We recently connected with Sarah Briginshaw and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Sarah , thanks for joining us today. Let’s start with the story of your mission. What should we know?
Having grown up in South Africa and having a deep love for Africa and all its deep cultural roots I have a desire to support and showcase the incredible product and design that is being created in South Africa. My desire is to showcase the incredible talent of the South African people to the world.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
I am Sarah, the founder of Sarza. I came to the USA 10 years ago along with my husband and 2 kids. It was really an empty store front which ignited the spark that grew into the fire that is Sarza. My experience had always been in sales, design and product sourcing but it had not been a plan to own my own store until that vacant store came into sight.
From there the rest is history I started small with a few brands that I was familiar with, but quickly we extended into a larger retail store and launched our e commerce site. We also started to grow our range of suppliers.
From the very beginning our goal was to represent Contemporary African Design: Our store is a curated collection of home goods, furniture, lighting, wallpapers, ceramics, homewares and accessories. We love that our products all have a story to tell.
Our ethos is Buy well and buy less: Love every purchase so much that it will be with you for a very long time.
What sets us apart is our very hands on approach in everything from our sales service to our logistics and customer services. We also have an edge on our competitors in the fact that we consolidate and ship our items in our own containers which allows us to be competitive on shipping rates and allows us to avoid damages when shipping our product from South Africa.
We’d love to hear the story of how you built up your social media audience?
TO me the most valuable tool you can use is to be authentically you. I think people who love your brand also are curious about the kind of person you are behind the brand. Don’t be shy to show your face on your social media platforms and speak authentically to them.
People are also always interested in information – even if it does not relate directly to the brand – they like it when brands share tips and tricks and information of general value. Marketing must not always be sales orintated
Any stories or insights that might help us understand how you’ve built such a strong reputation?
I think what has assisted in building our brand is the the consistent high quality product that we are putting out into the market. Coupled with this is our excellent customer service and follow up and support.
When people are purchasing online I believe that it gives confidence to be able to pick up the phone and talk to the owner of the business – this gives confidence to purchase without hesitation.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.sarzastore.com
- Instagram: Sarzastore
- Facebook: Sarza
- Linkedin: Sarza Store
- Youtube: Sarzastore
