If you’ve watched The Office at all, you know that the office supply industry is not only mind-numbingly boring, but it’s also dying a slow, painful death. And if you pay attention to the news, you know that Detroit is a dying city with nothing good going on. So what if I told you that there is an office supply startup based in Detroit, MI that is anything but boring and growing rapidly? Their name is Chalkfly, and they provide “the supplies you need to do your best work.” There are a lot of narratives working against Chalkfly, but they’re just narratives. Results are what matter, and Chalkfly already claims brands like Foursquare, Moosejaw and Etsy as clients.
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I’m an outdoorsy guy who is stuck in a city that is at least a couple hours away from most of the things that I want to do. As a result I spend a lot of time visiting what my wife calls “fishing websites” (that’s exactly what they are). One upstart that caters to guys like me is Huckberry. They’re a San Francisco, CA based company that “is like your favorite store, your grandpa’s favorite store, and your favorite magazine all rolled into one.” It’s pretty much the intersection of yuppie and outdoorsy with a tiny bit of hipster here and there. It’s for “dudes in the middle”–the kind of guys who go camping one weekend and to a black tie wedding the next weekend.
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Few things make me happier than spending time outdoors. Fly fishing is my main sport, but I can enjoy almost any activity that doesn’t put me at too much risk of injuring myself so that I can’t fish. One of the fun things about being an outdoor enthusiast is collecting gear. Even when you’re stuck in the city, you can buy new stuff, clean it, repair it, and get it ready for your next big trip. If you’re thinking about buying new gear, you need to check out Backcountry. They are a Park City, UT based company that gets “get people who get outside—plain and simple.” They’re all “about gear, grit, and connecting people to their passions.”
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We’re right in the thick of graduation season, wedding season is just picking up steam, and Father’s Day is just around the corner. Chances are that you’ll be buying someone a gift in the next few weeks. Hopefully you’ll find something perfectly personal for your grad, Dad, or favorite couple, but in the event that you don’t, you can still offer something personalized. That’s what Things Remembered specializes in. The Highland Heights, OH based company is “the nation’s largest and most prominent retailer of personalized gifts.” If it can be engraved, Things Remembered probably sells it (they also do some embroidery).
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I’m not sure that I’d call myself brand conscious as much as I’d call myself brand loyal. With clothing I try to find a brand that matches my personal style and fits well. For a while Vince had some great sweaters that I really liked, so I bought two more after my first and kept an eye on the brand. I never ended up buying anything else from the New York, NY based company, but they seem to have grown a lot in popularity over the past few years. They started out in Los Angeles in 2002 with “a highly-edited collection of women’s knits and cashmere sweaters,” but today they offer a “collection of iconic essentials that women and men would want to wear every day.”
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Businesses are always looking for ways to extract more value from their customers. Sometimes this means “sharing” customers with other businesses. I’m sure you’ve seen (and probably ignored) plenty of cross-promotional offers. The problem is that they often get in the way of what I’m trying to do right now. Maybe I’d actually take advantage of them if they were made a little more seamless. That’s what Cartera Commerce is doing. They are a Lexington, MA based company that offers “a comprehensive, fully-managed, performance-based offer platform for card issuers, frequent flyer programs and merchants.” What does this mean? I get offers through bank cards, credit cards, and loyalty programs. I can opt in with a click or a tap, and all I that I have to do to redeem the offer is use my card.
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Many of America’s great apparel brands started out by catering to a specific sporting lifestyle. Some, like Filson and Orvis, have largely stayed true to their roots. While others, like Abercrombie & Fitch, have moved far away from the brands that they once were. Lands’ End got its start as a yachting supply company in Chicago, but today it is based in Dodgeville, WI and is “an international apparel brand synonymous with timeless American style.” The company is certainly still inspired by its nautical heritage, but they definitely had to broaden their horizons a bit to get where they now are–generating well over $1 billion in revenue annually.
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It almost seems that a person’s comfort with buying something online has an inverse relationship with the item’s size. Books, digital goods (size = 0), and clothing are no brainers these days, but people still seem to prefer an in-person experience when it comes to furniture, cars, and homes. I guess it could be based on cost too. Either way, some things are easier to sell online than others. Home furnishings, decor, and outdoor furniture fall somewhere in the middle, but online will win eventually. Hayneedle is definitely pushing for it. They are an Omaha, NE based company that “has become one of the nation’s largest online retailers, offering more than 3,000 brands and nearly 2 million products for the home.” It all started with Hammocks.com, and they just kept adding niches.
