From the Archives | Product Diversification and Scaling Wholesale with Alex Gagne of Chez Gagne

Proof to Product

Today on Proof to Product we’re welcoming Paper Camp Alum, and founder of Chez Gagne, Alex Gagne! Alex attended our Paper Camp Conference back in February of 2015 before debuting her wholesale line at the National Stationery Show. Since then, Alex has gone on to expand her product offering, add new team members, and achieve her vision for the Chez Gagne brand.

Chez Gagne is a paper and gift brand that offers greeting cards, wine and spirit tags, mugs, wine glasses, candles, and rocks glasses. Alex currently sells to 1,500 stores throughout the world, works with sales reps nationally, and exhibited at six trade shows this winter alone. With more than 93% of Alex’s annual revenue coming from wholesale, much of her time is spent planning, prepping and traveling across the country for trade shows.

On today’s episode, Alex is sharing with us how she does it all. We talk about how greeting cards became more than just her creative outlet and how Alex made the jump from paper goods to other products. We also how Alex decides which new product categories to pursue, challenges she faced in her business journey and key factors to Chez Gagne’s exponential growth.

ON TODAY’S EPISODE:

• Why Alex switched from software to stationery
• How she decides to move forward with a product line
• Her theory on making things nice or funny
• Incorporating optics and organization into merchandising
• Alex’s process for research, development, manufacturing and pricing
• Why everything Alex produces is something she uses
• The importance of managing your margins
• Challenges of storing hard goods vs stationery
• Tactics for mitigating risk and designing sustainable products
• How Alex grew to 1,500 active accounts in 4 years
• Future plans and products Alex has in the works

FOR FULL SHOW NOTES, RESOURCES AND A TRANSCRIPT, HEAD TO https://www.prooftoproduct.com/podcast-episodes/product-diversification-and-scaling-wholesale-with-alex-gagne-of-chez-gagne

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