Jennifer Barclay

Jennifer Barclay started a company called Blue Fish.  This all began one summer in the garage of Jennifer’s parents Bucks County home.  At the time, she was attending Temple University Tyler school of Art in Philadelphia.  For one hundred dollars she bought the first T-shirts that were tie-dyed and printed onto, thus creating the Blue Fish label.  She sold them at local craft and jazz festivals around the area that year.  “She started the company in response to a personal problem; she couldn’t find clothing that suited her artsy taste in regular department stores.  So she started making her own dudes’ designs, patterns and all.”

In November of 1986, Jennifer Barclay borrowed $4,000 from her parents to set up a booth at a New York wholesale trade show.  From that show she wrote $110,000 in orders.  She then quickly set up a studio and production center.  This all started from a mere idea, which Barclay had in order to express herself.  All of a sudden it went from a home started venture into a true business overnight.  In 1987, the first of several stores was opened.  This flagship store is in Frenchtown, NJ, which has a selling space of 1,267 square feet.

By 1989, Blue Fish expanded with a new store in Taos, N.M.  This store opened in May 1989 with 750 square feet of selling space.  At the time Barclay was heading and directing the designing, stamping and cutting of all Blue Fish garments.  The concept and idea behind this venture is to have wearable art, which is also comfortable.  The whole line began with an all cotton base product.  Individually hand-carved stamps are made by each studio artist, after which garments are stamped to create a unique one of a kind piece in motion.  Each studio artist has a unique design, which is his or her signature.  The artist then signs the garment on the inside of the hem with their individual moniker.  This type of individualistic approach to women’s clothing allowed the company to become more widely represented.

Blue Fish grew in many different directions.  New stores opened up.  They had representation in chain stores and in boutiques.  Approximately 350 boutiques carry Blue Fish merchandise as well as select Nordstrom and Nieman Marcus stores.  This small business could have turned the initial investment of one hundred dollars into ten million.  Although Jennifer Barclay still maintains ideas of a small home run business, she says things like “There is no separation between work and life.  We spend our lives at work, we might as well really enjoy what we do and whom we work with, and that’s all I’ve really wanted – Just that.” (Green money Journal)  Within the company there are job titles which are designed by the individual workers: “Dreams and Beliefs” (Jennifer Barclay), “Seeking and Guidance,” “Dreams to Reality,” and “Spirit Keeper.

Surroundings are a portion of what makes up some of the uniqueness that is Blue Fish.  When all this started out of a garage, family and friends were some of the first to experience Blue Fish.  People that Jennifer Barclay knew started wearing the Blue Fish label.  This is when the little fish entered the larger pond.  In 1986, when Jennifer entered juried craft shows, orders started to pour in to the point where she was almost overwhelmed.  It was then that she moved the company into a historical building that her father owned in Frenchtown, NJ. This is where the first three people of Blue Fish Clothing Inc. started to churn out orders.  This same place is now the flagship store.  This historical building once housed the entire Blue Fish operation.

Within the small quaint village of Frenchtown, NJ, Blue Fish currently operates out of the original building, which houses the flagship store, and two factories.  One of these factories contains the distribution, sewing and production departments.  The other site houses the creative art department and warehouse.  This company has a much laid back form of corporate culture, this was very evident while touring the facilities.  It seems as though they attempt to maintain the concepts behind the foundation of Blue Fish, which Jennifer Barclay brought to the business.  The board of director’s influence is very evident when you walk around the art department.  Gary Hirshberg, President and CEO of Stonyfield Farm Yogurt, has contributed significant quantities of yogurt containers, which are now used to hold paint for each individual artist.  Blue Fish is the largest employer in Frenchtown, NJ and is a well-received portion of the community.  When Blue Fish decided that the backdrop of their latest spring catalog would be the town square area, the town was very accommodating.

According to Tina Woolverton, administrative assistant to Jennifer Barclay, The storekeepers were so happy to oblige and even closed their stores for an hour or two so that the shoot could take place.

