Published by Louise on 26 Sep 2008
Laga Handbags Consultant makes the news in High Point, North Carolina
Local woman works for company that gives profits to tsunami survivors
By Jimmy Tomlin
jtomlin@hpe.com
DON DAVIS JR. | HPEJoyce Darr sells handbags made by Indonesian tsunami survivors.
JAMESTOWN - The handbags Joyce Darr sells are appealing enough on their own, but when potential customers hear the story behind the product, the sale is pretty much in the bag.
Darr, of Jamestown, is North Carolina’s sole consultant - and one of only a few on the East Coast - for Laga Designs International, a California company whose handbag, travel bag and beaded purse sales benefit people in Indonesia who were devastated by the 2004 tsunami.
“Everyone who has seen these bags loves them,” Darr says, “and when people hear the story behind the bags, that really helps make the sale.”
The story, in fact, was what persuaded Darr to begin selling the high-fashion bags about three weeks ago.
“The thing that appealed to me most was that this helps rebuild someone’s life from the tsunami that hit in Indonesia,” she says. “Roy describes it as a business with a mission.”
Roy is Laga Designs International co-founder Roy van Broekhuizen, of Santa Ana, Calif. A native of Indonesia, he returned to that country after the tsunami to lead a mission trip; the devastation he encountered prompted him to launch Laga Designs International (”laga” is Indonesian for “beautiful”).
“It was the worst thing I’ve ever seen - so much death, and the smell of death,” van Broekhuizen recalls. “It totally changed my life and my wife’s life. She was really touched by the people there.”
Before the couple left Indonesia, van Broekhuizen’s wife, Louise, became intrigued with some fashionable handbags she discovered that were handmade by local artisans. She brought them back to California, where she hosted a home party and sold some $2,000 worth of the bags, and the business quickly grew from there.
According to van Broekhuizen, the company now has about 50 consultants nationwide - most of them on the West Coast - as well as about 250 retail outlets and a wholesale division.
“We’ve probably sold 5,000 to 6,000 bags of all sizes,” van Broekhuizen says. “We’re a small business, with under $1 million in revenues, but we may reach that within a year. And all profits go back to the people of Indonesia - my wife and I don’t get paid at all.”
Van Broekhuizen says the handbags have been handed down from generation to generation in Indonesia, but Laga Designs International is the first company to bring them to the United States.
“The story behind the bags is really an enhancement,” he says. “Women, especially, love to help other women, and this is a great way not just to buy a bag, but also to help a woman in Indonesia who gets empowered by doing something productive. This helps give her a new life.”
In Indonesia, the number of women making bags for Laga has grown from a dozen when the company started to about 150 today.
The handbags range from $24.95 up to about $299, depending on size, Darr says.
According to Darr, selling the handbags has been a blessing.
“I had been praying about finding a ministry of some kind,” she says, “and every time I did, a phrase kept coming to me from Roy’s Web site: “If you’re going to carry a handbag anyway, why not carry one that helps rebuild lives?’ So I look at this as a ministry that’s helping change people’s lives.”
