New Abbey Press line aims to help women cope with life’s challenges Print
Written by Christine D. Johnson   
Wednesday, 31 July 2013 01:01 PM America/New_York

AbbeyPress-CourageousWomanCrossAbbey Press is unveiling a new product line celebrating the power of women to undergo hardship with courage and overcome it with grace. The “Courageous Woman” collection was created to encourage women to overcome adversity through faith in God and the strength He gives them to endure.

Available Sept. 15, the first wave of the line’s products includes a wall cross with scripture ($21), a ceramic mug with coaster ($12) and a wood plaque with an inspirational poem ($16). The wood wall cross and plaque feature antique-look metal butterfly embellishments. The butterfly design motif, also used on the mug, suggests the power of faith to uplift women and help them rise above life’s setbacks.

“We wanted to create products that would encourage women coping with life challenges,” said Lisa Engelhardt, author of the original verses on the products. “It’s so hard to know what to give a friend going through breast cancer or a divorce, for example, or someone who’s lost her job or has some other serious problem.”

Engelhardt feels the “Courageous Woman” products help women tap into their own reserves of inner strength and courage.

“We women are so much stronger than we know and more resilient than we realize,” she said.

Ashley Verkamp, who designed the women’s line, describes the color palette as “richly feminine, pulling in those pink hues we now all associate with truly courageous women. Coupled with the warm and grounding strength of rich brown tones and airy cream colors, this palette gives a sense of solidarity, balance and grace.”

Abbey Press also recently opened its own permanent showroom at AmericasMart Atlanta. Sue Kloeck, director of trade marketing, said she was “pleased” with how this month’s show went in the company’s new showroom.

“We had fairly good traffic for being a summer show and we did 80% more business in our new location compared to the temps last year in July,” Kloeck said. “Forty-eight percent of the sales were new account sales.  Two were international accounts, and we are very pleased with the leads we received for follow-up. We feel we have established ourselves in a great space that will continue to grow our sales at this market, especially at the winter shows with higher traffic potential.”