Today we’d like to introduce you to Jennifer Kahn.
Jennifer, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
It all started well before I had any idea I’d be running an accessories company! I was a Stage Manager regionally and on Broadway for 17 years, and for four years ran a blog on giveback and ethical style. These were the two halves of my heart that I never thought would have anything to do with one another. Until I came up with the idea for Scenery Bags.
We take discarded theatrical materials and upcycle them into bags and accessories, and a portion of every purchase is donated to The Theatre Development Fund to take students to see theatre. Now we are five years into Scenery Bags and have collected over 30,000 pounds of theatrical waste that all would have been thrown away otherwise, and sponsored over 1300 students to see a Broadway show. This company marries so many things I care about in a celebration and love letter to theatre. I’m so grateful to everyone out there who has helped us decrease waste, save art, and foster a new generation of theatergoers.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
OH MY WORD! When you have an idea, especially an idea that will help others, you will be TESTED! It is only by daily miracles that we are here today.
July 2017, I put out our first small batch of bags on our Instagram account (@scenerybags no website yet), they sold out in less than 24 hours. YAY! Then people started talking about what I was doing. People like Krysta Rodriguez, whom I did the Deaf West Revival of Spring Awakening on Broadway with, and Krysta’s friend Rachel Bloom (star of Crazy Ex-Girlfriend) we grew 5,000 followers almost overnight. I am so grateful for this to this day!
With my brand new baby bouncing on my lap (I launched Scenery when Hudson was three months old), I built our website just in time for Upworthy and Broadway World to write articles about us which went viral, and by the time I realized what was happening, we had 800 on our waitlist we sold 4,000 preorders in 48 hours.
And now the bumps: When those articles hit August 1, 2017, it was the single most exciting and terrifying day of my life. People cared about what I was doing! My little dream had quickly become a big reality. But now this theatre Stage Manager had to figure out how to run an online fashion retail company, and fast!
More bumps: Our manufacturer in LA quickly told me that there was no way they would be able to keep up with the demand and bowed out (which, though it was the worst news at the time, I’m very grateful they were honest with me.) So with a preorder of 4,000 bags and a waitlist of 800, I had to find a new manufacturer.
Thankfully I was able to find a new manufacturer quickly and have a new sample prototype approved within the week. BUT they were based in Florida, and at the end of August, they were hit by Hurricane Irene and had to close for two weeks.
YOU WILL BE TESTED! The best advice I have is: Be honest and stay the course.
I emailed everyone about the hurricane. I explained what was going on. I hand-filled orders manually, 500 orders at a time until they were all done. It took us until December to get everyone their bags from that first order (also because they got to choose which drop they wanted and that took some time as well.) Out of, by then, 5,000+ orders that took up to four months to fulfill, we only had four order cancelations from people who didn’t want to wait. And here we are. Still grateful to our loyal and caring customers who have become friends and the theatre and shows that believe in what we are doing.
Fast forward three years and the bumps return in the form of a pandemic. We were in a place to scale, but our manufacturers all had to cut staff way back, so we started manufacturing in Houston as well. Now I am in the process of moving all production and fulfillment to Houston! It will be amazing to have everything in my backyard and Houston has really opened its arms to me and my company.
Appreciate you sharing that. What should we know about SCENERY BAGS?
Scenery Bags takes retired theatrical waste from Broadway and beyond and upcycles it into bags and accessories, and 10% of our proceeds are donated to TDF to introduce students to theatre.
We take theatre backdrops and make them into bags! We have drops from Wicked, Lion King, Kinky Boots, Mamma Mia, and more! And we take stage floors and make them into jewelry!
It’s the coolest gift to give a theatre lover. You can literally wear a piece of Broadway!
I love that I accidentally created my dream job and I get to do it all from home with my boys (5 and 3). It’s not easy, and there is no balance at all, but there are seasons, and this season is a beautiful mess that I wouldn’t trade for anything.
Any big plans?
I look forward to having all production here in Houston. I’m in the thick of planning the move, but in two months, we should be 100% here, and I can do so much more for my company being so close by.
I hope we can continue to grow and make a difference.
Pricing:
- Use code HOUSTON for 15% off
Contact Info:
- Website: https://scenerybags.com/
- Email: info@scenerybags.com
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/scenerybags
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/scenerybags/
