Category Archives: Behind the Scenes

Handmade by Her: Barb Wilman, Stormy Kromer Seamstress

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This fall, we’d like to help you get to know the fine men and women at Stormy Kromer a little better through a series of employee interviews.  We’ll start by meeting longtime employee Barb Wilman.

Barb Wilman, Stormy Kromer Seamstress
SK: What do you do at Stormy Kromer?
BW: Just about anything they ask. I’ve spent the last 4-5 years sewing the caps—putting in the inside labels and the piece that attaches the earband. I’ve done every job on that line.

SK: So how long have you been at SK?
BW: I’ve worked for Bob (Jacquart, of Jacquart Fabric Products and Stormy Kromer) for over 20 years now. I enjoy it here. It’s really like my family.

SK: It actually is your family, isn’t it?
BW: Yes, extended family. My husband, Jim, has worked here 15 years.

SK: How would you describe the company to an outsider?
BW: Oh, my gosh. I get teary-eyed because Bob has taken such good care of me. And if you give the man an honest day’s work, he’ll pay you an honest wage.

SK: What part of all this are you most proud of?
BW: It might sound kind of odd, but seven years ago, my son started work on the BNSF railroad.  Now he’s an engineer, just like Mr. Kromer himself. I’m so proud of that.

SK: What’s the toughest part of the job?
BW: Getting up in the morning.

SK: Is there anything else you’d rather be doing, other than sleeping in?
BW: Nope. And that’s ironic because my mother used to sew my clothes, and she’d say to me “Whoever thought you’d sew for a living.” Well, apparently I really enjoy this.

SK: What’s your favorite Kromer cap color?
BW: People sure seem to love the partridge plaid, but I think I’ll stick with my pink one.

SK: Why does “Made in America” matter to you?
BW: Businesses send so many jobs overseas, it’s like we’re not taking care of our own in this country. People say there aren’t jobs here, well, we’re proving them wrong.

SK: Anything else you want to tell Kromer fans?
BW: Come on up to the U.P.—to God’s country—and take a tour. We’d be more than happy to show you how we make your Kromers.

Meet Our Employees – Shipping

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Ladies and gentleman, we’d like to introduce you to three very special employees:  Patti, Missy and Allison.  You see, these fine ladies package up each and every Stormy Kromer order and send your new caps off to you with pride.

As orders have grown over the past few years, the physical space this team has used to pick and pack orders has been shrinking.  We thought they deserved a brand new space to do their very important work.

Our new distribution center – which sits within one of our buildings – is wrapped with a full color vinyl banner, and even has a place for our tour visitors to sign their name.

It also gives our team all the space they need to organize, store and prepare orders for shipment.

The next time you order from us…and are anxiously awaiting the arrival of your package…you can thank Patti, Missy and Allison for its delivery!

Our 3rd Annual Cornhole Tournament

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Playing Cornhole (also known as Corn Toss, Bean Bag, Bean Toss, Soft Horseshoes, Indiana Horseshoes, and more) – has become an annual tradition here at Stormy Kromer.  For the third summer in a row, employees paired off into teams and played in our very competitive, double-elimination tournament.

This year’s tourney counted 18 teams, representing every department of the company.  Playing in our parking lot (or warehouse on rainy days), the teams battled it out during their morning breaks and lunchtimes, with many matches attracting a number of spectators.

Complete with popcorn for the excited fans, our Championship Match featured Carol & Dennis vs. Tim & Denise.  While the crowd was hoping for a competitive and lengthy match, Carol & Dennis remained undefeated and cruised to victory with a score of 15-6.

Our Champions received a cash prize, but more importantly, earned the right to proudly display the prestigious Cornhole Trophies which will stay at their work stations until next year’s tournament.  Last year’s winners, Rick & Larry, begrudgingly handed them over at our Trophy Presentation on August 29th.

Congratulations to Carol & Dennis (in yellow), and thanks to all of our 2012 teams for participating!

Stormy Kromer Plaid Designs for 2013

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One of the most popular posts since launching our blog was “Developing Stormy Kromer Plaids”, posted last September.  We had 69 comments to that post with so many great suggestions on naming our plaids.  In fact, we named one of our new Ida Shirt fabrics using one of your suggestions (sorry, it’s not available quite yet on our website, but stay tuned!).

Ida Shirt in Chocolay - Available Soon!

Chocolay (which also happens to be a township in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula), was a perfect moniker for the the rich browns, beiges and blues in this new shirt.

We’ve got two new plaids that have just gone into the sampling process.  We can’t tell you what products they will be used in, but once again, we would love your suggestions on names for these new designs.  Perhaps your idea will be showing up on products in fall 2014!

Let the suggestions begin!

Mr. Grossman, You are the Caretaker of a Legend.

