strut 1 - [struht] noun,verb: to brace, support or give strength to by means of a ‘strut’ or struts

strut 2 - verb: a strutting walk or proud gait; to walk with pride

strut 3 - anagram: trust
 

STRUT: What’s in a name? It would have been easy to choose a vanity name, but “John’s Bags” didn’t say much about what we are. We chose STRUT because it says something about what our products stand for; Strength, Pride, and Trust.  STRUT is a term out of the engineering world roughly meaning something that prevents compression, from this we get structural Strength. STRUT is also a word used to describe proud carriage. We look at Pride in a virtuous way, because it leads to high standards. By moving the “S” in STRUT from the first letter in the word to the fourth letter you discover that STRUT is an anagram for Trust. In this way the name STRUT is meant to inspire us with a set of high goals to carry us into the future. In the end, if we can earn your trust we will indeed be proud of our name, a name that will mean something special.
 

John Fairley: In 1995, after 20 years as a business owner in Southwestern Vermont, John answered a call from Bob Howe, founder of K&H Products (Porta-Brace), to join his team and help him operate his rapidly growing business. John came on board as Director of Operations and over the next 10 years, enjoyed the multi-faceted experience that can only happen in a small New England manufacturing environment serving a worldwide market. “It was great fun,” says John. “Where else could you have the chance to work directly with the end-user, transform their needs into a design, and shepherd the project through the manufacturing process, ending with a product that was truly useful. I traveled extensively domestically and internationally and enjoyed being part of the wonderfully exciting industry of broadcasting and video production. Those were the golden years.”

After the business sold in 2004, the inevitability of change left John thinking it was time to use his experience to fill a void that had opened in the case market. Digital technology was rapidly transforming the video industry. A small, knowledgeable, agile company willing to stay focused on, and listen to, the particular needs of an expanding industry would be well suited to respond to the new climate. In the Summer of 2006 John left Porta-Brace and began implementing his vision for the STRUT line of transport cases. It is with great gratitude that John looks back on the people who shared their experience, knowledge and friendship during “the golden years”. In particular Bob Howe (K & H Products, founder), Paul Miottke (production manager/inventor), and Grace Jarecke (lead designer), who have all moved on to other phases of their lives.
 

The Barn: Our Design and Marketing team resides in a restored 100-yr-old barn with windows out to a beaver pond and a ridge of white pine and sugar maples. The open floor plan is conducive to good communication and creative exchange. We want you to see where we’ll be when you call. We get asked, “why Vermont?” The fact is we love it here. Watching the birds and wildlife that pass through here keeps us grounded.

The Warehouse: Our warehouse and shipping team is about 30 minutes away. They do a great job to keep the process rolling for us completing orders on average in 24 to 36 hours. They also perform certain assembly functions.

Production: Our production team is in the southern United States and Asia depending on production requirements. They are a second generation, family owned, cut and sewn facility maintaining a production unit in the USA blended with an Asian component to answer the competitive realities of a modern sewing operation. The high quality achieved is testament to happy and skilled workers and the dedication of all involved to responsible employment practices. We pay more to maintain these standards but at the end of the day we are all citizens of the world.