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68 69 are looking for something new, so the design side of the business is constantly creating new ideas, styles, and designs.” “Every year,we come up with new ideas,”echoes Sue,“creating new product ranges with new artwork. We’re constantly fine-tuning to be better as a com- pany.We never sit back and think we’ve reached our potential.”Best of Barbados products include a wide variety of offerings, including: photo frames, trays, placemats and coasters,mugs, candles, dinner- ware, napkins, trivets, aprons, chopping boards, oven gloves, pot holders, tea-towels, confections and sea- sonings, bar glasses, pillow cases, totes, purses and bags, beach towels, books, toys, dolls, and games, bath products, jewelry, CDs,T-shirts, stationery, orna- ments, calendars, and more. “Everything that we sell is designed by us or by somebody locally, and as much as 50 percent of what we sell is also made in Barbados,”Trew adds. “The original mantra of the company was ‘Every- thing made and designed in Barbados,’ but gradu- ally,we realized that the amount of production that could be done in Barbados was limited by the size of themanufacturing base; there are certain things you can’t make here because there isn’t a big enough production facility.So,we started looking outside and we changed the company’smantra to‘Everything made or designed in Barbados.’Wewent off to differ- ent places andwe found producers whowould put our artworkon products.So the companyexpanded in that respect.” Going forward, Best of Barbados continues to be a family affair. Sue is the company’s head artist, though matriarch, Jill, still paints at the age of 91. BEST OF BARBADOS The Trew’s eldest daughter,Holly, is also a talented artist who contributes her share of designs to the business while working towards her PhD in Ma- rine Science at the University of the West Indies. In addition, the company continues to provide work for other families across the island.The many colorful kitchen accessories, and the bags and pillowcases from the screen-printing side of the business are turned into finished items by a team of cottage workers, established early on by the Walkers.These ladies,who operate from home are paid piece work at a time and pace that suits them,while being able to look after children, grandchildren, or elderly parents. While verymuch a family-oriented, lifestyle business, Best of Barbados is also heavily involved in heritage preservation.“The center of the family and the company,where we live and where our office and art studios are based, is an old plantation complex with the main house and old sugar factory buildings dating back to the late 1600s,”Trew notes. The family home at Welches Plantation. Three generations of artists – Jill Walker, Sue Trew and Holly Trew