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All employees here at Stormy Kromer receive this nifty plaque when they are hired, reminding them of the rich Kromer history they are keeping alive.

We all have fun displaying them on our desks, sewing machines and other work stations.  It gives everyone a little extra sense of pride.

So we got to thinking, who else deserves this honor?

Last month, at a long overdue dinner meeting in Milwaukee, Bob Jacquart, our CEO, presented Dick Grossman with a special Caretaker of a Legend plaque.

If you need a quick refresher, Mr. Grossman was the second owner of the Kromer Cap Company, having purchased it from Stormy himself in the mid-60′s.  In 2001, after one meeting and a handshake, Bob and Dick had an agreement which moved the Kromer Blizzard Cap to its current home in Ironwood, MI.  Dick continued running the Kromer Cap Company for a few more years in Milwaukee, manufacturing the company’s cotton caps used by welders, railroad workers, and other tradespeople.

At 79, Dick is now retired from the hat business.  He’s as high-energy as ever, and is downright giddy about the success of Stormy Kromer over the past 10 years.  He’s pretty sure that Stormy would be proud of us too.

Presenting this small token of appreciation to him seemed the least that we could do.  Without him, who knows what would have been the fate of the now iconic cap?  He believed in the product, in making things in the USA, and in good old-fashioned quality.  He kept things going until the next Caretaker was ready to take over.

And for that Dick, we tip our caps to you.

Hat’s off to our Dads

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Earlier this week, we asked our employees to share with us some bit of advice they got from their dads.  In turn, we thought we’d share these words of wisdom with you.  From the practical to the silly, they are a great reminder for us to say thanks to our dads this weekend for all they do for us.

Enjoy!

“The day before I got married my Dad pulled me aside and said, ‘Before you go I need to teach you a couple of things: 1) how to change a flat tire because every girl needs to know how to change a tire and 2) how to make a batch of homemade spaghetti sauce because the way to a man’s heart is through his stomach! ‘”
-Kirsten, Customer Service

“My dad, the founder of Jacquart Fabric Products once told me, ‘Once you start working 12 hours a day, your luck will change.’”
-Bob, CEO

“My dad always told me while in the car and a deer crosses, ‘When there’s one, there’s two.’  I frequently find myself repeating him now when I see a deer, and of course once the second deer crosses, I feel that it’s “okay” to continue.  (Until that third one runs across one day!)”
-Katie, Customer Service

“Always have a firm handshake.”
-KJ, Key Accounts

“My dad was a man of very few words and I learned from him over the years by simply watching what he would do rather than what he would say.  He treated everyone with respect, therefore, he was respected.  He was indeed a legendary dad.”
-Joel, Sales Manager

We’d love to know what you’ve learned from your father in the comments below.  In the meantime, Happy Father’s Day to all the great dads out there!

Featured Retailer: Yoder Department Store

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If you can’t find it at Yoder’s, there’s a pretty good chance you don’t need it.

The U.S. Census Bureau lists the population of Shipshewana, Indiana, at 658, which is roughly the same number of people who’ll be in line in front of you, waiting to get into the Yoder Department Store parking lot. Yep. People who need stuff, get stuff here.

“It’s not uncommon in the summer for folks to wait ten, maybe fifteen minutes to park their car,” said Andre Yoder, the third-generation general manager of this little town’s massive mercantile. “The flee market and auction across the street can draw up to 10,000 people in a two-day stretch, and a lot of them stop by because they know what we have to offer.”

What Yoder’s has to offer isn’t so much a step back in time—you’ll find all the latest clothing styles mixed in with tons of traditional favorites—it’s just that the style of service customers enjoyed decades ago is still thriving here.

Take, for example, the fact that second-generation owner Janet Yoder started working at the store when she was 13 and just recently retired at the age of 77. Many of the current employees, too, have been working here for more than 10, 20 or even 30 years. These are people who know how to treat a customer.

And if, for some reason, you want eight pairs of jeans with a 66-inch waist and they only have five (they really do have this size, by the way, and they have that many in stock), they’ll get them for you. Pronto.

That’s service you don’t see all that often.

“People come here to be taken care of and because they’ll find quality products at fair prices,” added Yoder. “Those are the same reasons we carry Stormy Kromer: great apparel, good prices, made in America. Those things matter here.”

As if to prove the point, Yoder’s menswear/work apparel manager, Tim Hethcote, recalled the story of a fellow who stopped in to get his son-in-law a gift. “He bought a couple Stormy Kromer flannel shirts, took them home, gave into temptation, tried them on, and kept them,” said Hethcote. “He eventually bought his son-in-law something else.”

No doubt he found it at Yoder’s.

Featured Retailer: Getz’s Department Store

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Unless you’re reading this from someplace like Singapore,
you’re gonna want to get to Getz’s.

