Impressions - April 2015 - 49

press; a singlehead Tajima embroidery machine for smaller jobs, hats and toques;
and a heat press for those one-off shirt orders, as well as jersey names and numbers.
As a true sign of growth, EA soon will
purchase a direct-to-garment (DTG) machine to expand business. "We want to buy
a DTG [printer] because of its capabilities,"
Erasmus says. "It's the latest and greatest
thing out there, and it is right up our alley.
This is within our range of what we can and
want to put out in a day. And being able to
do that in-house is big for us."
Erasmus says DTG capabilities will
result in continued business growth and
expansion regardless of how long it takes
the shop to see a return on its investment.
"We don't see a problem with keeping it
busy," she says.
Erasmus says the shop's clients include
a lot of locals, tourists and people sending gifts, and orders vary from ﬁve to more
than 1,000 pieces. Depending on the size,
orders can be delivered in a time range of
just a few days to up to four weeks.
"The majority of the customers come
to us because they like our style of design,"
Erasmus says. "What sets us apart from
other companies is that we connect with
our customers and we are willing to work
with them to ﬁnd the best design and
product just for them. Our new, unique
eye and touch are what people want."
The EA team stays busy creating new
designs and ﬁnding different types of merchandise on which to embellish them.
"Yellowknife was founded on gold mines,
and a lot of our designs reﬂect that history
and seem to connect with the residents,"
she says. "The stuff you ﬁnd here is not your
average tourist stuff. Customers come back
again and again because they wear it all the
time, and want and need more of it."

A singlehead Tajima
embroidery machine is used for
smaller jobs, and decorating
hats and toques.

GOING GREEN
As an aboriginal company, EA focuses
on green initiatives at every turn, following the rule of the three Rs: reduce, reuse
and recycle.
"At times it's difﬁcult to be as green as
we'd like in an isolated place like Yellowknife, but we try to do anything we can
to be green," Erasmus says. "We don't have
paper/plastic bags in our store - only reusable bags for sale to help reduce waste.
We minimize the packaging as much as
possible on any orders that need to be
shipped, and also try to reuse the packaging that we have received."

GROWING DIGITAL
Erasmus says social media is huge
for the company. "Our main audience is
found online via Facebook, Instagram,
Twitter and our online store, erasmusapparel.com," she says. "The fastest way to
connect with our following is through
Facebook, but Instagram also is a favorite
of mine to use."
The online store still is new and sales in
that domain have been a little slow. Erasmus

Erasmus
Apparel now
operates out of a
1,000-square-foot
space in downtown
Yellowknife. The
company does
screen printing on
a six-color M&R
manual press.

says most of the company's online sales have
been to friends, or those who know about
EA and buy its products but no longer
live in Yellowknife. The online business is
expected to grow as more people become
aware of EA's online-ordering capability, and
as the company makes more products available through its website.
"As more Southerners order our products online, we will get more exposure,
leading to even more orders and growth,"
Erasmus says.
Staying ahead in the game of business
takes thought and preparation. "There's
always that worry in business [that] you
aren't going to have customers or a daily
income," Erasmus says. "When those times
arise, we start to push on social media that
we are still here; assure we are coming out
with new stuff; have set sales; and launch
new things when we know it's going to be
a quieter time."
The DTG machine purchase and moving into a bigger space are the next steps
for EA. Erasmus says these new developments, in addition to the company's existing production capabilities and services,
will keep it positioned for success.
"There is no secret formula for succeeding in business; it takes hard work,
long hours, and a willingness to take
chances and make mistakes," she says.
"Being a small, aboriginal company, odds
were against EA succeeding. We took it as
a challenge, and a way to forge a path and
make a difference. Dreams are meant to
come alive, and this is exactly what Erasmus Apparel is doing."
Jennifer A. Morrell is an award-winning
writer who has written for a number of national consumer and trade publications. For
more information or to comment on this article,
email Jennifer at jennmorrell@hotmail.com.

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Impressions - April 2015

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