Bandana Republic

The Pucci Pack off-leash

iven that pretty much every Greystonian around loves, cherishes and obeys their beloved pooches, the launch of Pucci Pack makes perfect sense.

The brainchild of some particularly brainy Educate Together kids, these handmade accessories for our four-legged friends will have the town’s dog owners barking with joy.

GG’s own Otto was certainly a happy chomper when he got his paws on one of their red throw ropes.

Just how Pucci Pack came to be, we decided to swing by Educate Together this afternoon and ask team members Noah, Oscar, Ava, Luna & Rosamund…

You seem a little young to be setting up your own business. What’s the story…?
It was part of a brilliant program called JEP, aka the Junior Entrepeneur Program. This is a program that helps young people like us to learn life skills to prepare them for the real world.

How did Pucci Pack first come to mind?
We had a group of teachers that we called the Dragons – like from Dragon’s Den – who decided what our business was going to be. Each idea was pitched to the Dragons and Pucci Pack was born.

And then comes the hard part, right? Getting the show on the road…
We made teams, including Design & Production, Marketing & Technology, Sales & Communications and Finance, who then got to their jobs. The sales team started to decide the prices while the finance team helped with the cost-versus-profit margins. The design and production team began to make bandanas and toys, and the marketing and technology made an Instagram account and posters to advertise our company, while communications wrote a message asking for donations of fabric as our product is sustainably-sourced. Now we are ready to sell and take orders.

Atacama

How important was it that your product was sustainable?
Yes, it was very important because we could not bring ourselves to make a product that could possibly harm the environment. We had seen pictures of the Atacama Desert in Chile and the clothes that are dumped there, and we didn’t want to add to it by purchasing more fabric if we could sustainably source.

How can people buy your product?
We have an Instagram account called Pucci Pack, where you can place orders, and you can buy our products at our school, Greystones Educate Together. We are having a sales day on the 15th of March from 2 30pm to 2 50pm in the playground in our school.

You heard the young entrepreneurs. Get yourself up to Educate Together on Tuesday, March 15th between 2.30pm and 2.50pm or head over to Pucci Pack on Instagram to purchase your perfect pooch present.

Prices are – bandanas small €4, medium €5 and large €6; dog toy is €5; treats are 10 for €3. A Pucci Pack of bandana, toy & treats is €11.