Meet Claudia Avila of Initial Attic

Today we’d like to introduce you to Claudia Avila.

Claudia, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
Initial Attic was established in the Fall of 2014.

After years of working as a Merchandise Coordinator for several designer brands I decided to come up with something that would keep me home in Houston, free from extensive territories and weekly travel as my father’s ailments were at the top of my list.

Speaking to one of my best friends who currently has a successful monogram business in Delray, Florida, she convinced me to get into the embroidery business and so I took the leap. Having a Fashion Design Degree helped as I already had the knowledge of operating machines and merchandising business. The embroidery machine was easy to learn and I quickly started knocking out practice orders for friends and family. Doing area research, there was no monogramming service in my area that included a walk-in shop, so I decided to have an actual Gift Shop offering blanks ready to monogram as well as other gifts where customers could pick up a quick readymade gift, or drop off their own items for personalization. I searched the area for lease options but just was not happy with the shopping strips or locations so I resorted to plan B, as luck would have it, the home I grew up in was well equipped with a private entrance for customer visits and a great way to grow the business before venturing into the high lease world of retail.

Although I still plan on having a brick & mortar location, I am very happy how Initial Attic Monogrammed Gifts has grown due to my wonderful neighbors, social media and word of mouth, I am also able to keep personalization prices low as I don’t have to cover retail space operating costs. My customers include a lot of the area businesses, local celebrities and athletes, as well as all the surrounding neighborhoods and of course shipping to all of the US.

Since the opening I added vinyl personalization for tumblers or any smooth surface, off site digitizing for logos etc., structured cap personalization and just recently added Heat Transfer Vinyl personalization for T-shirts, koozies, and items that will not fit on an embroidery hoop.

Initial Attic is becoming a one stop shop for your personalization needs, if I can’t do it, I will definitely point you in the right direction to someone who can.

Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Creating a business from scratch will have its challenges but the fact that I didn’t have to worry about a lease and other operating cost has made it very easy. It’s the way to start out I believe, build the brand, build your customer base, stay relevant and up to date on fads & fashion.

Social Media has been a great help as pretty much everyone has Facebook or Instagram or googles the web. As posts get shared, I get a new customer and hopefully they will become returning customers.

Alright – so let’s talk business. Tell us about Initial Attic – what should we know?
I mainly do Monograms and name personalization in machine embroidery, vinyl, and now heat transfer vinyl.

I can also have company logos digitized as embroidery or vector files for use with vinyl. Pretty much any idea from school logos, sport logos, special occasions can be created for any smooth application i.e. for tumbler, wine glasses, etc., or heat transfer vinyl for koozies, t-shirts etc.

I also do appliques which includes fabrics provided either by Initial Attic or brought in by customers. These are usually the top choice for baby related items and birthday shirts.

Our prices did increase a little this year due to supply cost increases, but still lower than most brick & mortar locations.

What sets Initial Attic apart is the quality of work and care taken on each item. I’ve had several customers come from well-known shops in the Houston area to my little shop because they were so unhappy with the quality of work, not to mention the amount of items ruined by their machines.

I’m very proud of the increase in traffic to my little shop because of the great reviews from existing customers.

Is there a characteristic or quality that you feel is essential to success?
Continuing to provide high quality work and affordable personalization is important for me to keep Initial Attic growing strong.

Contact Info:

• Website: initialattic.com
• Phone: 832 652 3863
• Email: info@intialattic.com
• Instagram: initial_attic
• Facebook: Initial Attic Monogrammed Gifts
• Yelp: Initial Attic Monogrammed Gifts

Image Credit:
Images by Initial Attic

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