Carrol Boyes isn’t only a talented designer, artist and entrepreneur; she is a talented business woman.
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Carrol initially studied fine art (sculpture) at the University of Pretoria, it was her passion but she found it couldn’t pay the bills so she went in to English and art teaching in Cape Town. “My dream was to be an artist and to earn enough money to survive from my art,” says Boyes. “I realized that I would have to try to make it at some point, or end up spending the rest of my life wondering whether I could have.” After ten years the calling of her art, her passion began to nag at her, so she broke away from teaching and from 1989 until 1991 she worked producing candle sticks, jewellery and assorted brass works.
It all started when Carrol was given a spot in Peter Visser Interior’s shop on loop street, Cape Town, which was an upscale, trendy store which gave Carrol boyes’s items a higher appeal, it got the stamp of approval from the richer citizens. At first her product became known from the word of mouth, to this day she believes it is the strongest tool available. From there her products became more popular and in demand, snatching the attention of magazines and interior design stores and galleries.
Soon her business was booming, she was expanding all over the country, she later spread into other countries, she has lots of local stores as well as stores in Australia, New York, Greece. London, Saudi Arabia, and Holland. The reason for her doing so well internationally I feel is because there is nothing else like Carrol boyes no one else has thought and marketed as well as her, there is also a truly South African feel to her work, so tourists or even locals want to buy her things to get a feel of Africa, also when a tourest comes to south Africa on a visit they want to take back something to their relatives, gifts, and this is a top class south African product. Carrol Boyes also helps publicize a small local business called monkey biz, it is a business her partner, Barbara Jackson was a big part of it is a non-profit organization that helps more than 450 disadvantaged people with work, beads and materials They live in Cape Town informal settlements like Khayelitsha, Philippi, Mandela Park and other areas and many of them are HIV positive. Barbra Jackson unfortunately died last year, 2010, but Carrol still sells the beaded animals in her stores today.
She has a huge influence on South African designers and even international designers I’m sure, her quirky style and clever products have sparked lots of peoples creative sides, but what I feel she has had the biggest influence on is peoples determination, if a South African woman can spread her product all the way to new York and beyond it gives the rest of us hope and motivation.
Carrol boyes has very nice branding, it is very recognizable and elegant, with every purchase her stores provide wrapping, cards, and packaging for any customer, she also holds monthly draws to customers who fill in a form while purchasing, which leaves her customers happy, loyal and words travels fast which brings more customers in, she advertises in lots of magazines, her sale at the end of the year is always broadcasted over the radio, her marketing means are very affective. Her branding and marketing aims for the upper class with its elegance and good name which is one of the reasons for her huge success. She also tells how her product is a life time product, repairs, repolishing of the items bought also brings a lot of appeal which she puts on cards insuring people’s buys. The way you market your product can have a huge affect on your business but she has it all figured out.
The big manufacturing site is in Limpopo. She has over 300 staff members that help with the manufacture of the items most of them are cast, they make rubber molds of the item, pour the pewter, aluminum of preferred material into the molds, when the item has cooled they open the mold take out the ruff item, remove the sprue, grind it down to look perfect and smooth, they will then attach which ever piece required, say they have a pewter figure they will attach it to the stainless steel blade, for a knife, the fork etcetera, and then polish it.
Carrol boyes inspires me in thinking beyond a design, thinking of clever ways to make the item more appealing and quirky. Some of my favorite pieces:
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