Hi all,
Spring has sprung and March has been a packed month as we work on a new name for the brand, a new Whistler location, and the launch of enabling our customers to be owners. Let's dive into what happened in March..
Field Test Program is Live
We love constantly making things better and that’s why we introduced our Field Test Program! This program is about real people sharing their true experiences with our products. Our community can participate in the program in exchange for their genuine and detailed feedback about their experience with each product. Design improvement decisions are being made by the people we design it for - as they should be. We kicked things off with 30 tests and will be sharing these online once they are complete. Thanks to Cynthia Lesslar for being one of our first field testers!
The Herring Spawn
The Sitka team went to Hornby Island during the herring spawn and experienced this once a year natural wonder. On the island, we continued our effort to put a pause on the fishery until the last minute. We weren’t successful in halting the fishery this year, but here’s to raising awareness and the beginning of achieving a pause next year. We sold through our BIG Little Fish t-shirts and raised $1,340 for the Hornby Island Conservation!
New Store Location
After several years of searching we were finally able to secure a location along the Whistler Stroll. We’ll be located at 4338 Main Street (right by the Olympic rings). Renovations of the space are slated to begin in May.
Name Change Update
As per our last update, we’ve chosen to proceed with a change to our name. We’ve been working hard on finding a name that speaks to the essence of our brand and that is still available. Thanks to everyone that shared their support and for all the fantastic name suggestions.
BTW...for those of you who don’t already know, we’ll be keeping our sitka tree logo
Product
We rushed a restock of our very comfy, 100% certified organic, and stylish as heck, cotton pullovers. Customers have been loving this product in all of its colours. We’re happy to have them back in stock as the weather changes from freezing to cool this spring.
Welcome Teresa!
Teresa has joined the team as our digital marketing specialist, based in Whistler. As we look to elevate our customers experience in all areas of our business, her fantastic background in luxury hotel marketing, paired with her passion for the company makes her a great fit for the role. We’re looking forward to seeing her grow with us!
What Customers are Saying
“I like the philosophy. The clothes seem well made. I like the idea of spending a bit more on quality clothing/materials that will last a longtime and won’t be dated in a year. Shipping was fast. Customer service has been great! I’m looking forward to keeping my eye on any other pieces of clothing that may come out!"
— Danielle Foster
“I love my hat, it's beautiful and well made. Got a compliment on it and it feels nice to share that it's a sustainable purchase, to hopefully encourage others to invest in the world they want to see with their wallets ”
— Kristin Scalisi
“Staff at the store was super friendly, not pushy, knew her stuff. Your product is worthy of attention and money! I'm starting to buy more and more from co's that care about the environment.”
— Cindy
Financing
After beginning to send these monthly updates, we’ve had so many of our community members asking how they can actually become an investor. We love the idea of our customers being owners and given the strong response we decided to look at how we could make this reality. Traditionally, investment into private companies like ours was a privilege reserved for Accredited Investors (generally high-net-worth individuals, companies owned by these individuals and financial institutions). After some digging, we realized that things are shifting and we’ve found a way to make it possible for nearly all our customers to participate as owners. We’re really excited about this opportunity and will be sharing more details as they are ironed out.
Around the Industry
Forbes.com
Retaildive.com
Forbes.com
Asks/ Help
Thank you for reading and for all the support,
Again, if you have any ideas or thoughts around our name change, please let us know. We love having you participate in this!
Rene Gauthier
Founder and CEO
Founder and CEO
Ps. We started adding monthly investor updates to our site. You can always reference past updates there or sign up here
