The Joys of Running Out of Stock

The holiday season is a busy time of the year for Elvis & Kresse and we know that it will get busier every day until the 23rd of December.

We have been working hard, doing our best to squirrel away as many pieces as we can carefully make, but we already know that certain favourites will sell out before December. 

2019, The Team at our previous workshop in Tonge Mill before it got too cold

Why?

1. We make all of our items ourselves, we do not out-source our production. This is how we ensure that each piece is made ethically and to our exacting quality and environmental standards. It also means we can't turn production up like you could increase the flow from a tap, or the volume from a stereo. If we wanted more flow we have to haul more buckets of water. If we want more volume we have to hire more musicians. We have been growing our workshop team with several apprenticeships and new hires but just as we don't do fashion seasons, we won't hire seasonal workers. We only want to create high quality full-time roles.
2. We produce in small batches. We don't do bulk production runs for three reasons:
1. Our workshop team is much happier when they get to work on different pieces rather than in a robotic, monotonous fashion.
2. Quality is better in smaller runs.
3. We never produce too much, we don't have overstock that has to be discounted or wasted.
3. Our raw materials are rescued. We can't ever buy or order more of them. Some of the materials are rare, like the yellow fire-hose or certain colours of leather. So when we run out, we are out until more can be rescued. In the case of some leather colours they may never return. The upside of this is that each piece is unique and no two Elvis & Kresse items are ever entirely the same.

We only ever made three Fire & Hide Post Bags in Gingersnap!

Each year as our team grows we will be able to rescue more material, but we will never be able to guarantee that everything will always be in stock. Interestingly this also reflects the reality of our finite planet, and creates a natural rhythm for our happy team. When we post 'Rescued, Transformed, Sold Out' next to an item on our site it is a celebration, it is a success; it means material has been saved and donations for our charitable partners are growing. It means that we are solving the problems we decided to tackle back when we started in 2005.

How can we help you?

If you find that the gift you were really hoping to give, or receive, is currently not available we can help in two key ways:

1. You can attend one of our workshops or gift this to your loved one. These are day long experiences where guests are able to design and weave their own Fire & Hide piece. We already have a few dates for 2020 (Due to the pandemic these have had to be halted for the time being).
2. You can purchase a gift card to be redeemed as soon as the piece is completed. In some cases the wait can be three months but often it is much less.

Thank you for keeping us busy. Thank you for helping us give back. Thank you for supporting the rescue of all these incredible materials and giving them an amazing second life.

- Elvis & Kresse

Also in News