made in Buffalo
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Somebody call the Media! This company is just one of many economic good news stories in Buffalo and around the country! And... A Great Place for ExPats to Buy Buffalo Stuff!
In a business park so new it doesn't show up on the GPS, an air of elegance, confidence, and success permeates an office warehouse building that is now home to Citymade, Inc. If you have heard of this company at all, it is probably their signature product, "Made in Buffalo." If you've visited Buffalo recently, you've seen their four second ads on channel four. "People think they've seen them on other channels, on all kinds of programs, but they haven't. We only run them in one place, but they make us appear to be everywhere," Vice President Bob Fudella says, with a satisfied, self-congratulatory, grin.
And he should be grinning. He and company President Gary Steszewski have built Citymade into a profitable, growing company despite or because of the economy.
Steszewski started the company with a few other partners. After September Eleventh, when packages came with an Anthrax scare, business hit a low point. Fudella says he ran his part of the business out of his home with a cell phone. It didn't take long to bring the business back with a vengeance.
Gift baskets are Citymade's biggest business now, but the company is growing in the fulfillment direction and have high expectations for turning the corner with funds to be raised from an upcoming Direct Public Offering.
In the gift basket department, Citymade does all the gift baskets for Wegmans, does Made in Buffalo and... "Made in.." numerous other cities including their newest client, New York.
Even in their new, larger digs, they barely have enough warehouse space to accommodate the gift baskets they create for Wegman's chain-wide, and for various other fulfillment clients, including Wayne Gretzy, NASCAR, the LPGA, and numerous other sports franchises and brands.
So in addition to letting our viewers know that this website is our favorite for purchasing things made in the old hometown, this company is also one of our favorites for finding a way to succeed and grow in the current economic environment. Just one more piece of evidence that Buffalo is the Off-Ramp from the Recession.
With that in mind, Mr. Steszewski asks that "anyone who would like to be a partner in this promising enterprise is invited to consider participating in the Direct Public Offering."
Shop
Made in Buffalo. Contact
Citymade.
Other things Made and Invented in Buffalo (in addition to Wings and Beef on Weck)
- The Grain Elevator
- Air Conditioning
- Windshield Wipers
- The Electric Chair
- The Internal Pacemaker
- The Metal Kazoo
- Non-dairy Whipped Topping
- Sponge Candy
This list compliments of an article by Monica Kreppel in
The Buffalo Downtowner, March 2009
We've found the
Downtowner to be a surprisingly great source of info. You can subscribe to the print edition for $25 per year by using the link above.