See us at a whole host of shows and events this year. We are excited to be exhibiting at the following:
Badminton Horse Trials
Country Living Stand 2
3-7th May 2023
RHS Malvern Spring Festival Country Living Stand 5
11-14th May 2023
RHS Hampton Court Palace Flower Show
Country Living Stand 903 – 904
3-8th July 2023
RHS Tatton Park Flower Show
Country Living Stand 807
19-23rd July 2023
Burghley Horse Trials – Stamford, Lincs
The Country Living MAKERS Marquee – Stand 25
31st Aug – 3rd Sept 2023
Lookout for the Brightest Stripiest Stand and come and say Hello to our Show Team!
Dan in his Multi Colour Striped Suit at a Show
Won’t be able to make it to any of The Stripes Company shows 2023? Visit us online at www.thestripescompany.com or visit our Fabric Factory Outlet Shop near Chester CH3 7PD
Since writing this original post in January 2021, the online parcel delivery landscape has changed considerably. During nearly 15 years of trading online, one of the trickiest challenges has been posting goods out to customers in a timely and efficient fashion.
When we began back in 2006, there were fewer postage options, no automised dispatch notifications or delivery tracking. Technology is improving at an exponential rate and short of drone deliveries, we now have a bespoke system in place that factors in all the options which are best for you the customer – geography, speed of delivery and the ability to amend deliveries within a certain time limit. We choose the best carrier for you and make sure that you are paying the correct price for your delivery.
Larger Parcels – Deckchairs, Windbreaks etc
For larger parcels ( and some of ours are REALLY large ) we use the best courier option, freight forwarders for more complicated shipments, and pallet companies for bulkier orders. If you are ordering from overseas, our service is exemplary.
We charge the customer the amount that we are charged by the individual carriers and the correct shipping price is shown in the basket at the time of purchase – for overseas or bulk orders, please request a shipping price before purchasing and we will send an invoice to you.
Delivery Times at StripesCo
As a small company, we do not use fulfilment – all our parcels are lovingly packed by our own team in our own warehouse and offices in Chester with great attention to detail. Our post is manifested and collected each day – we usually pack orders the day we receive them (weekdays only) or the next day at peak times so you may be sure that you will not be waiting long to receive your parcel.
As we trade online, to keep costs down and to save time, we do not have a dedicated phone receptionist – if you need us we are here available weekdays from 10.00 a.m. until 4.00 p.m. constantly checking our emails, so the best way to contact us is through our contact form, or call and leave a short clear message with your phone number and we will always call you back within a short space of time.
Bespoke stitching orders and made to measure obviously takes a little bit longer and our expert stitchers are usually quick, but we may be able to prioritise for special requests – just add ‘Express Shipping’ to your basket when you order.
Once your parcel is dispatched, you will receive a notification (occasionally this may land in your junk box), and delivery information from the carrier service provider will be sent to you by email or SMS.
As a rule, we receive very few complaints from customers over delivery issues. We have a no quibble replacement policy – we hope that our goods and services speak for themselves, and we have many wonderful and loyal customers whose support we treasure.
Our new reversible striped face coverings are a luxurious combination of a variety of our beautiful striped fabrics and the eight colourful velvet fabrics we stock.
Made in our Chester shop, these unique face coverings are soft and warm, perfect for the coming winter months. As face coverings become an everyday necessity, they can also be a fashion statement and coordinate with what we are wearing!
Reusable and Washable Face Coverings
You can wash and reuse our velvet stripe face mask coverings. Dry promptly and iron on the stripe side only.
Pack of 3 Face Coverings
You can purchase a pack of 3 randomly chosen striped face coverings or choose individually by velvet colour – Pale Aqua, Coral Red, Emerald Green, Burnt Orange, Bright Pink, Plush Purple, Cool Turquoise or Golden Yellow.
Furthermore, the stripes on each face mask are picked to corodinate with the sumptuous velvet so they may vary slightly from the pictures shown.
Pink Velvet Face Covering with Snooker Stripe
Turquoise Velvet Face Covering with Rhumba StripeAssorted Pack of 3 Stripes Company Face Coverings
Wooden Windbreak Poles for our Beach Windbreaks are probably one of the most challenging items that we have to source…
So far we have been sourcing windbreak poles from companies which may have ceased to trade with unused warehouse stock, and we were lucky enough to acquire hundreds of unused 1950’s poles made from beechwood as part of the Blackpool Deckchair trove.
