Mother-Daughter Duo Work to Make Miche Bag Business a Success

Mount Pleasant resident Cathy Schmidt retired from the Washington Park High School Activities Office in 2006 and needed to find something to fill her days.

She really didn't have any hobbies so Schmidt decided to try her hand at direct sales and helping businesses at vendor fairs. She was out and about when she saw her first Miche Bag.

"And I'm not a purse person," she laughed. "But it was such a unique product that I was interested so I started investigating."

Miche Bag is basically a core with replaceable shells so changing purses becomes, literally, a snap.

Schmidt started as a sales representative in May 2009, going into people's homes and making presentations, then filling orders for the purses. It was her daughter, Carrie Renzulli, who saw the potential.

"She's the one who thought we should apply for a distributorship," Schmidt said. "So I supplied the money for the initial investment, which was about $10,000."

She said she didn't see the investment as a huge risk because even if the business didn't take off, Schmidt had been a representative long enough to know she could at least sell what she had to make her money back. 

But the business did take off and now Schmidt and Renzulli have 35 sales representatives of all ages and professional backgrounds working for them across Southeast Wisconsin and parts of Northern Illinois. Moreover, they've moved their operations from their living and dining rooms into a small store front at Warwick Way and Washington Avenue in Mount Pleasant.

Miche Bag by the Lake, LLC Offices and Boutique will officially open in a few weeks but will not be a retail operation.

Instead, Schmidt and Renzulli have placed Miche bags in the front of the space as a model showroom. Orders must still go through the website or a sales rep. The back room will serve as an office, training facility, monthly meeting room, and a great space for Miche hostesses to have their parties without having to worry about cleaning their house.

The company had $225,000 in sales in 2010 and is on track to surpass that figure in 2011. Neither mother nor daughter expected such success in the middle of a recession.

"You don't have to spend a lot of money on yourself to feel better," Renzulli said. "Getting a new shell for a Miche is only about $22 so women feel like they can afford that even in harder times."

Schmidt said they do plan a grand opening in August to recognize their sales representatives and their customers. Plus, August marks the company's second anniversary.

Visit Miche Bag by the Lake at www.facebook.com/michebagbythelake