Queork is a chain of retail stores that sell handbags, wallets, shoes, jewelry, and other fashion accessories made of cork. Yes, the bark from cork trees (aka Quercus suber) which are abundant in the forests of Portugal and Spain. The sustainable material is used as an alternative to leather. On Season 6 of The Profit, investor Marcus Lemonis travels to New Orleans, Louisiana to check out the Queork warehouse and to meet co-owners, store manager Amanda Dailey and attorney Julie Araujo. According to CNBC, Dailey “is in deep debt to her romantic partner because of haphazard business practices.” When Lemonis suggests developing new products and upgrading the Queork brand, Dailey (like many business owners featured on the show) at first resists.
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Queork currently has four retail locations: two in New Orleans, one in Watersound, Florida, and another in Santa Fe, New Mexico. According to the Queork blog, “in the past the store typically averages $1700 per day on Sunday-Thursdays, $2500 on Fridays, and $5000 on Saturdays.” That’s a total of $29,300/a month ($249,300/annual). Multiple that by three and that’s $729,300 a year. Is that enough to compete with major competitors in the cork-brand market including Portugal’s Corkor (see link below).
New episodes of The Profit air Tuesdays at 10 pm on CNBC. Watch Dailey and Araujo tell their personal and professional Queork story in the video below…
