Founder Spotlight: Claire on Scaling Odd Goose and Sustainable Stationery
How high-quality materials and accessible price points turned a passion project into a wholesale success.
Meet Claire Coullon, the founder of Odd Goose, a stationery brand on a mission to prove that high-quality, sustainable paper goods can be just as exciting for kids as they are stylish for adults. Based on a foundation of ethical sourcing and in-house manufacturing, Claire has built a brand that balances "fun and funky" aesthetics with accessible price points.
Though originally planning to "dip her toes" into retail first, Claire’s journey took an unexpected turn when major cultural institutions and independent shops began requesting her catalog almost immediately. Today, Odd Goose is a staple for stockists across the UK and the US, including prestigious locations like Tate, The National Gallery, and the Philadelphia Museum of Art.
Celebrated for its shelf-popping designs and giftable appeal, the brand has quickly become a favorite for curated museum shops and boutiques alike. In this interview, Claire shares how she manages rapid wholesale growth, the importance of tailoring your photography for retailers, and why maintaining a "human" connection via Instagram and direct messaging is the secret to a loyal stockist base.
1. What inspired you to start your brand, and how did wholesale become part of your journey?
We wanted to make stationery that could be just as exciting for kids as it is fun and stylish for adults. And we wanted to make it ourselves using sustainable and ethically sourced parts from the UK, EU and US.
We started out with wholesale in mind, but it actually started earlier than planned. We launched expecting to dip our toes into retail events first, but ended up getting a string of shops and museums requesting our catalogue right away. A fellow creative brand then suggested Faire to us, and within about a month our wholesale side was fully up and running.
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2. At what point did you realise you wanted to grow the wholesale side of your business?
It was really just after that first month, and following some great feedback, that we knew we had to put a lot of energy into building up our wholesale side from the word go.
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3. What do you think makes your product range stand out to retailers?
I think we have a fun, bright and unique range with great appeal to both to retailers and their customers. We design, print and build our products ourselves using ethically sourced, high quality materials, and we've got really accessible price points. Most of our bestsellers have an RRP of under £10 which makes them sellable all year round. Our designs look bright and funky on the shelf, and everything is always packaged with gift-ability in mind!
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4. How has your experience been selling on Faire so far?
Really positive. It's opened us up to so many beautiful independent shops that wouldn't have found us otherwise, in the UK as well as the US. The Top Shop requirements have also done a great job of keeping us on our toes and freshening things up, offering deals and working on new products!
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5. Is there anything specific that has worked really well for you on Faire?
The Faire markets have given us excellent experience in handling large numbers of orders all at the same time, and in connecting with new stockists. Using Faire direct messages has also been great for keeping up good communication with existing as well as new and prospective stockists. We do a lot of outreach by email and always send our Faire direct link, and we do the same with a printed QR code flyer for Faire when sending physical mailers.
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6. What do you think retailers appreciate most about working with your brand?
Retailers always comment on the quality of the stationery, how much it livens up the shelves, and how good the communication is throughout.
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7. How do you stay connected with your stockists and encourage repeat orders?
We always use direct messages to thank stockists for their orders, update them on the order status, and then follow up afterwards. Where possible, we try to connect with them on Instagram and keep up a good casual friendly relationship there too.
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8. What advice would you give to brands who are just starting out with wholesale or thinking about joining Faire?
Definitely make sure that your products are suited to wholesale. Look carefully at your margins and consider ways in which you can keep costs down without sacrificing your quality. Think about how efficiently you can make your products in larger quantities and how easy they are to package in bulk.
It's also helpful to remember that thinking about your products in wholesale is different to direct retail. Present them differently to potential stockists because this is a different kind of audience with different considerations. This means things like making sure your photographs show everything the stockist needs to see, and that you have descriptions tailored to what a stockist needs to know, rather than an individual retail customer.
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