In the summer of 2000, I began the company as a way to provide my friends and mess mates with hand sewn goods and help them to improve their impressions. While I attended Michigan State University I continued to study original clothing and expand my knowledge about their construction, the materials involved, and the patterning techniques necessary for a proper fit. In 2002 Brian White, who up to that point had been my best customer, began working for the company on a limited scale, producing shelter halves and shirts. After graduating in 2004, I found my clientele robust enough (and the job market in Michigan poor enough), that I began sewing full time. In 2005 Brian moved to Michigan and began taking an ever-increasingly large role in the company, culminating in his working full time in the fall of 2008. Today our company consists of two full-time workers and about a half dozen smaller individual businesses who provide items to us such as civilian shirts, caps, and housewives. I largely handle the day-to-day operations of the company, answering the phone, emails, and processing orders, as well as production of coats, jackets, and blouses. Brian is in charge of our research and development, as well as improvements to our current products. He also produces our trousers, tents, issue shirts, and handles the bulk of our custom work. Over the years our product line has evolved from finished garments to a three-tier system of finished products, garment kits, and yard goods. Above all, however, we try to pay the most attention to our “bread and butter”, namely our person-to-person direct customer sales. Answering emails in a timely fashion, being available on the phone, and promptly returning calls are a major part of this, but also smaller efforts such as the same person (me) being available on the phone whether you called at 3PM on a Monday in May of 2002 or 10AM on a Thursday in December of 2010. That is part of our commitment to our customers to be accountable, helpful, and honest. Thank you for taking the time to read this little history of our company, and I look forward to your call! Dan WambaughSpring 2011
