A chat in the tactical café

At IWA 2017, we encountered a nice young lady at the MD Textil booth who handed us a bag of patches. Homemade? Of course! This made us curious for more, so we quickly interviewed Catherina after IWA.SPARTANAT: Hi Catherina, can you briefly tell us who you are and what you do?

Catherina: Hello, my name is Catherina Lehmann and I am the founder of the online shop "Café Viereck."

SPARTANAT: Café Viereck, interesting name. How did that come about?

Catherina: I was looking for a funny term related to the military or public service that would stick in people's minds. Every idiot is called Tactical-Military-Warrior-Crisis-Gear and I wanted people to recognize the female background in the name and logo. So during brainstorming with my comrades, this term came up and I immediately had a logo in mind.SPARTANAT: How did you get into the patches scene?

Catherina: I myself was a soldier for 4.5 years and experienced first-hand the gap in cool and high-quality patches. So I took it upon myself to close this gap and offer funny, quality patches and merchandise - Made in Germany! - since May 2016, Café Viereck has been around. We are present at many events (especially military).

SPARTANAT: Why embroidered patches and not the increasingly popular rubber patches?

Catherina: I have specialized in the production of embroidered patches. We do not offer PVC patches because, according to regulations in the public service sector, they are not allowed to be worn due to fire safety reasons. In addition, embroidery is cheaper and in our opinion, it also has a traditional feel.

SPARTANAT: What makes your patches special?

Catherina: We use a durable cotton fabric with high-quality embroidery thread from Germany. The hook back is completely sewn, no glue is used! This provides good resistance to moisture and heat. The edge of our patches is finished with a clean overlock stitch. SPARTANAT: That is evident in your patches. They look really top-notch. What else can one get from you?

Catherina: In addition to patches, keychains, and stickers, we also offer textile embroidery and textile printing. We are constantly expanding our range!SPARTANAT: Who are your customers?

Catherina: We sponsor the Airsoft Team Tactical Recon Squad and supply dealers in the airsoft and weapons scene. We are proud to supply the following dealers, companies, and institutions as customers: Softair Professional, sieben62, Selbstschutztraining Stollenwerk, Bushcraft München, edc-test-online, BamBams Airsoft Supply, JVA München, various military units, units from Switzerland and Austria, SurviCamp, alpine Dynamics, and PatchWork (Berry the Bundeswehr Bear).

SPARTANAT: That's quite a few. What do customers appreciate besides the quality at your shop?

Catherina: Great products and funny designs? All well and good, but if the service isn't right, the whole package isn't right. That's why we place a special emphasis on service, and every single order or email is handled with the utmost care. We take a lot of time for each customer for the best possible advice. After payment is received, the products are shipped on the same day so you can wear and use them as quickly as possible. Our store is also available by phone from 12:00 to 21:00. Every envelope is personally prepared and signed by me.

SPARTANAT: You have convinced us, hopefully our readers will see it the same way. Great work, thank you for the interview!

Catherina: Thank you and I say goodbye with warm greetings to the readers of SPARTANAT.

Café Viereck on the internet: www.cafe-viereck.de