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About this time last year, Amy and I were visiting my parents for Easter. Our wedding was a couple months away and preparations were going very smoothly. And then Amy had her one and only “bridezilla” moment. She realized that she was totally in love with a dress that she had once seen in a picture online, and had to find it. Without being able to look at any pictures because I wanted it to be a surprise, I helped her track down the exact dress at a store only 45 minutes from my parents house. She tried it on, loved it, and bought it. The only issue was that she had already spent a bunch on another dress. What do you do with a never worn, beautiful wedding dress? You put it on Tradesy. They’re a Santa Monica, CA based company that can help you “turn your closet into cash.” It’s a marketplace for new and gently used fashion.
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You can buy clothes in a lot of places. Where you buy typically depends on whether you’re looking for a good price, convenience, or your favorite brands. Then you have to decide whether you’d rather shop online or in person. If you’re brand focused and like shopping online, you may want to check out REVOLVE. The company is based in Cerritos, CA and is the “virtual home for an unrivaled collection of the world’s most coveted brands.” REVOLVE offers both men’s and women’s clothing, though the focus definitely seems to be on women’s lines.
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About 10 years ago I bought a Magic Bullet (in a store, not through the infomercial). I don’t often need a blender, so it has served me well for making the occasional smoothie, pureeing veggies for soup, and chopping herbs. That’s why when it came to our wedding registry, we didn’t do what many couples do and register for a top of the line blender (though we did register and receive a food processor that haven’t even used yet). The consensus top of the line blenders seem to come from Vitamix, an Olmsted, OH based company that is “improving the vitality of people’s lives and liberating the world from conventional food and beverage preparation boundaries.” That’s the kind of hyperbole that you can only expect from the company that created the first infomercial in the U.S.
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I’ve been married nearly 9 months now. Slowly more and more people are asking, “When are you going to have kids?” Getting a puppy deflected a little bit of attention, but it’s only going to gain in intensity. If we do eventually give into the pressure, we’ll face a time in our lives that makes preparing for a puppy seem like nothing. That’s why it should be no surprise that the expecting parent market is absolutely huge. In fact, Destination Maternity Corporation, which is based in Philadelphia, PA, does $500 million in annual sales as “the world’s leading maternity apparel retailer.” Yes, a single company (albeit with quite a few brands) can generate half a billion dollars in revenue selling clothes for pregnant women.
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On my last day of vacation I got blasted in the face with a volleyball. It didn’t break my sunglasses, but it really hurt. My nose is still sore, but it only left a tiny red mark across the bridge of my nose. I wouldn’t have minded a black eye, but I know some people care a bit more about how their faces look. They’re more likely than I am to purchase products from Benefit Cosmetics, a company that got its start when twin sisters moved to San Francisco, CA and opened a beauty boutique. One of their first products, Benetint, was developed to help an exotic dancer “enhance her nipples.” That’s certainly one of the more interesting stories I’ve heard about how a company got its start.
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Until today I’d never looked up the meaning of my last name. I always knew that Franzen was Swedish because my dad’s dad’s parents were both Swedes, but I never knew that it actually means French man. Other than owning a French breed of dog, parlaying a tiny bit of Français, and enjoying French food, I haven’t really lived up to the name. Todd Snyder has lived up to his surname. It means “one who makes outer garments” in Dutch. His eponymous Todd Snyder brand is a New York, NY based men’s fashion line that is inspired “by Savile Row craftsmanship, military tailoring, and a distinct New York sensibility.” I’ll guess that Todd Snyder’s Iowa roots have also had an influence on the company.
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I got my wife an Airport Express for Christmas. I’m not the typical male idiot portrayed on many American sitcoms–it was a good gift idea. The whole point was that I could hook up our wireless network to the fifteen-year-old wired speaker system that came with our apartment. The speakers were working when I started (I had the radio playing in all of the rooms), but after three hours of frustration, I ended up with the music from my iPhone playing in one room, and no music whatsoever in any of the other rooms. I’m going to have to find a way to fix this, and I think Sonos might be the answer. They are a Santa Barbara, CA and Cambridge, MA based company that set out in 2002 “to reinvent home audio for the digital age.” Their products certainly look a lot better than the circa 1997 sound system that my landlord left behind.
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Despite my early fascination/obsession with infomercials, I don’t think that I’ve ever bought something directly from tv. I just can’t do it. Doesn’t feel right. For me there’s some sort of stigma around buying off of tv, but I’m certain that there are plenty of people who have a different opinion. Take for example the 1.2 million customer that buy from ShopHQ. In case you’re not familiar, ShopHQ is an Eden Prairie, MN based company that creates “the ultimate interactive shopping experience by uniting live TV, online and mobile shopping opportunities with social media engagement across a variety of outlets including Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest.” They used to be known as ShopNBC, and you probably have their channel on your tv (they reach 86 million homes).
