I thought it would be interesting to look back at 2009 and count up what I produced under the banner of this tiny business called Zugster. Here are the counts of all the bags I made in 2009, both stock and custom ordered. Its’s possible I missed one or two in this count, but not many.

Counts by Bag Type

14 – rando bags
8 – errand bags
6 – deluxe messengers
6 – standard messengers
4 – walkabouts
1 – backpack

Total: 39

That’s it. 39 bags, of varying complexities. That’s not all I sewed, of course. There were 4 rando bag prototypes, 1 pannier prototype, 1 leather satchel prototype, and 2 errand bag prototypes. There were also about 3 dozen tool pouches and a single lonely hip pack (well, not so lonely – it was a prize for the massively successful 4th annual Supermarket Street Sweep, which had more prizes than I’ve ever seen at a single alleycat).

Some other random statistics

6 out of those 39 bags were waxed canvas. 4 spots in the queue were cancelled, 1 went missing, and 1 that was missing went un-missing. There were an average of 1.4 bags per order. I took 1,357 photos of Zugster bags, for an average of approximately 27 photos per bag. I completely redesigned the website once. 45 fans on facebook, 470 followers on twitter and, geez, 628 of you are following my flickr photostream.

6 orders were shipped overseas (give or take 1 or 2, I don’t have the receipts in front of me). I shipped orders to England, Malaysia, Japan, Taiwan, Singapore, and all over the United States.

I produced one matched set of 3 bags, and I liked it so much that I may very well produce a matched set of every single bag I make. At current prices, this “bagmatcher’s special” will cost $1,238 before tax if ordered in the sizes I would choose for myself (and with NO additional options), and I don’t even want to think of what it would cost to ship domestically, let alone internationally.

Doing the Math

So, when you wonder why the current quoted wait time is 2 1/2 years, that, there is why. There are currently 70 people in the queue. If the averages stay exactly the same, and my production rate stays exactly the same, that’s 98 bags, and 2.5 years. And in 2010 I have plans for some new designs, a couple of side projects, and I have weddings and other travel plans that will be cutting into my time at the sewing machine, so in reality the wait is probably 3 years. And of course, I might choose to take a month away from the sewing machine to save my sanity at any point. Hey, get on the queue of your favorite young frame builder now, and a set of matched luggage may be ready around the time your bike is!

To all of you of the current, past, and future customers who helped make Zugster a success in 2009, I say a very heartfelt thank you, and I hope that your bags continue to bring you great utility in 2010. And if you’re still waiting for your chance, I thank you for your patience, and know that I will get to you in turn!

Happy holidays to you and your loved ones,
Adam