But I digress.
Recently I've been thinking about what I know about us that YOU all may not know or realize or even remember. So I thought I'd take a moment to let you get to know us as a business and get to know our motivations.
Some simple things you probably didn't know until we posted a few of these recently on our Facebook fan page:
1 - Our puzzles were first made in Canada as we looked for ways to get quality puzzles at a great price. That was a blessing because we made a friend there who we still count as a friend today. But now, we are proud to say that our puzzles are 100% MADE IN THE USA. That means the artists are here, the dies are created here and the puzzles are cut here. And oh yeah, VWE is here too. We intend to stay homegrown.
2 - We offer free shipping for purchases over $75 (that does not include shipping and tax). No, it's not on the site yet. But it will be.
3 - We currently have over 35 different stock puzzle designs as well as over 20 frame designs for your photo puzzles. We also offer 8 different puzzle sizes in 14 different piece counts and 2 different medium - traditional and magnetic. We will be adding 2 new sizes, 3 more piece counts and a new medium soon. Now, why can't you see all these on the site? Because some sizes we can't offer in small quantity. That's why if you don't immediately see what you want, you should contact us. We can do more than we are able to say. That new medium on the horizon is something I can't share yet, but our newsletter subscribers got a hint as to what it is.
FYI, Do YOU subscribe to our newsletter? Subscribers learn everything first. I'm telling you. Jigsaw puzzles are a fun, affordable product. You will want to know what we're doing first so get on the newsletter mailing list. Back to the current list!
4 -If you are a small business owner or event planner, we have separate pricing for you. You should contact us at shop@vwepuzzles.com to get the link to it.
5 - Our very first designer was my brother who did 4 greeting card puzzle designs for us and a 5th one he did in conjunction with a friend. All those designd remain popular today.
6 - We work with 7 artists and graphic designers and you'll meet some of them in time.
7 - Our name, Village Works Enterprises, is based on the African proverb that it takes a village to not only raise a child, but to help others achieve what they want to achieve. We seek to help smaller artists get their work out via our puzzles. We aspire to have a nonprofit one day that enables us to help others looking to accomplish some great, maybe even personal artist feat like publishing a book. We also want to help people get the educations they need t make their dreams come true, in whatever form that education comes.
8 - We are 100% woman owned and Christian. That means we do not produce or reproduce anything our children cannot see. After all, children are the heart of what we do. And speaking of children...
Our Mission
Maybe you know the story. Maybe you don't. But the long and the short of it is this:
In 1999, Ramona and I went looking for jigsaw puzzles to buy for the summer literacy program that was being held at our church and for which we volunteered (we were single and childless at the time). We saw lots of puzzles with animals and Disney characters and such, but none that actually built caracter the way we wanted for the kids in our program; nothing that spoke to their culture and heritage.
Ramona went down one aisle, I went down the other and yelled over to each other that we weren't finding anything. We got to the end of the aisle and said practically simultaneously - to this day we don't know who uttered the first syllable first - "We should make them!" Our idea was born.
We were excited by the notion of creating something the program could use. We realized that we had loved puzzles as children but darn if we knew what went into making them? So we called around and looked for local manufacturers. We discovered this would not be quick and easy, nor would it be cheap to order in the quantities they wanted.
Ramona attended a business workshop to begin to learn the ins and outs of running a business. It was during our time talking about her homework that I thought we should literally st
art small. That was when we created our first 5 greeting card jigsaw puzzles with the help of my graphic designing brother, such as the one at the right here.One marriage and 3 childeren later, I too took the workshop as our concept grew and we perfected our manufacturing moving from the Canadian company that first manufactured our puzzles to the American company that still manufactures them today along with a few other American companies. In 2005 Village Works Enterprises becaame a Village Works Enterprises LLC and we've been growing ever since.
We love what we do. We love doing it for individuals, school, businesses, nonprofits...any group who want too do something in a unique way. Jigsaw puzzles are a great way to preserve memories. They connect people to each other just by merely luring them to come and put the pieces together. We haven't had a customer yet who has not loved them and gotten raves from the people who received them. So if you've been thinking about them, what's stopping you from trying them out? Read what one of our recent customers had to say about the photo puzzle he had us create for his fiancee:
When I first saw the puzzle, I said, "Wow, what's that?" "How did you do that? Can I have one?... It was around Mother's Day and I thought, "what a nice gift for my daughter to give her mother." When I saw the puzzle, my daughter and I had to give it to her right away. She really loved it! Then I was in my office, staring at our first date picture and I asked Ramona if she can make a puzzle out of that picture. She took the picture, scanned it and came back to me right away with extras, showing me frames and stuff. I ordered another puzzle of that picture. When I received it, I was so excited that I had to give that puzzle to her right away too. I went to her job. When I gave it to her, she had the biggest smile. One of her co-workers was very interested, asked for the information and said that she is going to order one too. The process is quick (less than 2 weeks), service was great and the puzzle is good quality. Now I'm thinking about doing another one."
- Bryant J., Bridgeport, CT
No comments:
Post a Comment