 PRESS
RELEASEOut of a remote coastal town in the northern part of Florida comes a unique company named after the elegance and friendliness that is linked with the South. Southern Comfort is that company. It’s not related to the distiller by that name, but rather to the reality that the culture and heritage of the South is being lost. It’s being lost to the big city sprawl that is taking over the back country towns that have nurtured these cultures. Southern Comfort is an Internet Arts and Crafts Gallery. Its existence is made possible through the popularity being enjoyed by this relatively new electronic medium. Known as a virtual gallery, Southern Comfort has found a low cost means to present otherwise unknown artists and even lesser known art forms to people who would otherwise never experience these heritage crafts of the South. You’ve certainly heard of quilting, but have you heard of quilling? Phil and Randy Busch, the husband and wife team that created Southern Comfort, hadn’t either…not until they were approached by Janice Miller of Newnan, Georgia. For those of you that are interested, quilling is the art of creating little rolls of paper into intricate designs and representations such as flowers, leaves, and animals. Phil and Randy consider themselves ¼ retired. They both quit their South Florida corporate jobs in the computer and automotive worlds to pursue their dreams. Phil wanted to act while Randy has always wanted to return to her passion for teaching. If you ask them to define ¼ retired they’ll tell you “working hard, but at something we love.” Southern Comfort has incorporated their desire to travel with their appreciation for the artisans of the South and their works. In between their acting and teaching jobs, Phil and Randy travel to the many different lifestyles of the South. They meet the locals, find artists, and photograph their works. When the right artists are found, they are offered a no cost means to present their works to people they would otherwise never reach. The artisans only pay Southern Comfort a commission for items that are sold on the site. “The key to this,” Phil says, “is keeping the cost down for the gallery, the artisans, and the customers. We do this by having no inventory.” “Instead we work with the artisans as partners,” Randy continues. “When we receive an order, we charge the customer what the artisan would charge, plus a very fair shipping charge. The artisan is then sent a check at which time he will either ship the item shown in the gallery or make one like it. All our works are handmade therefore no two items will ever be exactly alike.” The site is broken down into sections. Each section represents a region or city that Phil and Randy have visited. To date that includes St. Augustine, FL, Savannah, GA, Charleston, SC, The states of South Carolina and Florida, North Georgia, Asheville, NC and New Orleans. There is a catch-all section for anything that doesn’t fit any place else under Flagler Beach, the home base for Southern Comfort. “How do we pick artists and their works?” Randy asks. “We aren’t the most educated arts and crafts enthusiasts, but we’ve met a lot of artisans and visited a lot of galleries and museums. If we like the artisans and their work they’re good enough for Southern Comfort. Of course they have to like us and want to be on our site too,” adds the president of this female minority corporation. “We don’t have contracts and we don’t charge for the hours and hours that Phil puts into each artisan’s page. Therefore, we have to trust the artisans we work with and they have to trust us. A commission is mutually agreed upon and a handshake makes the deal. The art forms on the site include everything from pottery to hand painted glassware, from hand woven fabric art to sandals, from candles to Haitian paintings, from sweetgrass baskets to handmade fabric and porcelain dolls. Quilts, wooden toys, dulcimers, hand painted mailboxes and ugly jugs, if it’s an art form, Phil and Randy are trying to get it on their site. The revenues at Southern Comfort have just about doubled every year since Phil and Randy started in August of 1999. Expenses are low and the gallery is both a business and a hobby. Instead of dinner and a movie it’s a board meeting (Phil and Randy over barbecued chicken) and a planning session. Innovations are always being sought and suggestions from the artisans and customers are always solicited. A shopping cart has been implemented and credit cards are accepted. Orders are taken through the secure shopping cart and by phone on an “800” number. Phil and Randy Busch can be reached at 386-439-4741 or at info@visitsoutherncomfort.com. Visit their site at www.visitsoutherncomfort.com. If you like the Southern culture, you won’t be disappointed. |
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