Merchandise a hit with 84,000 followers
A few years ago, Désirée Meyer was living in a camper with two kids and three dogs, and desperately trying to dream up a way to upgrade her living quarters. After teaching herself metalsmithing, she realized it was not going to bring in enough income, so she “started a little tie dye business that turned into a pretty big thing on social media.”
That little business of turning bland clothing into unique works of art has caught the attention of 84,000 followers on TikTok, Meyer said. That, along with her website and exposure from other online companies Facebook, Instagram and YouTube, has allowed Salem Sisters Tie Dye Company to sell their product by the hundreds of thousands during the last 18 months.
A native of Germany, Meyer, 44, has been a U.S. citizen more than 30 years. She moved from Florida to Ellijay 18 years ago, and following the birth of a special-needs child was eventually diagnosed with an autoimmune disease. A career as an entrepreneur fit well because she knew it would be hard to hold down a regular job.
“I’ve been in business since 2009,” Meyer shared. “I actually didn’t start off in apparel, but making hand-stamped jewelry and then taught myself how to metalsmith. It was good, but it didn’t bring in enough turnaround. I only sold online. I tried the (Ellijay) farmers market a couple of times, and it just wasn’t enough for what I needed. Because at that time, I was living out of a camper and raising my kids while trying to purchase a home. I’d left a relationship that didn’t work out, and I just needed to start over. So I bought land and then put a camper on it … and we lived in that for seven years as I grew this business.”
Initially, the tie dye work was done outdoors.
“I had a little shed out back that I would process orders in and had a big tent set up,” she said. “I worked in all kinds of degrees of weather, and now we’re here (in north Ellijay). This is new for us, because we’ve just been here since October. So now we’re processing all of our tie dye inside. We hand-make everything here in our studio. We’re not open to the public; we sell on TikTok livestreaming off of social media. We have our cameras set up (inside the studio), and then we stream online and people will order online by seeing the product.”
Process uses ice
Meyer explained that all of the apparel items used for tie dying — crew necks, hoodies, zip-ups, T-shirts, socks, etc. — has to be cotton or a cotton blend because the dyes won’t soak into polyester.
“(The apparel) has to be a higher-quality cotton,” she noted. “We pre-soak everything in soda ash, which is sodium carbonate, and what it does is it raises the pH balance of the material so that the fiber-reactive dyes will adhere inside the material. There’s a science to it. If your pH balance is not high enough, then it won’t take color properly.”
After tying and coloring, the materials are placed in basket-like trays with open sides and bottoms, then ice is poured on top of them.
“We actually have an ice machine here, and once the ice melts, the material is rinsed before drying it into a finished product,” said Meyer. “Commercial-grade dyes are used; it’s not anything that can be bought off a store shelf. I would say we tie die about a thousand items every single week.”
Sale time
In a recent online sale on Friday and Saturday afternoons, the business sold around 1,200 items, she reported.
“When we livestream over TikTok the sale goes very fast,” she said. “Our cameras will be set up, and I’ll show product and say, for example, ‘This is a 3X (size) with No. 64.’ So somebody can purchase it, but not only that, they can also pick a screen print (design), and we have close to 400 of those to choose from online. If they like something, we can press it right onto their tie dye for the finished product.”
Asked about starting a storefront retail shop, Meyer replied, “We don’t have time and don’t need it ... I don’t think we’d be able to keep up with retail.”
The world of online sales is unique, she added.
“When we livestream, we have another team of about six people that works with us that are called moderators,” Meyer noted. “They help keep the chat going. Internet can be hard because people can troll, make fun (of our sale) and make comments. They keep it in line, so in total we have 11 or 12 people involved in an online sale that make it happen.”
The company has turned “around 100,000 sales” for the 18 months they’ve been on TikTok.
“Since some people buy multiple products at a time, I would say we have sold roughly between 800,000 and 900,000 line items in that year and a half — it’s pretty big,” she said.
y the way, once the online business took off, Meyer was able to purchase a brand-new mobile home for her property.
“We are no longer considered homeless!” she said with a laugh.
A family affair
The Salem Sisters Tie Dye team includes her father Siegfried Meyer, one of her sons, Jerome Meyer, and her sister, Vivian Meyer.
Siegfried was born in Chicago but grew up in Germany. Working with his daughter has been a godsend since he is currently struggling with Stage 4 cancer. He worked at a big-box store, but the pace was too much. Now, working alongside his family allows him to have a better schedule and take breaks when needed.
“Three years ago I had chemo and radiation. I was in remission, and then it came back again. There’s a fight to it, it’s very mental,” he said in a thick German accent. “But hey, God is good!”