This year has brought about many changes that have had a major impact on our business. While we know we are certainly not alone in this experience, it does not make it any less difficult. Many of our preferred vendors, suppliers, and factories have gone out of business in 2020 or pivoted their businesses in other directions. Those remaining are struggling to keep up with the demand, adding to lead times. The pandemic is really taking its toll this month and has forced us to make the decision to discontinue the sample packages we were offering, and restructure entirely.
In the past few years, we've helped many individuals and small businesses create their original apparel and accessory ideas. A handful have had great success and watching what we've created with our clients grow into brands brings so much joy. Launching a brand is an enormous amount of work but a very rewarding one. We're sad to announce that we will no longer be working those who are completely new to the garment industry and want to start from scratch as it is not efficient for our business any longer. We did leave our popular FAQ post up and past blog posts are still published as there is some helpful information in these about creating an original apparel product when starting out.
Going forward, we'll be partnering with established businesses only on a retainer model. Please see our Services page for more details. We've already had a couple businesses sign on for retainers, and it's going well for all of us. We look forward to working with you in this new way.