Archive for Vintage

Stephanie Purcell: Redesigned Classics

Stephanie Purcell is a young entrepreneur who founded the company Redesigned Classics. This is an interior design business focused on eccentric, new, and often vintage design styles. Stephanie works with her husband who is part of a real estate investment business. I thought this was interesting because it allows her to express her design ideas on houses her husband is showing.

Stephanie’s business is different from other interior design businesses because she focuses on re-purposing items, being low-budget, and making the space unique. Often times interior design is extremely expensive, but Stephanie’s goal is to lower that cost while still getting the same, amazing design elements in a home.

Stephanie is also a freelance producer, so often times she spends her days working on projects for that job. Her typical day can vary a lot, but she has a blog for her interior design company and writes many articles. To stay organized, Stephanie creates many weekly lists in order to stay on track. She also keeps a monthly list for her design goals for the month. I think this is an essential aspect of a business; making lists ensures that things are getting done to keep it up and running.

To begin her interior design process, Stephanie first meets with the client to bounce ideas around and get a feel for what they want in their home. After this, she creates a 2-D concept online for what the space will look like. I think this is very unique and differentiates with others who may just draw out the space. Stephanie’s use of modern technology is a helpful aspect to her business.

Stephanie says her background as a Producer has given her many helpful management skills needed to run her business. She recommends that when starting up a business that you don’t do it all on your own. There are many mentors and resources out there to help you grow your business.

I believe Stephanie’s business Redesigned Classics is an innovative way to design and recreate homes. She uses her producer skills as well as the help from her husband who is a real estate agent to make her business flourish. Creating low-budget, re-purposed, and unique spaces is the heart of her business, and it has gotten her very far in her entrepreneurial career.

 

 

Source Used:

Stephanie Purcell – Founder of Redesigned Classics (ideamensch.com)

Cleveland Cornhole Co.

Cleveland Cornhole Company is a small business specializing in custom cornhole boards and rustic style furniture. Started by Chad Gerzeny a few years ago, as a way to make a little cash on the side, morphed into a legitimate business opportunity. These cornhole boards are high quality, and are highly customizable, they take him days to finish because of the intricacy that goes into each individual board. Currently the boards are made by Chad Gerzeny at his own house, but he plans to transition into a retail store within the next few years.

Growing up playing the game of cornhole was the true inspiration for Cleveland Cornhole Co. Initially Chad started with a single set of boards that he made for himself out of his garage. After enjoying the work so much on the first boards it began to feel almost therapeutic to him. As others saw the quality and craftsmanship of the boards, Chad began to receive individual orders from friends and family friends. As he graduated college and time went on he utilized social media to reach a broader market. And now he is at the point to where he cannot keep up with the orders because of his day job.

Cleveland Cornhole Co. also makes rustic household furniture, from coffee tables to farmhouse tables. Chad Gerzeny has made most of the furniture in his current home, and it will be interesting to see how moving into a retail store impacts his business.

Silly Bandz – Years in the Making to Finally Hit it Big

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Robert Croak founded Brainchild Products, which was the company who in 2006 released a bunch of colorful, shaped rubber-bands called Silly Bandz. Anyone who was born from 1997 to 2007 probably remembers the Silly Bandz craze in elementary school and middle school. Silly Bandz success was no accident but a lot of hard work by the hand of the inventor.

When Robert was 23, he took over his grandparents’ restaurant and got into the business ownership world. He opened two more restaurants during the 1990’s as well as started a concert promotion company and a custom apparel company where he first experimented with selling custom rubber band bracelets. Robert thought that this idea of custom silicone bracelets would be a big hit, but he didn’t get as much traction as he had hoped.

Image result for silly bandz"Silly Bandz finally took off at a trade show in China in 2006, where Robert saw similar shaped rubber bands created by a Japanese designer. This trip gave Robert the three changes he needed for Silly Bandz to be what they are today; bigger, thicker, and more detailed. During the peak of the craze, in 2008, more than a million packs of Silly Bandz a week were sold. Phones were ringing off the hook and supply was flying off of the shelf.

Silly Bandz was so successful, they ran a Facebook ad offering work on the spot. A line down the sidewalk was the response, and the warehouse was so full of work that tables outside the building were being used to pack orders. The frenzy started to slow during the summer of 2010, at which point the craze in the Unites States was thought to be over. Robert Croak was content and was happy to have hit it big with his idea, but that is not the end.

Walking around campus, I have noticed a very interesting article on primarily sophomores and freshman’s arms. Its Silly Bandz, making a potential comeback. I asked my friends why, and the reasoning that I have gotten is that they remind them of an earlier time in their life, and they are simple and classic. Who knows how this new emergence will affect the company; maybe there will be another $200 million craze, or just another blip on the map. Either way, Silly Bandz has affected millions of people through its fun, crazy colored and shaped silicone bracelets.

Rosie’s Workshop

Rosie’s Workshop was founded in 2016 by Blair and Jen Koss. At Rosie’s, you can find unique “lighting and home decor made with vintage finds,” as founder Blair puts it. Examples of the vintage pieces include instruments and old cameras.

