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Anna Papp: Purses with a Purpose

FOR 28 YEARS, Anna Papp owned and operated the Outdoor Living Center business in Covington. After selling the company and retiring, Anna found that she had not only a lot of fond memories, but a closet full of discontinued fabric samples. The high-end outdoor furniture she sold was all made with premium fabrics that do not fade or deteriorate in outdoor environments. Not wanting to just dispose of hundreds of 14-inch square samples, she set out to find a use for them.

Many years ago on a trip to Montana, Anna had purchased a purse that was hand-made from fabric. The “perfect” purse had provided good service for many years, but was starting to show its age, so she decided to try to duplicate it with some of her fabric samples. The outcome was much better than she expected. After showing the finished product to friends, she had many orders for the purses. Each is unique, because no two fabric samples are the same. Anna’s former sales reps and retailers continue to provide her with fabric samples.

During the Covid lockdown, Anna’s home-based sewing room became a production area, and she has now made over 100 purses on her 60-year-old sewing machine that her father purchased for her. Soon, she had to determine what to do with the profits from the sale of the purses. Being the spouse of a veteran, she decided that she wanted 100 percent of the profits to go to the Wounded Warrior Project. As an immigrant herself, she believes patriotism should be cherished.

Anna says, “It is important to retire from something to something else. Retirement has to have a purpose.” So production continues. Two purses a day come from Anna’s “something else” benefitting a much worthy cause.

For more information on Anna’s purses, email her at annapapp49@gmail.com.