By Sarrah Peters
News Editor
Jenny Sollie is the owner and founder of Blossom Blanks, a wholesale supplier of quality “blank” clothes. The blanks are then sold to stores or businesses that monogram or print designs on to them.
Although mainly a wholesale store, the blanks are sold at a retail price in the storefront on Chestnut.
Blossom Blanks began two and a half years ago in a basement in Birmingham. Sollie was a new mother, who had left her banking job to stay with her children for a few years. With some of her newly free time, she began monogramming clothes for her kids. As friends requested her services for personalized children’s wear, she realized how difficult it was to find quality clothes to monogram.
“When you are sewing, a thin shirt will not work,” said Sollie.
With an idea in mind, Sollie began researching factories, finally after eight months, finding one that met her strict criteria in India.
Her clothing is more than basic t-shirts, with children’s polos, ruffled shirts and dresses in various colors.
“Every season we throw in new items,” said Sollie.
The clothes are all 100 percent organic cotton that is GTOS certified, which means no pesticides have been used on the plants in at least three years. She sells children’s clothes size newborn to size 10, with some exceptions for specialty items.
With Sollie’s bachelors degree in marketing and an MBA in management, the small basement business, with Alabama customers, quickly grew. Blossom Blanks now supplies over 3,000 boutiques, clothing lines and online stores with blanks in 48 states. As the business grew, it moved to a Birmingham warehouse and in December of last year moved to Gadsden. She even sells to local boutiques in Gadsden.
Sollie hopes her business will continue to grow.
“I’d like to do it a long time for a long time,” said Sollie.