Rosie’s Workshop is the perfect example of a business dedicated to design and storytelling. Each camera used for the light has a story attached to it. For example, one of the cameras is the same type that was used in one of the Harry Potter movies. When buying the light, one can read the backstory located near the camera. These backstories let the customer connect more directly with the product.

The workshops offered at the store are another example of how Rosie’s excels in the experience they offer to their customers. There are workshop opportunities for customers to make their own lights using their own cameras, which adds to the special connection they have with the products.

The name behind Rosie’s comes from Jen’s grandmothers who worked during World War II. The style of the 20s is very prevalent in the designs, in the metal and fabric chosen for the pieces.

Rosie’s takes the left-brained skills of engineering and combines it effortlessly with right-brained storytelling and design. Rosie’s is located in Ross Park Mall in Pittsburgh, PA. You can find them at www.rosiesworkshop.com to learn more about their workshops and products.

The History of Etsy

Rob Kalin, Founder of Etsy

Etsy is an online marketplace where buyers and sellers can connect from all over the world to exchange unique handmade and vintage products. Etsy’s niche market attracts buyers who are looking to purchase personal handmade and vintage products that cannot be found anywhere else. Robert Kalin, Haim Schoppik, and Chris Maguire are three entrepreneurs and friends who founded Etsy in 2005. The trio wanted to build a business that catered to sellers and allowed for sellers to advertise their products as they pleased. The idea for Etsy was that a group of sellers would generate more interest from potential buyers than a single seller would selling handmade products.

The idea for Etsy was born out of Kalin’s need to find a marketplace for his wooden computer cases. Kalin was working on building a forum for woodcrafters around the same time, and saw that crafters were desperately looking for a way to sell their goods. Kalin immediately recognized the need for a marketplace that could cater to artisans and small businesses. Etsy was able to capture hundreds of thousands of sellers within months due to many different factors. Etsy mostly was able to attract feminist crafters from a growing feminist movement in the early 2000s and was also largely seen as a more seller friendly alternative to eBay. In addition, Etsy was able to appeal to the masses who were anti-establishment and anti-consumerism by selling handmade and vintage goods.

Etsy did have it’s shares of challenges in its early days. In an interview Kalin stated: “the launch actually wasn’t going quite fast enough, so Maguire and Schoppik ended up basically moving into my apartment and we spent a solid six weeks working on it day and night.” I admire Etsy’s entrepreneurs because they demonstrate work ethic and doing whatever it took to make sure Etsy had successful growth. I also like how the company took a bold stance on its views and appealed to certain niche markets as opposed to the masses. Kalin, one of Etsy’s chief founders demonstrates that determination and focus is needed to drive growth. Etsy’s founder’s have taught me that identifying issues can lead to innovation and creativity.

A “Seven Nation Army” Could not Hold Jack White Back

Jack White, famous for being the lead singer of the White Stripes, still impacts the world with his music and brilliant mind. Despite the early 2000’s band breaking up, Jack White continues to crank out his own solo albums, one of which he released this year and climbed to the top of the US 200 Billboard.With deep, often strange lyrics, and screeching, distorted guitar melodies, Jack White tops his performances off with color coordinated clothes, instruments, and lights. Along with producing his own albums, he opened up Third Man Records in 2009, a combination of a record store, studio, and concert venue. After opening up another branch of Third Man in Detroit in 2015, White felt inspired to extend it into a large vinyl-pressing factory in 2017 called Third Man Pressing, making it the only place where records can be made-to-order. Ben Blackwell, co-founder of Third Man Pressing and nephew of Jack White, says that “For Detroit to continue moving forward, you need to have different ideas. [Manufacturing] is a field that’s driven by creativity. That’s something this city has always been flush with.”

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Jack White, while often considered an acquired taste, is one of the most creative and innovative musicians of this decade.  Not only does he have a creative mind, but also a business-like one. Throughout White’s career, he has faced many struggles and criticisms, but he still held his head up high and worked his way to fame. “There are many people out there who will tell you that you can’t,” White says,”What you’ve got to do is turn around and say, ‘Watch me.'” Jack White’s passion is to turn music back into the raw, emotion-filled expression that it used to be, and no one can get in-between an inspired man and his dream. White not only revolutionized the rock n’ roll industry, but he also demonstrated the flexibility of the title of ‘entrepreneur’. Jack White is a living example of where creativity, hard work, and talent can take a person.

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Warby Parker: Making Glasses Cheap Again

Warby Parker has reimagined the eyewear industry as the first company to introduce affordable eyewear that can be purchased online. The company offers prescription eyeglasses for a flat $95 and has a number of stylish options. Customers can order a number of different eyeglasses, try them on at home, and return the pairs that they do not want. The idea started with a simple question. Why are glasses not sold online? Founder, Neil Blumenthal asked that question so he recruited three friends and Warby Parker was born. However, the company ran into problems early on. Forty-eight hours after the website had launched, it had to be taken down because they received so many orders. The website did not indicate when a product sold out which led to a 20,000 person wait list. Eventually, they sorted out their website issues and are currently making waves in the industry.

