Eve Q. Casey marked both a significant career and personal milestone three weeks ago with the launch of her maiden business, The Bedlam Street Company – a self-described “bespoke embroidery company specializing in personalized monograms and motifs” that celebrates the coastal lifestyle.
“We’ve gotten off to a startlingly nice start,” said Casey, who serves as “Proprietress” of the fledgling business that she operates out of her River Street home alongside her husband John Houser. “Now, we’re just trying to figure out how keep the momentum going and get the word out.”
The Bedlam Street Company offers a curated selection of monogram-able home goods and apparel, including 33 different monogram styles; 69 different motifs; and 33 different “thread” or color selections. Quick turnaround times for orders are also ensured to accommodate memorable occasions, such as the birth of a new child, an engagement party or any other special event.
The company’s moniker pays homage to the nickname of the main street in Eve’s hometown of Cold Spring Harbor, a hamlet on the north shore of Long Island, N.Y., located about 20 miles outside of Manhattan. From the establishment of the Cold Spring Waling Company circa 1838 until 1860, the town was an epicenter of the whaling industry, with sailors from around the world descending on its main street and filling it with a cacophony of different languages that was often described as “bedlam.” Since the demise of the whaling industry, the town has become a popular tourist destination.
“It’s symbolic of where I grew up, as well as the historic nature of towns in the Northeast,” Casey said of the company’s name.
Casey started her career as a buyer of women’s apparel and accessories for TJX in Framingham and last worked as a buyer for Rue La La in the Seaport before leaving that position to start her business.
“When John and I got married about two years ago, I noticed a black hole in the marketplace,” Casey said. “It felt like there was no one locally curating a selection of goods that spoke to me and where I grew up.”
In preparation for the launch of The Bedlam Street Company, Casey and Houser, who grew up outside Atlanta, Ga., made two trips to the AmericasMart Atlanta, a sprawling exhibition and trade center that offers the nation’s largest selection of wholesale home gifts, in search of vendors selling items that could be easily personalized for resale.
Casey also recruited Cara Marquis of Nantucket’s Marquis Creative to design the company’s website, and she and Houser then retrofitted their apartment to accommodate a sizable Brother commercial embroidery machine, as well as a small inventory of key items they keep on hand to fill incoming orders.
Now, with the business up and running, Casey has taken a cue from the generosity of other neighborhood businesses and pledged to donate 10 percent of The Bedlam Street Company’s net proceeds to charity.
“We hope to create partnerships with other local businesses and not just cater to people celebrating milestones,” Casey said.
“It’s not just the financial component either,” Houser added. “We would like to do a pop-up or maybe participate in a road race to really make a physical connection with people.”
For more information, email [email protected], visit www.thebedlamstreetco.com or follow The Bedlam Street Company on Instagram @bedlamstreetco.