Simons, the 180-year-old, family-owned fashion retailer from Quebec City, announced it will expand Fabrique 1840, its digital platform that supports skilled artisans from coast-to-coast.
According to the retailer, the current roster of 117 makers, creating everything from home décor and modern art to fashion accessories and stationary, has caught the attention of Canadian consumers resulting in over $1 million in sales in the last 14 months. Additionally, since entering this moment of social distancing, consumers across the country have flocked to support Canadian artisans with traffic and sales at Fabrique 1840 experiencing exponential growth.
“We are clearly seeing a renewed interest and desire from Canadian consumers to support and sustain local design and makers of hand-crafted goods,” says Peter Simons, President of Simons. “Fabrique 1840 is now a well-established, proven ecosystem that can help artists realize their digital potential. We want to offer our support to a wider group of Canadian artisans who might now, more than ever, need a new sales channel and marketing team to find success.”
Simons’ goal is to grow the Fabrique 1840 community to 500 Canadian artisans with this new call for design talent, while ensuring it maintains the integrity of the platform.
Artisans who are selected to join Fabrique 1840 become part of a digital community that benefits from the expertise behind a world class e-commerce platform with more than 55 million annual sessions, addressing the critical challenge of exposure and customer acquisition in an increasingly crowded digital world.
Fabrique 1840 offers digital marketing services including merchandising, sales analytics, professional copy writing and product photography, SEO, SEM and display advertising, and a user-friendly management portal to support unlimited growth. Simons also plans to spotlight Fabrique 1840 merchandise within its network of 15 stores across Canada.
In the last five months, 13 Canadian artisans have joined Fabrique 1840 including: Annie Axtell, a screen print artist from Vancouver; Yusuke Akai of Akai Ceramic Studio in Toronto; Alicia Phillips and Kevin Leboeuf of Educated Beards, men’s natural grooming line from Fredericton and two brands from Montreal – MardiROS, makers of modern home design products and La petite Leonne, a mother who uses organic fabrics and plant-based dyes to make home and baby items.
“As we look to the future and try to determine what our new normal might be, I am most excited about the role we can play to shine a light on the exceptional artisanal talent that exists in Canada,” says Mr. Simons. “The creativity that is emerging as a result of this moment in time and how consumers appreciate it will help guide the evolution – or revolution – of our creative communities in Canada.”
