by Thomas Morgan, Courier Mail, 15 Jan 2019
AS FAR as small business success stories go, My Felt Lady makes for one great yarn.
When Candice Mason set up a small business selling felt in Chinchilla during resources downturn in 2016, few could have predicted the enterprise would be booming just two years later.
My Felt Lady has picked up customers in the US, UK, France and even India and Saudi Arabia, all scrambling to buy Australian and New Zealand-made 100 per cent merino wool felt from her online store.
Between late October and mid-November last year, she shipped a whopping 2500 sheets of felt – a 20 per cent increase on the same pre-Christmas rush in 2017.
Ms Mason and her sole employee shipped nearly 20,000 sheets of felt in 2018, a success she attributes to posting do-it-yourself tips on her website and picking quality suppliers.
Ms Mason said the decision to stock felt was the result of careful research.
“I found out that a majority of felt came from Australian and New Zealand merino felt and thought ‘great – I’ve found my product and I’ve found my niche’,” she said
The wool, while sheared in Australia and New Zealand, is shipped to Europe for refinement before being shipped to Chinchilla.
She said the product is popular among arts and craft enthusiasts due to its biodegradable, child-safe and flame retardant properties.
“About 80 per cent of my customers are women and men who are at home, or have their own hobby businesses, or are making stuff for fun.”
