It has been a long time since I last wrote a blog. I can think of many reasons, but I guess the most important of them all is that we are constantly trying to get as many Meelbroeke out there as possible! And to do that, we do little else! But here is a catchup of what happened since the last post.
We moved from a lock up and go townhouse (Meelbroeke was produced in the garage) to a house with much more space, or so we thought! Not long after, I realised that it was still too small, so I rented a house with a triple garage. At that stage I split the natural and dyed garments’ work stations between the house I live in and the one I rented, with all the stock checked and trimmed on the respective properties.
We (Dienkie, my daughter in law and 2nd in command) and I, appointed two ladies to help. Nelie is running the stock, trimming and sorting and keeping a very strict eye on all happenings inside the house. Dienkie took Liezel under her very capable supervision and taught her the secrets of dyeing. And by appointing these very capable ladies, Meelbroeke got a mind of its own! With my hands free, I could seriously get the online shop going.
Bosbroeke is also running smoothly and gaining momentum. And we started with Insizwa and Sasko Self Raising which is doing really well!
We have recently appointed Michelle as well, who is still in training, but doing splendidly. Santa is our admin lady and let me tell you….that is the best thing, because admin is not my strong point!
So in all, we have 6 people excluding myself, running Meelbroeke. Linah is in charge of the naturals and Eddie is our dependable guy amongst the ladies that helps with absolutely everything!
Then there is the kiddies range of clothing that is warming the hearts of parents and grannies alike! We print the Snowflake kids range with a smaller logo and it looks super cute. With Baby Bos, we took all the little animal words and print them all over the cute little garments. Be sure to have a look at this very special section of the website. You will find pictures on the Shop page.
We have also been adding some new retailers after a two year wait for enough fabric, which, I think, is now more available. Please check out the Retailers Page for more info.
Less exciting and more interesting….well….even amusing, is the fact that the famous Snowflake Meelbroek has been copied! The realization of this when we saw it on Facebook, caused an uproar in all respects! Retailers and Meelbroek lovers alike, promptly alerted me to the Facebook Page and I immediately ordered one of these counterfeit Snowflake baggies to see what they look like. Well….I am not going to say anything about that. I just really really hope that you do your homework before buying anything off the internet or Facebook. We started in October last year to add a Meelbroeke signature on our garments. If you see a garment without such signature, please make sure that it is indeed a quality product by Meelbroeke. Also, the Meelbroeke name is trademarked, it is illegal for anybody else to use the name Meelbroeke, in any form, in any font or colour. If you are not sure about your online shopping, feel free to contact us at meelbroeke@gmail.com.
One of the best things that happened only a week or so ago, is that we can finally export your favourite Meelbroek! So if you are living abroad, this is the news you have been waiting for!
Oh and great news! This year I will be doing the Comrades! Yep! First year that we will be at the Comrades Expo! Got you there, didn’t I? J If you are a runner or family or friends of one, please come say hello at the Expo.
As usual, I will be at Innibos, Sondela Kyknet 4×4 Expo, Affie Wildsfees, The South African 4×4 and Outdoor Show Zwartkops, Aardklop and of course Hartenbos in December!
Then…..as always…..a big thank you to you, the Meelbroek lover! There are people all over the world wearing Meelbroeke and they send us lots and lots of pictures. They wear it in the Dubai malls, they paint wonderful murals in Minnesota, they swim in the Caribbean, they visit Europe and they even hunt with it! Kids, teens, adults and the older generation all love their Meelbroeke and it warms our hearts to no end!