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I cook a lot, but with Thanksgiving only a few weeks away, it’s time to make sure my skills are as sharp as my knives (doesn’t that sound like a promo for some silly cooking show?). Most of my culinary skills are semi-self-taught. Television, cookbooks, and lots of dinners out have exposed me to all kinds of new concepts, but the Internet is where I go to get the definitive answer on how to cook what I want to cook. Often all it takes is a Google search to find what I’m looking for, but sometimes I want to get new ideas. My go to is Serious Eats, but today I found a new site with a similar approach. The company is called Food52, and it’s a New York, NY based online community that brings “cooks together from all over to exchange recipes and ideas and to support each other in the kitchen.” (Side note: Food52 and Serious Eats are celebrating the the one-in-70,000-ish-years holiday of Thanksgivukkah with a cook off.) In their first few years they’ve been able to reach millions of people and get them talking about food, which is no small feat.
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When I was a kid trick-or-treating was a failure if I didn’t reach double digits. I’m not talking about pieces of candy. I’m talking pounds. I laughed at the kids with the jack-o-lantern candy basket. Amateurs. Any real kid would use a backpack, an oversized pillowcase, or–better yet–both. There’s nothing better than getting home, pouring all your candy on the floor, and looking at the majesty of it all. It’s hard to recreate that feeling as an adult, but I kind of get it when I walk into Dylan’s Candy Bar. They are a New York, NY based retailer (with stores in Miami Beach and LA as well) that has merged “the worlds of art, fashion and pop culture with candy” to build “the world’s largest confectionary emporium and lifestyle brand.” Oddly enough, they don’t seem to dedicate much attention to Halloween, but I guess you don’t have to when your brand is all candy all the time.
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Early in the wedding planning process I proposed that we try to do as much online as possible. I quickly lost that battle, and I must say that our custom designed paper goods turned out amazingly well. I’m just glad that I wasn’t paying for them. If only there was a way to get beautiful, custom designed paper goods for a reasonable price. That’s exactly what Minted offers. They are a San Francisco, CA based company that aims “to find exceptional artists and designers all over the world and bring their work to consumers who appreciate great design.” They were early to the crowdsourcing model in 2008, and since then they’ve grown into a place where consumers can find great designers and great designers can get exposure that will help them build their careers.
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This is my favorite part of the year when it comes to One Day One Job because all of those annoying kids finally go back to school. Just kidding. I actually love late August for a completely different reason: the Inc. 5000 is released. In case you aren’t familiar with it, it’s a ranking of the 5,000 fastest growing privately held companies in the United States. The metric that they use is three-year revenue growth, and that makes the list an amazing tool for finding up and coming companies with great career opportunities. This year Fuhu came in at #1 on the list with 42,148% three-year growth to $117.9 million in revenue. The El Segundo, CA based company that aims to be “the leading designer, seller and innovator of ‘thoughtful’ consumer products and services for children.” When you make stuff that kids like, parents empty their pockets.
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When I was growing up, I was anything but a youth against establishment. My school had a dress code, and I’m not sure that I ever violated it (ok, I may have forgotten to wear a belt once or twice). Even outside of school, I wore the same khaki pants that I had to wear at school (but with sneakers and a t-shirt of course)–I think I outgrew my last pair of jeans in 7th grade. It shouldn’t be a surprise that I’ve never owned anything from Volcom. In case you’re not familiar with the brand, they’re a San Clemente, CA based “designer, marketer and distributor of premium quality young men’s and young women’s clothing, accessories and related products.” The company was founded in 1991, and came out of Orange County boardsports culture.
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Yesterday we looked at Yoga Alliance and how they’re helping the field of yoga grow from a cultural curiosity to a mainstream activity that millions of Americans participate in. Yoga is a perfect example of how we can take traditions from other cultures and integrate them into our lives to improve our health. The problem is that for every tradition that will actually make you healthier, there are probably a few that have little or no benefit (or even a negative effect). ALOHA is a New York, NY based startup that “combines traditional wisdom from diverse cultures across the globe with the latest scientific research and collaborates with the world’s most esteemed experts and health gurus to develop innovative products and inspiring content.” They’ll help you discover new ways to live a healthier, more enjoyable life–and you won’t have to worry that you’re wasting time with something that is scientifically unproven.
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It used to be that airlines were the only businesses that I could earn rewards with, but as many markets have become more competitive, companies from all kinds of industries have jumped on the bandwagon. While offering great products and services at reasonable prices should be enough to keep customers, many companies aren’t able to do that–so they offer rewards instead. The problem is that managing a rewards program has nothing to do with running most business. That’s where Destination Rewards steps in. They’re a Boca Raton, FL (and Plymouth, MI) based company that creates and manages “web-based customized rewards programs.” Destination Rewards does all of the heavy lifting, and their clients can just plug and play.
