Official T-Shirt Wholesaler Blog
For the June's edition of our Business Spotlight, we had the pleasure of getting better acquainted with an artistically driven husband and wife team, owner and creator of Lone Cactus Shop! Coming from a deep-rooted passion for design, love of fashion, drawing, and Disney, Jolene and Ryan have turned something that was only done "on the side" into a successful business! Making one of a kind apparel and accessories, these theme-park, pop-cultured pieces have become unmistakably a favorite to many!
T-Shirt Wholesaler - How did the idea for your business come about?
Jolene Sunseri
Lone Cactus Shop was always an idea in the back of my head. I worked in the corporate retail world for over a decade and got tons of experience in buying, planning and allocating for the majority of my career. While my passion was always design, I only did it "on the side" and not full time!
T-Shirt Wholesaler - How did you come up with the name of your business?
Jolene Sunseri
Lone Cactus Shop was named for a few reasons! First, LONE because I am an only child and I was doing this business on my own. CACTUS because it is the only plant I never managed to kill!
T-Shirt Wholesaler - When did you start your business?
Jolene Sunseri
We started our business almost two years ago at this point in May.
T-Shirt Wholesaler -Can you describe your business? Location, Size, Number of Employees, Etc?
Jolene Sunseri
Based out of Pittsburgh PA, we are currently a husband and wife team that designs trendy theme park and pop culture apparel and accessories. While it's just the two of us, we have recently employed the help of a few others to get shirts made timelier since we have grown significantly busier over the last year.
T-Shirt Wholesaler - What motivates you?
Jolene Sunseri
I am motivated by art, fashion and an inherent passion for drawing and love of Disney!
T-Shirt Wholesaler - Can you describe your typical customer?
Jolene Sunseri
Our average customer is a social media millennial. They make impulse purchases (via mobile) and want the product turned around in a timely manner. Conversely, We also have family customers who are planning their vacations months in advance and their outfits ahead of time!
T-Shirt Wholesaler - What kind of culture exists in your organization and how did you establish it?
Jolene Sunseri
Because it's just a few of us, we have an extremely close relationship that thrives on efficiency, caffeine and jokes.
T-Shirt Wholesaler - What have your biggest challenges been and how have you overcome them?
Jolene Sunseri
The biggest challenge many small businesses are facing now is marketing in the digital world. While the Instagram and Facebook platforms have been extremely beneficial to us, we are seeing a shift in their platforms to drive business accounts to purchase advertising VS just allowing our customers to "see" our posts. It's just a hurdle we will work through, and we are thankful we built a significant "subscriber" following on our websites.
T-Shirt Wholesaler - What sets your business apart from the competition?
Jolene Sunseri
We are one of the only shops in our market that ships next day, offers "value" pricing and designs our own merchandise.
T-Shirt Wholesaler - How do you define business success? Is it money? Freedom? Influence? Creative expression? Something else?
Jolene Sunseri
It's extremely rewarding to see others wearing a garment that we designed. We love seeing our customers tagged photos on social media and love seeing them in theme parks wearing our brand. I feel most successful because I am finally doing what I love, which is design.
T-Shirt Wholesaler - In what ways has T-ShirtWholesaler.com helped and/or impacted your business
Jolene Sunseri
The ease of ordering, quick turnaround and overall excellent wholesale pricing has allowed us to branch out on certain design ideas and still offer them to our customers at a tremendous price. When we sell out of our goods, I am confident I can get the products re-ordered and delivered quick so that they do not have to wait long to get their orders.
We would like to take this time to personally thank Jolene and Ryan for their participation and allowing us to have a glimpse into their creative artistic world! If you would like to stay connected and up to date with all of the artistically fun, trendy, and original designs that Lone Cactus Shop has to offer, check out Lone Cactus Shop's Instagram page, Facebook page, or Twitter. They also have an informative website that is a great way to keep up with all the latest unique happenings of Lone Cactus Shop!
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