North End Bag Company’s owner Aaron McLellan tells me the company has humble beginnings.
“Making stuff in a room, in a cottage, at the North End,” said McLellan.
He and his cousins made things for themselves and friends.
“We were always fishing and surfing. We made bags for our surfboards basically out of necessity, basically what we needed for our lives,” said McLellan.
He then started selling his wares at the farmers market.
“Had an incredible response. Just continued to organically build off that word of mouth,”
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Eventually needing more space, he opened a brick-and-mortar store in the Vibe district on 19th Street.
While North End Bag Co officially started in 2012, it seems this line of work has always been on the table for McLellan.
“I grew up in Massachusetts and my mother is a seamstress. When I was a kid, 10, 11 I started doing a little bit then, and then in high school,” he said.