Six-Pack Magnets May Predict Presidential Race

The whimsical artistry of Kate Grenier caught my attention while looking through a recent copy of Better Homes and Gardens magazine.  Little did I know that my quest for her bottle cap magnets would connect me with such an incredibly talented, vivacious woman.  Kate shares with us her journey and stories behind Kate Grenier Designs.

Kate, can you share a little bit about your business and how you got started?

Ever since I was a senior in high school I had been designing hammered aluminum furniture and it was those pieces that pushed me to form my company. When we first started the company only did the metal pieces, clocks were our main item and the numbers on the clocks were designed the same way our magnets were - with recycled bottle caps and snippets inside. I would spend hours digging through magazines to find the perfect background and # or word for each clock. My goal was to become the next big furniture designer, selling my pieces through galleries and companies like Sundance and Design Within Reach. Then one day on a whim I started playing around with the magnet idea and a new vision was formed. Sales continued to rise on my furniture but the magnets were blowing everything out of the water and with carpel-tunnel setting in from hammering the metal, I decided it was time to focus mainly on the magnets... a niche I never thought I would get into. Bottle cap magnets? What?!


Where do you draw inspiration for your products?

New themes and designs come about after I experienced something, visited somewhere or fell in love with a new hobby. My favorite inspiration for a six-pack theme came a few years ago when my best friend and I were visiting my grandma in Pennsylvania. She still reminds me to wash my hands, eat my veggies etc... and thus, the "Miss Manners" pack was born and is now one of my best sellers. She also inspired my "Dishwasher" duo, featuring clean and dirty magnets.


What products have been your best sellers?

It is tough to tell which designs are our best sellers, since we sell to so many outlets. Our beach magnets are huge hits in the coastal areas, ski, outdoors and cabin life magnets are huge in the mountain areas etc... Overall though our planet earth six-pack is the best seller, chocolate, wine, happy hour, inspire and girlfriends also sell like crazy. Recently I designed republican and democrat magnets which have become greatly popular, if magnet sales tell anything, the democrats are winning the race.

What are your future plans for Kate Grenier Designs?

I hope to grow the company quite a bit in the next year. We already have secured some large national stores and hope to continue with those. Although we are always introducing new designs to our magnet like, I hope to also design a few more items other than magnets to include in our portfolio. The ideas are still blossoming and hopefully will become a reality soon.

Visit www.kategrenier.com.  Portland, Oregon