The Ledger
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Kate and Andy Spade took no salary until year four
“Fourth year we paid ourselves 15,000 and we're still working out of our apartment.”
Founders drained their savings and 401(k) to bootstrap Kate Spade
“We had run through our four or one K money. And, you know, all of our savings at that point, we still weren't seeing, you know, a progression that was going to pay us a salary in the next year, in the near future.”
A 50-store department store rollout quadrupled Kate Spade's business
“Either Neiman's or Saks, they were buying for two or three stores, and they said, we're going to buy for all of our stores. And that was 50 stores, or more than 50 stores, and that quadrupled our business.”
Kate and Andy Spade waited four years to take a $15,000 salary
“Fourth year we paid ourselves 15,000, and we were still working out of our apartment.”
Andy Spade took Saatchi advertising job to fund Kate Spade fabric costs
“I got a job offer to work for Saatchi and Saatchi in LA, and I almost tripled my salary. You know, we were still funding the company ourselves, and we needed money for fabric, and we needed money for the trade shows, and so we both agreed that I would go to L.…”
Andy and Kate Spade depleted all 401(k) accounts to bootstrap their brand
“We had run through our four or one K money. And, you know, all of our savings at that point, we still weren't seeing, you know, a progression that was going to pay us a salary in the next year, in the near future.”
Department store expansion to 50 locations quadrupled Kate Spade's business overnight
“Either Neiman's or Saks, they were buying for two or three stores, and they said, we're going to buy for all of our stores. And that was 50 stores, or more than 50 stores, and that quadrupled our business.”
Andy Spade built a college ad agency by bartering for food
“I did start an advertising agency my senior year in college, and so I started trading ads for bartering food, and so I'd go to a restaurant, for example, and I'd bring in the ad that they had running in the local paper, And I would show it to them and say, I t…”
Kate Spade accepted her first New York job for $14,000
“When she got her job offer for 14,000 dollars a year, everything changed.”
Counterfeit Kate Spade bags first appeared on Canal Street in 1998
“And counterfeits started around 98. And we started seeing them on Canal Street.”
Kate Spade's first New York magazine job paid $14,000 a year
“When she got her job offer for 14,000 dollars a year, everything changed.”
Kate and Andy Spade hid their business from family expecting to fail
“We intentionally didn't really talk about it much to family, because I think secretly we both thought it would fail.”
Andy Spade started college advertising agency by bartering design for food
“I did start an advertising agency my senior year in college, and so I started trading ads for bartering food, and so I'd go to a restaurant, for example, and I'd bring in the ad that they had running in the local paper, And I would show it to them and say, I t…”