Embroidery business stitches name for itself

“There’s no crying in embroidery,” joked Shelly Toups’ husband, as she blubbered through her first attempts at working with her new embroidery machine.

Set up in what was once her children’s upstairs playroom, Toups received an extensive, in-home tutorial from the Texas man who sold her the stitching device. He then returned to his Lone Star State.

“I called him crying three days later saying, ‘Come and get it! I don’t want it. I’m fixing to throw it over my balcony. This was the worst decision, just please give me my money back,'” Toups exclaimed about the 2005 fiasco.

Seven years prior to the purchase of this first machine, Toups, a former teacher and stay-at-home mom with a degree in family and consumer science, decided to start her own business, Artistic Embroidery.

“I actually started out of my house and I was just a salesperson,” the business owner explained. “I would pound the pavement by myself … and I would sub all my embroidery and all of my screen printing out.”

According to Toups, an added bonus to working out of her residence was that she was able to spend more time with her kids.

“I could do my thing at home and I could still be a part of my children’s everyday life,” she said. “I could schedule a client and then I could still go color a turkey or make gingerbread cookies.”

Unable to find local companies to hire for large-scale jobs, Toups found an embroiderer and a screen printer in New Orleans, whom she used for the majority of her work. That all changed when Hurricane Katrina hit on August 29, 2005.

“Katrina was the pivotal moment because all of my worker bees were 17 feet under water … they lost everything,” said Toups.

For Artistic Embroidery, and many other local companies, business was at a standstill.

After some thought and an extensive amount of research, Toups convinced her husband to give her a loan to help purchase a used embroidery machine, some new software programs and other necessary supplies.

“I said, ‘OK. This is it. I’m going to start selling and embroidering by myself. I can do this.’ That was my thing, ‘I’m not going to fail. I refuse to fail,'” she said.

Even though her first introduction to the embroidery machine did not go quite as planned, Toups’ refusal to fail helped her sew on.

“I cried and cried and cried, but I said, ‘OK. Wait a minute. Let’s stop being a baby.’ So, I started breathing, kind of took some steps back and it just started coming,” said the shop owner, who bought her second machine just three months after the first. The third came soon after, followed eventually by her children asking her to find another play place.

“My kids sat me down one day and they said, ‘Mom, we love you, but you have to go,'” the working mother said.

She moved her business into a 1,200-square-foot facility off South LaCarpe Circle, but as work volume increased and more machines were needed, it was not long before the business was “busting out at the seams,” said Toups.

Today, Artistic Embroidery operates out of a 4,000-square-foot space located at 418 Corporate Blvd. With seven industrial embroidery machines, each costing approximately $15,000, a screen printing machine worth $10,000, a heat press, vinyl cutters and a work force of more than 10 employees, business is thriving, according to the owner.

With the ability to do everything in-house, the business is able to handle any job no matter how big or small, she added.

“The company is kind of a two-fold company. We have the front and that’s kind of our retail side. We have bags, purses, afghans, baby products, a lot of seasonal items,” the shopkeeper explained. “And we have our corporate side. I have a sales lady who goes out and sees our corporate clients. We do the oil and gas industry, the medical fields, attorneys’ offices, finance offices … and we supply everything from sticky notes with their logos to work wear offshore. We do everything.”

From monogramming a walk-in customer’s baby gift to providing an entire company with embroidered shirts, to designing promotional products and even creating custom vinyl bumper stickers, Artistic Embroidery is a one-stop shop that prides itself on quality products and puts a lot of emphasis on customer service, according to Toups.

“My whole philosophy is I want that hometown feel. I want the old customer service, one-on-one. I want to know about your family, I want to know about your kids and I want to know about you as a person. And that’s basically how all my employees are. That’s the kind of people they are. They care about their clients,” she said.

Artistic Embroidery goes one step further and offers companies a Safety Incentive Program.

“Some of the oil and gas companies do safety points, safety awards for their employees. … If their employees are safe, let’s say for that quarter, depending on their level of employment, they get so many points. The points equate to cash, like 1 point may be worth $1. We set up a points system that we have in our computer program and they can in-turn, log-in and shop,” Toups said. “It helps that company also because they don’t have to fool with it, but they know their employees are getting good, quality products.”

In addition to excellent customer service, Toups said competitive pricing for both the retail and corporate sides of the business is a top priority.

“We are very conscientious about price. That is one thing I know that I try to stay competitive with … I don’t want to take all of your money. That’s not what this business is about. Yes, I do want to make money, don’t get me wrong, and I want to make sure that I can provide for my employees, but I am not going to charge you an arm and a leg for thread,” she said.

After being in business for over a dozen years and with a staff that Toups calls “amazing”, Artistic Embroidery may see its proprietor soon take a step back from everyday operations to once again spend more time with her kids.

“My goal this year is to scale back myself. I have enough employees here. I have the right people in the right places and I totally trust my staff,” she said. “So I am stepping back, so that I can enjoy my son’s senior year … and my daughter’s sophomore year.”

Maybe she’ll find time to color some turkeys and make some more gingerbread cookies.

Christmas and Mardi Gras are two of Artistic Embroidery’s busiest times of the year, according to owner, Shelly Toups (pictured right), adding that Mardi Gras is “really a fun, fun time of the year for us.” Employee Erica Blum stands with Toups in front of one of the company’s seven industrial embroidery machines. ALYSON SHOWALTER