Two sisters, one successful and the other struggling to find a market for her products, have joined to display handmade hats, bags and a few novelty items at GuyExpo 2009 in hope of locating buyers and opportunities for business linkages.
Petal Frank (left) and her sister Doreen Morrison (right) standing in their GuyExpo booth. Morrison is wearing a woven hat and bag made by her sister.
Doreen Morrison and her sister Petal Frank have been practicing their respective trades for decades. Their products, made from natural and local materials, are on display at one of the many booths in the Local Exhibitors Annex at the National Exhibition Site, Sophia.
Morrison produces designer curtains, covers for refrigerators and gas bottles and pot holders in addition to handbags with beads and other natural materials woven into them. Hats and bags woven from straw bought locally from the Amerindians are handmade by Frank. The sisters have been involved in their respective trades for more than 20 years.
“I now have a market for my straw hats and bag,” Frank told Stabroek News yesterday, “but it doesn’t generate as much income as I would like… I still remember how hard it used to be trying to find market for my things.”
Frank said she watched other people who went to craft school and just decided that she was interested in the industry. “I just started to create,” she said with a shrug, continuing to explain that in the beginning people displayed a demand for her products but often purchased them for far less that they were worth.
She buys straw from Amerindians in bundles and knits and shapes them into hats and bags. It takes Frank hours to make one hat or bag, but on average she can complete four hats daily. The bags, Frank said, take a little more time. Currently, Guyana Stores and another entity buy most of her products. Finding a market for her bags, Morrison said, has been difficult over the years. She works from home and sews curtains and other household articles to order. Morrison expressed hope that buyers will notice her products.
The sisters also hope to sell some of their products during the exhibition. However, Morrison and Frank expressed disappointment yesterday at the response so far. Sales, the women said, were very slow on the opening night and they expect things to get “brighter” as the exhibition progresses.
“This is our first year at GuyExpo and we paid handsomely for our booth,” Morrison said. “I am really hoping that we can make our money and a bit of profit at the end of this event.”
Setting up the booth and displaying the pieces, Morrison pointed out, is only the end stage of the GuyExpo experience. Preparation for the event, she explained, began weeks before its commencement.
“I have been surviving on one and three hours sleep for weeks now,” Morrison told this newspaper. “This is hard work for the few nights we will be here and if it doesn’t provide some advantage for our small businesses then it would’ve been a wasted effort and one we could hardly afford to begin with.”
Besides the available craft in the Local Exhibitors’ Annex there are the many booths which have colourful collections of tie-dyed clothing on display.
From evening to casual wear in a variety of colours and styles fashioned from cotton and other cool fabrics are available at a large number of booths. Denyse Fashion and Fabric Designs, which appears to cater for the medium to large built ladies, has an interesting range to offer.
When Stabroek News visited Denyse Fashion and Fabric Designs, owner Denyse Grant was still at home working on several pieces. A representative explained that preparation for GuyExpo started weeks before the event and some of the newer and more colourful designs were chosen as sample pieces.
“Colour is being worn now,” the representative said, “and it catches the eyes of customers. We’re at GuyExpo to get our things sold.”
Keep up that independent spirit and you will eventually be rewarded for your efforts. Many obstacles will present themselves but consider them only as challenges to be surmounted. Good luck.
A good story from SN and the writer must be commended .
Nice story with contrast in products; reinforce visually by the published picture, showing the sisters and their wares.
great story! shows what people can do if they don’t sit their laurels waiting on govt to provide jobs for them.
Ladies, hang in there. Good things don’t happen overnight unless you”re at the right place at the right time. You efforts will be rewarded very soon. Just be patient!
THIS IS THE KIND OF THING THAT MAKES ME PROUD TO BE GUYANESE. CAN SOMEONE TELL ME WHERE I CAN GET SOME OF THESE ITEMS TO BUY? MY BOSS AND MANY OTHER CO-WORKERS WOULD LOVE TO HAVE THEM AND I WILL BE IN GUYANA IN A FEW WEEKS. GIRLS, DO KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK AND MAY GOD CONTINUE TO BLESS YOUR HANDS AND EFFORTS AS YOU MAKE A SIGNIFICANT CONTRIBUTION TO THE PLACE I CALL HOME.
I am very impressed.
Your hard work will pay off.
You have to believe that.
If you dont have a computer ” Get someone who has one”. You have to put your stuff on Ebay. It will sell. People world wide will buy your product. You have to be prompt & ship swiftly . I gurantee you, You wont have Hands to make it fast enough.
If someone has a computer, and a camera, and does the job, they have to be paid a percentage of the profits. Establish a cost and selling price. Use Terms like Hand Made, and Made to Order.
Chances are someone will see it and Buy it Wholesale from you.
You have to take a chance with business.
Or you can try to find a good store in Georgetown or Abroad in The USA or Canada, and sell it on consignment.
If you try to sell it yourself to the public it will be a slow Go for you. However by doing the above, You can devote your time making
more. If the demands grow, get young people and teach them “FREE”
and they will make the stuff for you as they learn a trade.
The limits to success is way beyond what you can see with your eyes.
From the mouth of a Vendor in Bourda Market & other places around GT., to a man very very successful and retired in the best of surroundings that the USA has to offer .It could’nt get any better even if I was the best doctor or lawyer that Guyana Produced. I left there 41 years ago) God Bless You and Good Luck.
You’ll never know if you dont try. I am proud of your endeavours &
would like to see you succeed. You can do it against all odds.
Remember in the Almighty and pray to him. Remember there is only One God for all Religions.
For you the unbelievers, Go diddle Squat ” There Is A GOD.
This part of the letter is for someone who has a store of anykind abroad , you can make money by taking this lady products and sell it for a profit, You will be amazed how the American go for these items.
Bin There don Dat. Towa Towa.
Take this good advice about putting your products on e-bay. Big things should happen!
Very nice. Congratulations.Women in Guyana must be given all the encouragement needed to make their own way, and contribution to Guyana.