Shifting to Gifting FAQs

Earlier this summer, we shared a HUGE announcement that Ash & Rose would no longer be selling clothing, and we’d be shifting our core business to gifting. Watch or read along as our co-founder Mary Savoca answers some FAQs about the transition: 

No! We are absolutely not going out of business, and we’re really excited about all the growth we’re seeing in the categories we’re focused on, which are mainly jewelry, accessories, and apothecary products.

We know that so many of you associate Ash & Rose with clothing, and unfortunately that’s just not going to be part of our business in the foreseeable future. We really hope you’ll continue to follow along because we have so much more to offer than just clothes!

As many of you know, a massive flood destroyed our brick-and-mortar shop and wiped out all of our inventory back in March 2020, which also happened to be the very start of the pandemic lockdowns in Boston. We started working from home and rebuilding as an online-only shop.

Once we settled into this new routine, we found we had the time and space to pursue projects that had been on the back burner for a long time.
 

We launched our own candle collection using flowers and herbs from our backyard garden. We created accessories from vintage and upcycled materials. We also launched our own ethical jewelry brand. These products took off on their own and have been doing amazingly well.
 

Meanwhile, clothing was really challenging for us to sell online. Without a shop, we relied on deep discounts to move products. We were also really overwhelmed by all the logistical challenges that come with processing a huge volume of returns and exchanges, which were much less frequent in our brick-and-mortar shop where people had the opportunity to see and try before buying.

On one hand, we had the clothing business, which was draining us of all of our energy, and frankly money. And on the other hand, we had our gift business, which was absolutely lighting us on fire creatively and working really well in the online shopping format.

The decision to drop clothing was agonizingly difficult, but at the end of the day it was just the natural next step for us. The truth is that we’ve been thinking along these lines for a couple of years now, and building up to it very slowly.

We’ve placed our products in hundreds of boutiques all across the country, and we’re rolling out website updates that are making this a nice, smooth transition from clothes to gifts and accessories.

We can’t wait to share our fall and holiday product launches—we’re obsessed with the new designs we’re working on and will be rolling them out in bite-sized batches throughout the season! We’re also going to show you a bit of behind-the-scenes action on how your products are made, since we’re really putting our heart and soul behind every design. Stay tuned to see more! 

This is easily the number one question we hear when we’re out doing local events, and the short answer is yes. We’re very much outgrowing our home office space, growing our team, and exploring our options for a studio and office space that would include a showroom that’s open to the public.

What I can't answer for you now is when or where, but I really hope you’ll keep following along and be among the first to know when we do make an announcement.

We have no plans right now to sell clothes, but if and when we do it again, it will likely be more in the form of a tightly curated collection of wearable art pieces. We are no longer trying to be your one-stop shop for head-to-toe sustainable fashion, but rather a place where you can come to discover something truly unique and beautiful.

I hope this gives you a better idea of what we’re working on. We’ll be checking in with more updates soon on Instagram and in our email newsletter, so please follow with us there. In the meantime, I definitely want to encourage you to shop The Outlet section of our website. That’s where you’ll find all the clothing we have left at huge discounts—grab it while you can!

I hope you enjoy those last days of summer!