Irvine local Gina McGrath, who started her own laptop bag company gina b. International two years ago (mentioned here earlier), managed to get her leather goods into the new Bloomingdale’s store at South Coast Plaza.

It wasn’t an easy feat, she tells me.

I started contacting the Bloomingdale’s buyer over two years ago and continued to call and email until she finally responded during our first year in business and gave me the opportunity to send her samples.

Ahh… persistence! But alas, the Bloomies buyer (what a job!) decided to pass. Gina continued to sell her bags at places like Kolobags and even Costco. She added new styles, made some improvements based on the buyer’s feedback and voila! The Gina B. Luca Bella collection is now available in the store. Still… two years?

Back to Gina’s story, which takes us to Las Vegas, February 2006. Gina heads to the Travel Goods Show:

I had also established a relationship with a reputable and respected sales representative that worked with major accounts in the New York territory and had agreed to represent the gina b. collection.

When the [Bloomingdale's] buyer saw us at the tradeshow, she was excited about the improvements that I had made in the new styles and was impressed with the quality and workmanship.

She loved “Luca Bella” which is our number one selling style, and we were given the opportunity for a test order in her stores, one being the new store at South Coast Plaza which is absolutely an incredible and beautifully designed store.

Gina is planning to unveil several new styles in August — including a few more affordable ones between $75 to $135. If you want to catch the Luca Bella collection now, head to the Bloomingdale’s in South Coast Plaza.

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