Uncovering the story behind our masks

Our Los Angeles-made Kids Jersey Face Mask

We had thought about selling masks months earlier. The pandemic practically begged us to do it, with the “stay home” and “stay safe” directives.

But then it seemed that everyone was getting into the mask business; we wondered whether we had anything worthwhile to offer.

Once our pop-up markets resumed in June, however, and we engaged with customers while wearing masks for hours at a time, it became clear that not all facial coverings are created equal. What’s more, customers were asking whether we had masks for sale.

So, in short, in August we introduced adult and kids masks. The process wasn’t a simple one but I think illustrative of the thought and consideration we put into everything we sell.

Made in Los Angeles

If you’re like our family, you probably have collected an assortment of masks, some of which fit more comfortably and are more easily worn than others. One style that I wore at shows would work its way southward the more I talked, requiring tedious, constant adjustments to keep it covering my mouth and nose.

With an eye toward buying masks that we could screen print the Stay logo on, we reviewed more than a half-dozen options, including samples from existing vendors. Some masks had straps that go over ears, some had slits for ears to go through.

We didn’t love the fit of any of them, and certainly couldn’t sell them to the public if we didn’t believe in them.

Then my wife, Sara, remembered a work colleague wearing a mask with an American flag on it that seemed to offer a great fit. We discovered that Laurel Mercantile, the brick-and-mortar and online store owned by the hosts of HGTV’s “Home Town,” was carrying the same masks.

We then tracked down the Los Angeles manufacturer, Good Day Masks. I corresponded with the owner, Jennifer Song, via her Etsy site, which is approaching 100,000 masks sold.

Within days, I had one of Jen’s sample masks in hand and had placed my modest order. We debuted the masks (three colors in the adult sizes, three in the kids sizes) at the Market on Chocolate in downtown Hershey on Sept. 5.

We know how good the masks are, so we are proud to offer them. But they represent the first product we’ve sold that isn’t unique to us. In other words, we didn’t add any value to them (in this case, our logo) as we do when we screen print tees or develop products such as zip bags, pennants, pint glasses.

It would have been prohibitively expensive and time consuming to have Good Day Masks screen print our logo on each mask. As Jen explained, the printing would have to be done in the middle of the production process, between stitching the cut pieces and then sewing the binding.

Ultimately, it was more important to offer a great product than to worry about putting our logo on it.

Suburban-Philadelphia ties

Meanwhile, I wanted to know more about Jen and how she came to the mask-making business. If you’ve looked at our products or read our blog, then you have a sense of the importance we place on the stories behind our products. We think customers care, too.

Jen was born in Washington, D.C., and spent her elementary school years in suburban Philadelphia. She majored in biology at the University of Virginia and, opting not to pursue a medical career, took a job with a consulting firm in Los Angeles. From there, she worked for a start-up Internet marketing company before joining “a fledgling online fashion business,” spending nine years as its president.

Last year, she left to form her own venture, Velcro Magnet, which she described as a sustainable apparel brand.

“The week I was submitting purchase orders was when Los Angeles implemented the safer-at-home orders,” she told me. “Factories were only able to remain open if they were producing PPE. I quickly partnered with my factory, and we designed and developed the Good Day Mask. I’m proud that we were able to keep the factory open and pay our workers.”

Vogue, Buzzfeed and New York Magazine have featured Good Day Masks, Jen said. But despite her company’s success, Jen is looking forward to the pandemic’s end.

“I really thought and hoped it would be over by now so I’ve already been working on my next business,” she said. “In my spare time, I’ve resumed working on my sustainable line, and I’m hoping to launch before the end of the year.”

Here’s to Good Day and better days!