Jackson woman finds niche with unusual handcrafted handbags

Mary Ann Sample of Jackson has made a runaway success out of a cart full of license plates, Kool-Aid wrappers, record albums, shoes and newspapers.

From her Westfield Shoppingtown West Park store Purse 'N' Ality by Mary's Gems shop, Sample sells unusual purses and wallets made from and designed after those and other strange items.

Sample said that a woman's purse reflects her personality. In her store, customers have a number to choose from.

She has purses for Cardinal baseball fans and Rams football followers, she has purses made from bowling bags and recycled sheet music, CD wallets made from old license plates and handbags that feature scanned pictures of the bag's owner.

"We've got purses made from shoes to pants and skirts to bustiers to hats," Sample said. She neglected to mention those purses modeled after unmentionables that are also on her shelves.

"Everybody has a personality," Sample said. "Sometimes they just have to find it."

Sample found hers when she started buying and selling purses and wallets from a stand in Country Shade Craft Mall in Cape Girardeau about 18 months ago. Doing it part time to complement a full-time career as a medical assistant in a gastroenterologist's office, Sample spent her hours shopping and surfing the Internet in search of specialty items to sell. Her initial success with selling purses featuring sports team logos and celebrities convinced her to open an island stand at the mall for Christmas 2003. From there, it wasn't long before demand grew to the point that Sample saw fit to take the big step of expanding into a corner shop in the mall.

"Everybody has ideas about doing this and doing that," Sample said. "But only about 2 percent of them ever take the plunge, ever take ahold of it."

When Sample signed the lease on the 400-square-foot shop, she did exactly that, quitting her job to dedicate her full energy -- outside of being a wife and the mother of two -- to her business venture. Forming a network with Jeannie Williams in Sikeston, Mo., and Sherry Dailey in Marion, Ill., both of whom run similar stores, Sample scoured the country and the Internet in search of unique finds to stock her new shelves.

That's how she came upon a lady in Pennsylvania who made purses from old record albums and their jackets, and a Virginia woman who crafted handbags by using multiple layers of newspaper and sheet music. Although she carries her share of products from national wholesalers, she takes pride in featuring the work of small-time crafts people from around the country who, like her, are just trying to make it.

"These things are one-of-a-kind finds," Sample said, holding up a purse from Virginia featuring the famous photo of the Beatles crossing barefoot over Abbey Road. The purse is made from the sheet music to "Hey Jude."

Sample has also taken to designing her own one-of-a-kind purses, the most popular of which are purses constructed from emptied foil Kool-Aid wrappers that are patched together. She thinks of the ideas and draws them, then has friends Sarah Bohnert of Jackson and Evelyn Goodson of Altenburg, Mo., fabricate them.

"I couldn't do it without such a good team working for me," Sample said.

Now Sample is ready to take her team to a higher plane.

Last week, Sample signed a lease to take Purse 'N' Ality into the store currently occupied by Bath 'N' Body Works at Westfield Shoppingtown. With that nationwide chain moving across the way to the old Kay-Bee Toy Store, Sample will move her store into a space of 2,400 square feet, six times the size of her current shop and a long way from her old island cart.

To fill this space, Sample plans to double her inventory, including featuring more custom made and designed clothing from her team as well as people around the country. She's also planning a Web site in hopes that others will find her as she has found so many crafts people. The new and expanded Purse 'N' Ality by Mary's Gems will open on Nov. 1.

As for her quirky purse designs, Sample's thinking of trying to make purses out footballs, soccer balls and basketballs. And of course, she'll always have her eye out for the next big thing.

"They're out there," Sample said. "You just have to research and find them."

trehagen@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 137