Vera Bradley's Daughter Visits Caldwell

Vera Bradley bags can be seen on the shoulders of Grover Cleveland Middle School girls, college students, moms and grandmothers around the Caldwells.

All those ages were represented in the shop in Caldwell Thursday, where Vera Bradley's Brand Ambassador, Joan Bradley Reedy, was a special guest from noon to 3 p.m.

Joan is the daughter of Vera Bradley and sister of Barbara Baekgaard, co-founder of the women's handbag and accessory company. She mingled and posed for photos with customers, as well as autographed their Vera Bradley belongings, new and old.

In between, she chatted candidly with guests about how her sister started the company in 1982 with her friend Patricia R. Miller, how her mother was an integral part of the company right up until her death and how it has grown to more than 1,500 employees, the majority of which are women.

Vera Bradley introduces four new patterns, four times a year, and for those 16 new patterns, another 16 are retired annually. About 20 to 26 patterns are available at any given time, each with a shelf life of about 18 months. This commitment to keeping the designs fresh makes bags collectors' items—if not an obsession—for some.

Danielle Cristantiello, a sophomore at , stopped in to meet Vera Bradley's daughter Thursday and purchased a blanket for her dorm room. Cristantiello said she has been hooked on Vera for about six years and has more than 100 Vera Bradley products, adding that she loves them because, "They match everything."

Her sorority sister Erica Brown, a senior at Caldwell, said she is not quite as obsessesed, but still when she opens her closet, "Vera just pours out."

Maryfrances Kattak, general manager for Pink Bungalow, said the "very big Vera Bradley event" brought Joan to Caldwell as well as other Pink Bungalow shops in Montclair and Ridgewood.

Throughout the month of October, proceeds from the sale of certain patterns went to the Vera Bradley Breast Cancer Foundation for research. The next big day to look forward to at the shop will be the day after Thanksgiving, which rather than Black Friday they will call, not surprisingly, Pink Friday.