Crane & Canopy

Your bedding is absolutely gorgeous, where did the idea to create your own line of linens & bedding come from?

Thanks! Crane & Canopy was conceived when my co-founder (and wife) told me about her experience when she furnished her first home. She found it difficult to do so without breaking the bank. She shared her frustrations with me and we got to work. For the last three years we have been on a mission to change the way people shop for their bedding – high quality designer bedding shouldn’t have to break the bank!

Have there been any particular struggles in building your business to where it is today? Likewise, do you have any advice for other startups?

In the beginning, establishing factories that delivered products at the quality we expected was a challenge. It was easy to find factories that made bedding, but quite difficult to find ones that operated at the scale and the quality we wanted. Even though we have some history in textile manufacturing, it took us over a year of traveling the world to secure the same factories used by high end department stores. My advice to other entrepreneurs is that no job is too big or small for anyone in your startup. Because you are in a limited resource environment, be prepared to jump in and do whatever is necessary. If you don’t know how to do it, learn it. These days, the barriers to learn how to do anything are low with so many great online tutorials.

How has ShipStation helped you with your business?

The integration with Shopify has been amazing and being able to use ShipStation with other channels has given our team the flexibility to use one shipping solution for all our needs. In addition, ShipStation has made printing out customs forms for international shipments a breeze—originally we were going to only sell our product in the USA. After getting ShipStation up and running, we were confident enough in our capabilities to open up our products to a worldwide audience.

What’s your favorite ShipStation feature?

There are so many! ShipStation has two great label features we love. Being able to easily print labels in batches vs. one at a time and the easy-to-issue return labels system has helped tremendously during our busy days. In addition, the automation rules have allowed us to do things like gift packing slips and automated shipping method carrier selection.