Help Petit Pilou Recover from a Devastating Cyber Crime

This spring, Molly and Aurélien de St. André, the couple behind Petit Pilou baby clothes and Bon Dimanche, their new Railroad Street shop & studio, were the victims of a major cyber attack on their small business. In order for this beloved Berkshire business to survive, Molly and Aurel need our support.

For fourteen years, Molly and Aurel have been making their clothes locally, by hand. They use the highest-quality organic cotton fabric they can find, custom-knit by a small family-owned factory in the Uttar Pradesh region of northern India. Every three years, Molly and Aurel buy in bulk the fabric that they will use to make clothing for the next three years. While making their bulk order this year, their payment was intercepted by a cyber criminal and their entire payment was stolen: a total of $40,000.

After months of trying, Molly and Aurel have learned that there is no channel through which the funds can be recovered. The payment was stolen through an elaborate scam, in which Petit Pilou & the fabric manufacturer’s emails were intercepted over the course of 6 months. (Even if they say they cover cyber crime, insurance companies are shielded from covering it in many instances, even as cyber crime grows more sophisticated and prevalent. If you are a small-business owner, please look into getting special coverage!)

In order for Petit Pilou to survive, Molly and Aurel must raise the money to pay for the fabric—and their livelihood is not the only one at stake. The production of the fabric was one year in the making, and the small business in India that put forward the funds to produce the order is counting on Petit Pilou to pay for their work. It was a custom order that cannot be sold to another party.

We, the businesses on and around Railroad Street, know this kind of scam could have happened to any one of us. We are coming together to ask that our Berkshire community rally to help the small, family-owned business we know and love pay for the fabric they need!

Please joining us in helping Molly and Aurel, and their two young children and two old dogs, get back on their feet. No amount is too small: if everyone in our community contributes, we can save Bon Dimanche and Petit Pilou (and pineapple pants).

Supporters:

Juju's

Homelove

Dare

Mooncloud

Railroad Street Collective