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Right after I graduated college, I started investing in the stock market. I’ve more than doubled my money since then, which means that I made some pretty good decisions. One stock that I was considering at the time was CWTR. It was around $45 back then, and I thought that I had a few good reasons to believe that the stock would go up from there. Luckily, I didn’t buy. The stock is now at less than $4 per share–and that’s after a 4 for 1 reverse stock split. I’m glad that I avoided that -98% return on investment. While Coldwater Creek, which is based in Sandpoint, ID (with a design center New York, NY), has certainly struggled over the past 6 years, that doesn’t mean that you should overlook the potential opportunity. The multi-channel “specialty retailer of women’s apparel, jewelry and accessories” started as a one-room mail order business. They obviously had an amazing growth period that took them to going public, and now it’s time for them to get back on track.
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As commerce continues to move online, selling things in a retail setting is becoming more and more about offering an experience. Apple is the ultimate example of this–whenever you walk into one of their stores you’re instantly surrounded by excitement. That’s exactly what Charming Charlie is going for. They’re a Houston, TX based “fashion accessories retailer” with more than 200 stores across the country. Their “in-store experience features a breath-taking volume and variety of accessories, ingeniously arranged by color, making that perfect accent fun and easy to find.” It’s something that they’ve been working on since 2004, and they seem to be getting it right.
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I have a lot of shoes for a guy. I’m pretty average when it comes to sneakers, dress shoes, and flip flops, but I have a lot of boots. A lot. Snow boots. Rain boots. Wading boots (3 pairs). Hiking boots. I can keep going… In my opinion footwear is all about specialization–there’s a shoe for every occasion. I think the people from DNA Footwear would agree (though they seem more concerned with fashion, while I’m obviously more concerned about how much water I’ll be stepping into). DNA Footwear is a Brooklyn, NY shoe retailer that is now working to be “the top online destination for today’s latest trends in the world of footwear.” They have a really wide selection with tons of notable brands.
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My first bike was red and had a banana seat. My second bike was a black and grey Huffy that was far cooler in the eyes of a 7 year old boy. After that I won a green “mud slinger” in a raffle. It was even cooler, but it still wasn’t a real bike because it only had one speed. I got my first real bike in 5th grade. It was a green Trek Antelope 800 with 18 speeds. I loved it and rode it all the time for the first few years I owned it. I eventually stopped riding and haven’t owned a bike since, but I still have a strong positive association with Trek. The company is based in Waterloo, WI and has been pursuing a mission to “build the best bikes in the world” since they were founded in 1976.
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When my wedding invitations went out, they didn’t have just regular stamps. We had special stamps made with our initials on them to give the envelopes a little extra flair. (Yes, I know it’s ridiculous.) You can get nearly anything customized these days, but postage is pretty surprising considering that the USPS is a federal agency. Whether you want your own version of postage, a t-shirt, a wall decal, or playing cards, you should consider Zazzle. They’re the company we used, and they’re a Redwood City, CA based company that allows you to “create amazing custom products with artwork you choose, and prices you’ll love.”
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I was way ahead on the flash sales and members only shopping thing. I did a writeup on Gilt Groupe almost five years ago just as the business model was catching on. While there isn’t nearly as much excitement about the space as there used to be, it’s still a great way to sell stuff (time constraints and sales both have amazing psychological effects on people). And that’s why I think it’s worth taking a look at Rue La La. They’re a Boston, MA and New York, NY based company that curates “Boutiques filled with the best of the best in women’s and men’s fashion, home, travel, kids, and more.” Each sale lasts 48 hours and is limited to members only (though becoming a member is about as easy as signing up).
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I have a favorite shirt. It doesn’t quite fit anymore, and I’m sad about it. When I first bought it, it was just barely long enough. With each wash it seems to shrink a tiny bit, and now it’s at the point where any upward arm movement temporarily turns it into a belly shirt. Nobody needs to see that. The shirt is a purple (I’d call it pink) Cotton Reverse Seam Shirt by Steven Alan, and I bought it on Gilt. The best thing about it is that people always tell me that I have my shirt inside out, and I get to exclaim, “Haven’t you ever heard of reverse seams?” It’s the small things in life. The Reverse Seam Shirt is Steven Alan’s signature, and it’s part of the reason why the New York, NY based designer and retailer has been able to grow “a loyal following for [its] unique brand of casual, smart, self-assured essentials for both men and women.”
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