We like Getz’s. A lot. A little too much, maybe. But when you’ve got three stacked floors of department store goodness packed with people who remember how things used to be done, well, it feels to us like the kind of place Mr. Kromer himself would have owned. Except he was just a kid when it opened.

Getz’s Department Store in downtown Marquette, Michigan, hung out its shingle in 1879, and aside from selling a few brands of clothing and outdoor gear that didn’t exist back then, not much has changed. And that’s the way folks like it, according to Dennis Mingay, the man in charge of menswear.

“Remember when you were a kid,
and you’d walk into an old clothing store and
smell the richness of the wool and leather?
That’s what Getz’s is, and there aren’t many places like us left.”

The big box stores have taken over, but when you sort through the thousands and thousands—and thousands—of products on the shelves, from men’s suits and Silver Jeans for women, to outdoor wear, kids’ clothes, shoes, and—get this—7,000 square feet of Carhartt, you start to wonder how the national chains could ever compete with Getz’s.

“Here’s how we beat them,” said Mingay, who happily works six days a week and is as much a figure at Getz’s as Getz’s itself. “When people come in, we greet them, we take care of them. And when they ask for a pair of pants, we walk them over to the pants, we don’t just point.”

It’s this type of traditional service and commitment to customers that drew the attention of Stormy Kromer Mercantile owner, Bob Jacquart. Shortly after buying the SK patent, he walked into the UP’s favorite department store and straight up to Dennis Mingay.

“He said ‘I don’t know you and you don’t know me, but I just bought Stormy Kromer, and I’d like Getz’s to be a distributor.’ It took a little work, but just look at us now.”

Last year, Getz’s faithful fans (if that’s you, thank you!) purchased over 2,300 Kromer caps and articles of clothing. But it’s not the numbers that matter, it’s the nostalgia. Getz’s and Stormy Kromer are cut from the same cloth, if you will. They’re down-home brands built in rural America, and because they remember it’s the shopper who makes them successful, they’ve cultivated a global following.

So even if you are from Singapore, you might want to make a point of stopping by. Or at least visiting www.getzs.com.

Behind the Scenes: Stormy Kromer Staff on the Road

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It’s the time of year when fall/winter brands, like ourselves, hit the road and begin showing off what’s new for Fall 2012.  We just got back from our first national trade show of the year, the Outdoor Retailer Winter Market.

We met with over 80 retailers, current and new, over the course of the 4-day show.  While many of our new products attracted their attention (can you spot any in the above photo?), we’d have to say that “made in America” was of key importance for show attendees.

To that end, we met the crew from Liberty Bottleworks – a bunch of great folks who are making the only American made recycled metal bottle in the marketplace.  On top of that, they look pretty cool too.  Check out their products next time you’re looking for a new water bottle.

The Outdoor Retailer Show also features a  fashion show with different pieces from varied brands put together.  A number of SK items were featured, including the Petal Pusher Cap – paired here with pieces from Gentle Souls, Fox River Socks and Neve Designs.

What’s next for SK?  National trade shows in Chicago and Fort Worth, followed by a host of regional shows where we look forward to meeting with many of our customers.

Then, we start putting our thoughts towards Spring 2013.

What products would you like to see in Stormy Kromer’s first official spring collection?

The Making of the Petal Pusher

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Of all of the new products we introduced in 2011, the Petal Pusher Cap has been the biggest hit.  In fact, we’ve sold over 5 times our initial sales projections for this product.  We’ve received rave reviews from the women who are wearing them and we’re hard at work on new color choices for 2012.

Because of the popularity of this product, we thought we’d share the quick story of how this cap came to be.  Through some previous blog posts, you’ve met Bob Jacquart, the CEO of Jacquart Fabric Products and Stormy Kromer.  And today, you’re going to learn about his wife, Denise.

For years, Denise worked in the business as well.  However, a few years ago, she became a unique kind of “CFO” – the Chief Family Officer.  Working in a family business that involves not just parents and daughters, but also cousins and uncles and spouses, well, it can sometimes be complicated.  So Denise now focuses on the family relationships, and making sure that part of the business is healthy.

She also has a keen sense for fashion and design.  A few years ago she got the idea that Stormy Kromer needed a feminine touch, and she played around with a few different ideas (see below) before stumbling on the idea of a flower.

The prototypes found their way into the back of a closet, and were forgotten about, until Bob and Denise’s daughter, Gina, joined the business and found them.  Gina and SK’s designer, Tamara, refined the design into the current product.

Why has this cap been so popular?  We think it’s because the design remains Kromer through and through (complete with functional earbands) while giving the ladies another option.  Honestly, we think Ida would be pretty proud.

Which brings us to a bigger question – what are your ideas for Stormy Kromer product variations?  Like Denise, you just might hit on the next big thing!