is another important skill, Baker said. “I don’t know how many times we emailed or called NNEP [National Network of Embroidery Professionals] with questions so I could handle the order,” she noted.
According to Bakers, time management represents yet another challenge.
“This is still challenging, even after all these years,” she said. “Seems like I never have enough time to do everything I want to do! Social media, marketing, setting up a cute retail space, developing a specialty line, keeping up on paperwork and filing. There is always something to do and rarely enough time.”
At the same time, Baker said, “This business has also offered me the flexibility to be available for my family. With no set hours, I tell my customers I am always available by appointment. My email and phone number are right on the door. If they want to reach me, the information is right in front of them.”
Embracing the Future
Most of Casual Rags’ business comes from established or new companies that already have their logo. Some of their best markets are insurance companies, financial institutions, manufacturers, contractors and government agencies. Baker said when it comes to spirit wear for schools and the local college, she is also always on the lookout for inspiration, whether she’s out and about or online. She especially keeps a eye out for unusual design placements that she can adapt and tweak, making her designs unique and on-trend.
Logoed items create unity, promote a business or organization, help a team or organization look good and offer a sense of pride. Photo courtesy of Casual Rags
Interestingly, when Baker’s mom and grandmother started the business, embroidery was seen as expensive. Now embroidery, in addition to being more affordable, is recognized as being a great value, due to the fact it lasts longer and looks professional.
Indeed, the business has come a long way from the old days, from hand cutting and freehand stitching on traditional sewing machines to using multi-needle machines and materials that allow embroidery to work well in many more situations. Technology has also allowed her company to reach customers they never could have otherwise.
One bit of advice Baker would share with anyone thinking about getting into this industry is, “I was taught to tell the truth. Still the best advice. I don’t overpromise.”
Beyond that, Baker says, “I really enjoy all the different aspects of owning and running Casual Rags. I enjoy the variety of projects that I work on, from large orders of 500 shirts to a single baby blanket and everything in between. I enjoy meeting with the customers, working with them to determine their needs are and delivering what they want. We continue to offer more and more on-line stores for businesses, and that has been an excellent solution for us.
“I also like the ability to help customers decide what they want, finalize the logo, take care of the embroidery, and see everything through from start to finish. The company had a fabulous start thanks to my mom. To carry on this legacy—this love of helping customers look and feel good in their logoed apparel—is such a wonderful way to honor my grandma’s and my mom’s story.”
As the founder of the National Network of Embroidery Professionals (NNEP), Jennifer Cox has worked with thousands of embroidery- and decorated-apparel business owners to help them build successful businesses for over the past 25 years. NNEP supports members with services, savings and programs designed to help its members find customers, keep customers and make money. To find out more, or share any of the challenges your own company me currently be experiencing, go to NNEP.com.
