Online Drapery Company Featured in the Spec

Mar 21, 2009 - Ryan Barichello

Our Toronto web design company doesn't just make websites, we build success online.  This can't be more true than with D&R Drapery Service.  We launched this client's website just under a year ago and success is a common word being passed around these days. Today they were featured in the Hamilton Spectator.

"Sales are up 20 per cent since the web expansion. They've tapped into a larger market including all of Ontario and as far away as British Columbia, averaging roughly 40 web hits and inquiries per day."

Below is the full article:

WHO DOES THAT?

Rosie-Ann Grover
The Hamilton Spectator
(Mar 21, 2009)

A medley must be playing when sisters Diane Fidanza and Rosella Clairmont are working in the basement.

Woven into the family fabric by a mother who taught them how to sew, the business partners silently dance around one another, creating custom made draperies.

"We barely speak to each other," said Clairmont, who is older by one year. "But we get separation anxiety if kept apart for too long."

Every day is the same. They greet with a kiss and Fidanza, the contemporary one, will select and prep the material, while Clairmont, the traditionalist, sews it all together.

D & R Online Drapery Service launched on the web last year.

It's the new direction for a company that has operated 26 years underground -- making lavish window coverings for local model homes, private owners, banquet centres and theatres while working alongside interior designers.

It's not that they are moving out of the lower floor in Fidanza's east Hamilton home. They never want to leave that workshop.

But change was needed. Demand for their service was dwindling. The do-it-yourself trend made attainable by TV shows and box stores like Lowe's and Ikea, were making them obsolete. Generic versions were available all over.

A cousin suggested creating a website, but Fidanza took it one step further.

At dandrdrapery.com, customers select their own designs and styles from globally imported fabrics, but will save up to 40 per cent by doing the window measurements and installation themselves.

"The possibilities are endless," Fidanza said. "Everything can be done online."

Sales are up 20 per cent since the web expansion. They've tapped into a larger market including all of Ontario and as far away as British Columbia, averaging roughly 40 web hits and inquiries per day.

Fidanza had struggled with ideas to generate sales. One was to open a store.

"Never again," Clairmont was firm.

They began their careers with a storefront on Ottawa Street's fabric district in the early 1980s. With expanding families and late hours, it took a toll. They decided to work from home and raise children simultaneously. It's now a life luxury not worth sacrificing, says Clairmont.