Here comes the Baggu Lady

If there’s one product I personally adore and love giving as gifts to friends, it’s got to be the Baggu reusable shopping tote.

I give it as pasalubong and made it part of the goody bag I handed out to the girls in our wedding entourage. It is simply a no-brainer present for those who have everything.

Baggu comes in a rainbow of colors, is made of rip-stop material and is compact-size. Plus, a single Baggu can carry up to 25 lbs. of weight and eliminates the use of 300 to 700 plastic bags in a year.

Baggu was created by Emily Sugihara who studied Economics at the University of Michigan. After graduation, she heeded her calling and went to New York to study Fashion Design at Parsons School of Design. She interned at Proenza Schouler, worked at J.Crew and now runs her eco-bag business like a true trailblazer and entrepreneur.

What’s even more fascinating is she’s only 25.

PHILIPPINE STAR: For those not familiar with Baggu Bags, what is a Baggu bag and what makes it special from other reusable shopping totes?

EMILY SUGIHARA: Baggu is a very simple bag, based on the shape of the time-tested plastic bag. What sets Baggus apart is our design, quality, and colors.

You run the business with your mom. Has your family always been environmentally conscious? Being part-Japanese, did that influence your choice in picking out a Japanese name for your product?

Yes, I have always loved the Japanese culture.  We lived just outside of Tokyo when I was little. We were very influenced by Japanese design also! My grandfather was a forester, so I was raised to appreciate nature and take good care of our environment. My family has always been very environmentally conscious.

How did you start making the bags? And why did you choose nylon instead of cotton or burlap?

My mom and I sewed the first prototype ourselves. We went through 20 or 30 revisions. We’d make one, test if for a few days, take it shopping. We felt very strongly about providing an affordable and user-friendly alternative to plastic.

A reusable bag is only green if it is actually being used to replace plastic bags. I keep three in my purse all the time, and I never, ever have to take a plastic bag, be it at the drug store, buying clothes, etc.

Because cotton is not as strong as nylon, a much heavier weight fabric has to be used to carry the same weight load. I could never keep three heavyweight cotton/canvas totes in my purse — they wouldn’t fit.

People will actually use Baggu because of its appeal, its convenient compact size and strength, when they may have found larger cotton totes impractical.

Finally, the way our landfills are built, nothing biodegrades. Not even food. All trash is basically sealed together in giant plastic liners to prevent the toxic things that are mixed in with the trash from contaminating the ground water. So unless your city has a composting program, a nylon bag in the landfill and a cotton bag in the landfill are exactly the same, only a cotton bag takes up more space.

Are you still as hands-on with the business as when you first started out?

Yes, I am! When we started I was doing almost everything and not sleeping very much. Now I work with a small team of people, we have a workspace, normal business hours. We are more like a regular company now.

Were there any obstacles or challenges that you had to face when you first started your business?

Oh, everything is an obstacle when you are first starting out. Getting the design just right, finding a good factory, getting financing, learning the ins and outs of shipping and distribution.  

Without Google, I never would have been able to get Baggu off the ground. Every time I would get stuck, I used the Internet to tap into a wealth of knowledge from other people who had done something similar.

I first read about you and Baggu in Teen Vogue sometime in 2007. What’s it like to be featured in Teen Vogue and did the exposure help you in spreading the word about Baggu?

Yes! We owe a lot to that first Teen Vogue article. It really put us out there in terms of exposing us to other press, sending traffic to the website, getting stores to call and order. Press has been a fantastic vehicle for sales for us, and we really value that.

How do you market your products? Is it mostly by magazine features, word of mouth or online?

Mostly through editorial features and a lot of word of mouth. We hear from people buying because their friends love their Baggus, or they saw someone using one at the market and asked where they got it. 

It’s a very visible product so people really ask about it when you use it.

The photos in your website look great! Sometimes I find myself wondering where your models got what they are wearing, apart from me being tempted to buy more Baggus. Who does the styling and the creative direction?

Thanks! We do all of that in-house. Ellen Van Der Laan, our creative director (and a partner in Baggu), and I work on the styling for the shoots. Ellen, a Rhode Island School of Design-educated graphic designer, is responsible for everything you experience about the look and feel of the Baggu brand.

You started out with solid colored bags, and then branched out into stripes. Now you have Big and Baby Baggus and printed Baggus as well as Obama Baggus and Penguin stuffed toys. What’s next?

We keep our development pretty secret. All I can tell you is we are always working on new products and will definitely expand the line more in the coming years. Look for new Baggu products with a focus on design and sustainability.

With your business, you are able to help the environment and at the same time do something you love. What tips or advice do you have for people who also want to go into entrepreneurship with a cause?

Just make sure your idea can actually make money! I see a lot of people starting “green” businesses that will never be profitable. You can only make an impact if you stay in business.

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For more information, visit the Baggu website at http://baggubag.com/ or order through http://shopspot.multiply.com.