Trying to find new poles in this day and age, of the correct size and quality, is more difficult than one would imagine. No UK business that we contacted is geared up to this type of manufacture. Furthermore, any other poles readily available are made of unsustainable poor quality wood from dubious Oriental sources.
When we asked our Indonesian suppliers if they could make new poles for us with the same high spec as our other furniture, the price quoted was not a viable option. However, they came up with a surprising alternative…
Vintage Poles
They have sourced some ready made vintage poles made of a strong native wood of surprising quality and endurance, together with the additional bonus of being the correct width and length. They just needed a point carving at the end like a large pencil, but as luck would have it, they were already painted along the length years ago, in bold horizontal red and white stripes.
Perfect Poles for The Stripes Company
It transpires that they were used for Indonesian Independence Day celebrations each year. Please read the story below as told to us by our lovely suppliers – it is a great provenance for our windbreak poles, and we acquired all that were available! The poles are left in their original worn condition with all the marks and scratches of their long history – stripping them back to the natural wood would have robbed them of all character, and as most of the pole is hidden anyway, we did not think that this was necessary.
We hope that you agree when reading the story below.
Their Story ….
“Every August each year we are remembering the struggle and sacrification of our national heroes in fighting for our national independence.
There are usually celebrations and parades on the street, performing arts and cultural attractions where the boy scouts and students take part.
Together, they create performances like dancing, marching band, theatrical art show, etc using many red and white poles.
Red and White Pole used in Indonesian Independence Day Celebrations
The Red and White colours have a very long history.
It is the triumph color of the ancient kingdom named Majapahit. This is once ruling the regions from the Nusantara archipelago until Singapore, and some parts of Malaysia and Cambodia. This ancient kingdom is located in East Java. They were the biggest and strongest kingdom in Indonesia’s history, even in Southeast Asia. At that time the archipelago hadn’t been named Indonesia yet but it is Nusantara that means archipelagos.
The Red and White colours then became the legacy or sign of the power of the kingdoms ruling the Nusantara after Majapahit falls, until Indonesia became a republic. With the spirit of the greatest kingdom, our founding fathers decided to use the Red and White colors as our national flag.
The Flag was first fluttered on the 17th of August 1945 in an independence proclamation event in Jakarta which marks Indonesia’s Independence Day”.
Our New Beach Windbreak Poles
We will now be using these fabulous poles when we make our 4 pole, 5 pole or 6 windbreaks. Available in a variety of our brightly striped fabrics that look wonderful on the Beach or in the Garden.
Each windbreak has a handy pocket (2 on a 6 pole) and a storage/carry bag in matching stripes.
Striped Beach Windbreak in Pentathlon Stripe with Carry Bag
Our new range of colourful velvet cushions with striped accents and trimmings is here!
New and exclusive cotton velvet cushions
We are proud to announce our New and exclusive plain cotton velvet range for interior soft furnishing projects. In gorgeous brights and jewel colours with textures as silken as a puppy’s ear..
We invite you to have look at the stunning new range of products that we have produced which incorporate our gorgeous new velvets, stripes and trimmings. They are suitable for all the year round.
Bestselling Stripes
The velvet colours that we are introducing are based on the colours in our bestselling stripes. These will co-ordinate with many of our trimmings. So, if there are velvet cushions with striped accents that you see, but you would like to have made to measure, and in any combination other than shown, please email us with your requirements.
Infinite Velvet and Striped Combinations
As it is impossible to picture all the infinite combinations, we have pictured a few to give you some ideas, which are available to buy from the website. (Made to measure is usually at no extra cost if similar to those shown)
We also have snuggly velvet lined cotton THROWS, PIPED CUSHIONS in plain velvet or HALF AND HALF CUSHIONS with stripes and velvet. Together with reversible striped cotton and velvet BAGS, velvet striped button SEAT PADS and lots, lots more!
We hope you enjoy – and we have lots more ideas in the pipeline!
Portable folding wooden stools with strong canvas seats in many different striped canvas fabrics.
Made in grade A Teak each folding wooden stool is lightweight, easy to carry, stores flat, so takes up little room in a cupboard or boot of the car.
