The Girl Next Door
Philadelphia Business Journal:
Pay attention. One day this story will be legend.
Jen Groover’s purse annoyed her. With stuff laying on top of stuff, nothing could be seen.
In a fit of pique, as they say, she yanked the dish rack out of her dishwasher and shoved it in her bag.
There was all her stuff, standing in plain view, in neat little compartments.
Of such moments is entrepreneurial history made.
In 2006, two years after her kitchen-appliance breakthrough, Groover launched Butler Bag. Not just a bag but a brand, Groover’s brainchild has been raising eyebrows in the accessories community. With 20 employees, Butler Bag is on target to do $15 million in sales this year.
Groover has spent as much time selling herself as she has hawking her handbags. She is, herself, the Butler Bag brand. Hers is the face on the Web site, hers the story that drives the enterprise.
“My story connects with people, my story is the American dream about the girl next door who saw a problem and did something about it,” she said. “People want to connect with the human side of a brand. They will have more loyalty to a brand that has a human side to it.”
Photo by Curt Hudson.
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