Many employees were also models for the catalog shoot that took place in town.  Blue Fish not only enjoys working with locals; they also employ local artisans who create accessories for their retail stores. The artisans vary from store to store because they are only employed locally depending on the artist’s home base.  We can’t know what is very popular in an area, but a local does.  So we employ them to make local additions to the Blue Fish line for each area,” said Tina Woolverton.  Blue Fish is very proud of their ability to promote the local talent.  The employees all talk about how working at Blue Fish is kind of like being with one big family.

Artists were working on something new for this past spring with their individual blocks. These blocks are carved and made for the artists by the textile designers who decide what the actual designs will be for the collection.  One theme for this past summer was “things that swim and fly.  Jennifer Barclay and Christine, an assistant, are all currently designing the collection.  An exciting development that some artists are working on is for the Saks Pholio, which is the catalog division of Saks Fifth Avenue.  This is a big step for Blue Fish as they have done work for Nordstrom and Nieman Marcus, but never before with Saks.  We are the first featured casual wear in this catalog everything else is conservative.  If this development goes well then hopefully we will soon be carried in Saks Fifth Avenue, said Woolverton.  Blue Fish does not do any offshore sourcing.  They do all the production and manufacturing in the local area.

Soon several more Blue Fish stores opened to include Austin, Texas; Santa Fe, New Mexico; Westport, Connecticut; Soho (in New York City), New York; and the newest one in Doylestown, Pennsylvania.  Blue Fish was also selling at various Boutiques and through mail order.  In the beginning of this dream company of Barclays, several people became quick admiring fans of Blue Fish.  “Blue Fish has almost a cult-like following in the fashion industry.  Die hard fans treat Blue Fish Clothing as collectibles, buying as many as 10 items at a time or only buying items created by a specific artist, who signs the apparel.” (Hanah)  Blue Fish has many famous names that have been spotted in their clothing: Cher, Kirstie Alley, Meg Ryan, Penny Marshall, Emmylou Harris, and Mary Chapin Carpenter.  Soon Blue Fish was not the only fish in this artsy market.  There are several other companies that have similar variations on the central theme that is Blue Fish, as well see later.

Blue Fish’s ideal target customer base is comprised of women from 45-70 years old.  These women are willing to pay for high-end garments with this type of flare.  A retail consultant Vicki Ross said, much of the merchandise has been body fitting and tight in the woman’s apparel industry which doesn’t appeal to a population that is aging and growing a bit wider. (Hannon)  Women of this demographic are big spenders, especially for clothes that allow them to be comfortable and stylish.

Blue Fish has marketing targeted at a market with a niche.  When BF stared into this segment of the industry, the market was not as large as it currently is.  Presently the market saturated with garments of this style and with similar designs.  Blue Fish tries to understand their market.  Personal interaction is one aspect of Blue Fish that appeals to repeat patronage.  They appreciate customer feedback and take what is said back to the offices to review.  An employee at Blue Fish flagship store she said, smaller sized woman have been complaining about how the clothing dose not fit them well because of the large cut in the garments”.  After several complaints the company has taken that to heart and now has started to cut down their patterns to adapt to this change in demand.

As of 1995, Blue Fish has been producing products that are made out of organic cotton, rather than just regular cotton.  This is done not only for comfort but also for the environmentally conscious consumer.  The majority of Blue Fish garments are loose fitting and in bright colors.  They block print on everything from T-shirts and vests to dresses, jackets and sweaters.  Each piece is individually unique and crafted with care.  This is one reason that the product is expensive.  To put together a Blue Fish outfit can start out in the range of $400 and up.  T-shirts and vests range from $60-75 and dresses start at $130.  The majority of Blue Fish clothing is oversized and very loose fitting.  This concept is very appealing to their target market.  Blue Fish is now Out of business, since the Spring of 2001, however in 2003 Jennifer Barclay started a new line of clothing called Blue Fish at Barclay Studios which offers many fine reproducibles from the vintage collections as well as new distinguishable looks, textures, fabrics and styles.