Hence they are ideal for taking with you to outdoor events, picnics, festivals, camping, when you want to sit down or rest for a short while.
We are offering them with seats made up in any of our deckchair canvas range. The seat is easily replaced / removable using a dowelling system.
striped folding wooden stoolsWe also have plain fabrics for those of you who prefer a more traditional folding stool, in dark green, red, blue, black, orange or cream for that matter.
Dark green folding wooden stool
These sturdy folding stools are made from beautiful warm coloured Teak hardwood. Remember old fashioned folding wood stools before the advent of aluminium and plastic? Yes?
Our teak wooden stools are faithful replicas but brought up to date covered in a range of jazzy, bright stripes!
There are ethical responsibilities involved in running any business. Therefore since 2006 when our first fabric designs arrived wrapped in hessian bales and cardboard boxes, we knew that we would have to address the issue of waste management and formed an immediate policy.
Managing what we throw away has remained a top priority for us. Long before the current focus on plastics recycling and disposal we were making a conscious effort to work towards a zero waste policy here at our Chester factory. Now, having always seriously addressed the issues of waste we can honestly say that we have none!
In addition to waste management we are extremely careful with what we bring in to the factory. All our racking, display casing and furniture is upcycled, rescued and given a new life with us. Our computers and tools are bought second hand and our showroom is built almost entirely from reclaimed and salvaged materials. Our kitchen doesn’t even have a bin, everything is either washed on site or taken home by staff to encourage the use of repeat use containers.
Reclaimed Signage
Reclaimed Shelving
Reclaimed Shelving
Reclaimed Shelving
Reclaimed Storage
Reclaimed Storage
Hessian Sacks
Recycled Tub
Recycled Box for Sweets!
Here are our policies laid out in full. We hope this encourages and gives ideas to everyone, especially businesses like ours to help reduce the waste they produce. Great for saving money and the planet!
No fabric is wasted – ends of rolls and surplus is either donated to local schools or charities, or useable pieces are recycled into remnant packs.
Orders are sent out in re-used cardboard boxes, recyclable plastic and paper.
All our hessian wrapping from bales is re-used in gardens as frost protection or composted.
We request no plastic, polystyrene or foam in any of our incoming packaging.
All our products are 100% cotton, wood, leather or jute – all recyclable and bio-degradable.
We generally stick to the theme of using old and repurposed items and nothing that cannot easily be disposed of if necessary – but not as landfill.
All our warehouse storage, racking, shelving and receptacles are recycled/upcycled – for instance, we use old wooden ladders as shelving and mill skips and old wooden storage boxes as containers.
Galvanised wire stacking baskets and old school plimsoll holders, original haberdashery cabinets and galvanised metal tubs are all put to good use in our showroom/shop – even the wooden plank walls are made of original decking from old ships!
Our visual props are sourced from beaches – driftwood and fishing nets with corks, fishing boat floats and marine antiquities. Wooden bottle crates and wine boxes, 1920’s woven cane textile baskets and old luggage are all put to excellent use.
All our ‘tools of the trade’ are secondhand from our sewing machines to the everyday tools – screws and nails are stored in old jam jars (like grandpa’s shed!)
The cardboard tubes on which we we send out metres of material rolled up are scrounged from other textile companies, and our ‘new’ office kitchen is up-cycled.
In the winter, our warehouse is like Siberia, so instead of expensive heaters, we layer up and get moving!!
And we were the company who purchased all Blackpools old deckchairs for the purposes of hiring out for events and functions!
We send all goods directly to customers around the world directly from our own warehouse in Chester and are very proud that we are the only business on site without a skip!
Our customers are always telling us how much they can fit into our Extra Large Beach Bags, often not just when going to the beach!
Here at The Stripes Company we have know this for years, having used these super handy bags for all kinds things including weekends away, packing for the kids, going to the gym or doing the grocery shop! And they never let us down. They are strong, water resistant, hold TONNES and (even if we do say so ourselves) they also look great!
To put these claims to the test we decided to load them up for various situations and see how much we can fit in them – and they didn’t disappoint! See the results on the videos below, and a big thanks to our own Sally for happily packing and unpacking to put these bags to the tests!
This year we have many new striped accessories for you to get your home and garden Summer ready at The Stripes Company, together with new striped beach accessories for your holiday in the UK or abroad