This company peaked my interest because of Warby Parker’s ability to recognized gaps in the marketplace. Currently, Luxottica has a near monopoly in the eyeglasses industry. While Luxottica controls the brick-and-mortar sales, they do not address the online market. Neil Blumenthal saw that gap in the market and was able to capitalize on it. However, the problem he solved wasn’t complicated, it was simple. Sometimes the best ideas are the simplest.

 

Bringing Back Classy Swimwear

rey-swimwear-modest-swimming-suits71f9323eb27d9e49f01a3d8d764f067fIt  was a hot summer in Hollywood, and between acting gigs Jessica Ray found herself spending most of her time by the poolside to meet up with friends and escape the blistering heat. After being frustrated by observing how objectified women are in bikinis, Jessica decided to boycott her normal scanty swimsuits for something with more character and coverage.

After surfing the web for hours, Jessica gave up. There weren’t any decently modest swimsuits available on the market that didn’t look like they belonged on a grandmother. Seriously, what’s so hard about making a cute, classic, semi-conservative swimsuit that’s appealing to the younger generation? Jessica was determined, if she couldn’t buy a cute swimsuit- she’d make her own. She had no sewing or design experience, but that’s not a problem for a true entrepreneur!

Jessica isn’t alone. Other people in Hollywood are interested in sporting classier swimwear; there is a healthy demand and Jessica decided to satisfy that want with from a creative and youthful approach.  8 years ago, Jessica Ray swimwear debuted their first swimwear line.

Jessica Rey swimsuits are becoming increasingly popular.  The brand is inspired by the debatably the most iconic woman of all time: Audrey Hepburn. The line strives to uphold the value and dignity of women through their designs. Classy doesn’t have to look frumpy, and Jessica Rey swimwear exists to promote that vision with a vintage vibe.

Warby Parker

When picking a product, I often hear people toss around the words “fashion” and “function” to describe their purchasing priorities. For me, there’s a third category that warrants equal consideration: the fiscal element. Luckily, one brand that has a tremendous impact of my life discovered how to ace every single one of these divisions. Warby Parker literally affects how I see the world. Yes, literally- not figuratively. They are an eyewear brand whose goal is to provide modish, high-quality eyesight for significantly less than other brands and to impact the world positively while doing it. 

The problem that commenced the creation of this company was the outrageously high price of a crucial product: glasses. The co-CEOs discovered this issue when one of them lost his frames while backpacking, and due to the (previously) expensive nature of the product, had to complete his first semester of grad school in the haze bad vision creates [see the rest of the story here]. They identified that one company had a monopoly on the industry and was creating, “artificially high prices” for the public’s only option. Solving this problem, the team now offers designer eyewear at substantially lower prices whilst simultaneously providing eyewear for those in need with every purchase. Their process is a win for the customer, a win for those in need of eyewear, and- through the buzz it’s created- a win for the company.

Although their number of stores is increasing, online is still a large contributor to Warby Parker’s sales. Glasses, which must be looked at in correlation to each individual’s face, are difficult to pick without having them there in front of you. Warby has two ways to workaround this. The first is a virtual try-on system where you upload a photo and and get to see the glasses on you virtually. The second is Warby offers their customers (and even just potential customers) a service where they send five frames to your home to try them on in person. These innovative methods make online glasses shopping possible and a highly-effective alternative if there isn’t a Warby store near you.

Another key elements of their brand is the atmosphere and community they’ve built. Everything about the brand, whether it be their packaging, website, store, or social media feeds portrays a unique blend of hipness and innovation. The are frequently community events, such as button making parties and concert series, hosted in their quaint and quirky storefronts. It’s very obvious Warby Parker thinks that fun should be a part of the glasses buying process, and honestly, the promotion they do of these events makes me want to be best friends with every single one of their employees. And the community! When I see people in Warby frames I can’t asking about them which without fail has always led to a pleasant, friendly conversation. This cool company has a lot of cool customers.

The best part about Warby Parker’s is that they wrap up fashion, function, social consciousness, and fun, into one neat looking and fiscally-responsible package. What more could a girl with poor eyesight ask for?

 

A Small Network Still Works

When researching millennial entrepreneurs there seems to be a connection between all of them. They did not begin a certain business, or create a product to gain revenue from it, but rather they had an idea, and put that idea to work. Consequently it usually ends up that their idea makes them money. But it is just the fact of providing a good or service that seems to drive these people.

Eric Koger and his wife Susan Gregg Koger were two young adults attending Carnegie Mellon University together. They both had a want to create a better way to get vintage and vintage style clothing. They figured that the best way they could accomplish this was through a website. So in 2002 launched the website Mod Cloth. This website went into full time operation by 2006.

While this idea seems menial to many of us today, due to the vast amount of web sites we can access at the touch of a button, In 2006 this was innovative for the service it was providing. Since there take off in 20006 they have moved from the Strip-District in Pittsburgh to San Francisco, where they are based.

A move in location was not the only thing that happened however. A move in the direction of online selling had also been created due to these two college students.

These two young entrepreneurs show me that innovation is a result of a network greater than yourself. Who knows, if Eric Koger didn’t meet Susan, the internet shopping experience may be a little different today.