Of Boll Weevils and Freaks

5 ½ years ago, in the town of Enterprise, Alabama, two school teachers decided to open a storefront in the bustling downtown. Patsy Holland and Stephanie Walden are the owners of Style ASAP, the unique boutique that features one-of-a-kind jewelry, Made in America products, and sartorial splendor for guys and gals ages 9-99. They also sell one of the most unique custom styles Freaker has ever produced. The “Fear No Weevil!” Freaker and socks that depict the Boll Weevil Statue that lives in downtown Enterprise and will be celebrating its 100th anniversary this year.

This story is about more than just “the only monument in the world devoted to a pest,” it also tells the story of how inspiring a customized pair of Freaker socks and a bottle cover can become when you make it your own.

Thank you ladies for taking the time for the Freaker Blog. Let’s jump right into it. How did you learn about Freaker?

S: We first met the Freaker team at AmericasMart in Atlanta, Georgia while we were just walking around trying to decompress. The booth stood out, we came in and had a great time getting to know everyone and we loved the products, so we put them in our store.

What’s up with Boll Weevils and why are they important to your town?

P: The Boll Weevil has a storied history in the town of Enterprise. These tiny bugs devastated cotton crops back in the early 1900’s and one of the local banks forced the farmers to start growing peanuts. Over time, peanuts eventually took over at the top cash crop in our region. One of our residents was so thankful for the insect helping change the economy, he commissioned a statue that has become internationally known since then.

S: I even shot a documentary about it and it’s on YouTube right now. 

Watch Here: A brief history of the Boll Weevil Monument

Who came up with the idea for putting the statue on socks and Freakers?

S: Well, it’s funny because I didn’t think it would be that popular. But Patsy kept pushing me to see if we could do it.

P: Yes. I had a gut feeling it would be successful, but you never know. You have to trust your gut sometimes. So we started with 150 in our first order. When we sold out in 8 hours on pretty much word-of-mouth alone, we knew we had a hit, obviously. We had people call in upset that they were sold out!

So how did the process work for you? Did you just sent a picture of a statue to us and said, “Put this on some socks!”?

P: Pretty much. We sent over some graphics that we knew we wanted, but the care that the Freaker designers took with translating the images we sent and being responsive helped make our vision a reality.

S: Sometimes you start working with someone and you send them designs and they send you stuff back you don’t like, or companies will say they will do X, Y, & Z but never follow through. You guys have been great in that regard, and other ways too. We are thinking about new customs for the next line in the series already!

Thank you! The feeling is mutual. You ladies rock.

Final question. I like to keep these things brief.

What advice do you have for people who are thinking about doing custom Freakers and socks for the quirky things in their own home towns?

P: I think that it’s important to have demand to start with and selling out so quick was really motivating. One of the cornerstones of making something like this successful is that the design has to be something you are proud of. It has to be something that represents the best of your community and I think people will respond to that.

S: I think it’s great that our town has a lot of history, not only with farming, but also with Fort Rucker being so close and the tourist who come through just to see this bug monument (people say “I thought it would be bigger”) it’s nice to be able to have a way for someone to take a piece of it home in a very unique product like a Freaker or a pair of cool socks.

Ladies. Thank you again for your time. It was a pleasure getting to know you better and learning more about Enterprise, Alabama in the process. I can’t wait to visit!

S & P: Thank you guys! We appreciate you all as well.

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If you have an idea for your own custom bottle covers or socks, visit this page on our website and fill out the form and we’ll be in touch with you ASAP.

We want every community to do something special like Stephanie and Patsy have done in Enterprise.

Click here for custom Freakers and socks!