Most women have some: earrings, necklaces, rings or other jewelry given to them by an ex-boyfriend. Once treasured, the items become an irritating post-breakup reminder of a relationship gone bad. Fortunately, a new site offers a place to unload such relics from the past: ExBoyfriendJewelry.com.
Launched in February, ExBoyfriendJewelry.com facilitates the buying and selling of "ex" jewelry, as well as providing a place for users to share the stories behind it. Along with basic details such as description, condition and price for each item—including a "for good karma give away" option—users are asked to provide the story behind it, such as whether the breakup was a bad or amicable one. They are also asked to provide a rating, such as "Loved it but just can’t stand to see it anymore," "Great gift, wrong guy" or "New boyfriend asking questions." ExBoyfriendJewelry.com's blog section currently features thoughts from the team behind the site--favorite "post-breakup activities," for example—but will soon be expanded to permit users to blog as well. Items for sale on the site range from a USD 20 beaded necklace to a USD 11,000 diamond engagement ring. For users who received something other than jewelry from their ex, there's also a category entitled "Gifts that should have been jewelry." Once they've sold their goods, users can even donate some of the proceeds to the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation through a button on the site.
Los Angeles-based ExBoyfriendJewelry.com does not charge any fees or commissions, and it does not get involved in sales facilitated on the site (eventually, it aims to be ad-supported). By early May, the site had already reached almost 3,500 registered users. There are similar sites out there—Ex-cessories.com, for example, which does charge listing fees and commissions—but ExBoyfriendJewelry.com's emphasis on the stories behind the jewelry makes it less a pure marketplace and more a community. Purveyors of female-focused goods and services: this is an advertising opportunity you won't want to miss!
Website: www.exboyfriendjewelry.com
Contact: exboyfriendjewelry@gmail.com
Spotted by: Maria Dahl Jørgensen and Philip Hoffman
We know that many of our readers like a good vending machine story. In the past, we've featured machines that vend everything from umbrellas to hair straighteners, but we feel we've let you down on the vending front lately.
Which is why we were happy to spot a new automated selling device in London: Onitsuka Tiger, the Japanese sports brand, launched a sneaker vending machine on Carnaby Street today. Sneaker vending isn't entirely new—it's been done in Japan, of course, and Reebok sold shoes from a vendomat back in 2004. Reebok's machine, however, was a bit of a let-down: the sneakers were packed into a seemingly standard, drab box. Onitsuka Tiger, on the other hand, put some effort into custom-building their machine, which can sell 24 pairs of shoes at a time, in 6 sizes.
Following its London debut, the machine will travel across the UK to bring convenience-buying to the rest of Britain's sneakerheads. Fun bit of brand promotion (this marks a UK first for sneaker vending) and consumers should enjoy the concept, too. "What, these shoes? I just got them from a vending machine down the street." To us, that sounds like a status story ;-)
Website: www.onitsukatiger.co.uk
Contact: info@onitsukatiger.co.uk
American Apparel has become a veritable epitome of what our sister site trendwatching.com calls the (still) made here trend—consumers' growing preference for things produced locally, ethically, authentically. Along similar lines, there's Blank, a Canadian company that sells blank T-shirts and clothing made entirely in Quebec. Unbranded and sweatshop-free, just like American Apparel.
Founded in 2005, Blank sells a range of clothing items and accessories for men, women and children with the goal of creating Quebec jobs and promoting local talent. Everything from fabric manufacture to dyeing, cutting and sewing is performed in Quebec, and through Blank's wholesale services retailers can even customize items with the colours, fabrics and formats of their choice. The company operates two Montreal stores, both of which also serve as production sites--large windows at the back allow customers to see the clothes being made.
Whereas almost 18,000 garment jobs were lost between 2003 and 2004 in Quebec, according to the province's Institut de la Statistique, Blank's sales doubled in 2006, allowing it to open its second store (source: the McGill Daily). Which just goes to show that the opportunities still abound for locally made goods. It's not just still made here—it's also still profitable!
Website: www.portezblank.com
Contact: info@wearblank.com
Spotted by: Alexandre Renaud
We've already written about companies that let consumers customize their own dresses, lingerie and duvets, and now Toronto-based design firm Ndeur offers customized, hand-painted shoes.
Unlike similar offerings by such companies as Nike and Converse, however, which essentially offer a limited set of choices in style and colour, Ndeur decorates vintage leather pumps and sneakers with unique designs and patterns in oil-based paint. More than 50 standard designs are available from the company, which was founded in May 2007 by Parisian artist Mathieu Missiaen; alternatively, customers can also just ask Missiaen to paint what he likes. Ndeur's shoes are available through retailers around the world as well as Etsy, the online marketplace for handmade goods we've written about on several occasions. Each pair comes in its own box with a card of authenticity bearing the artist's signature. Wholesale costs are CDN 110 plus shipping for shoes with one of Ndeur's standard designs, or CDN 160 for an original design; if a customer supplies the shoes, the wholesale cost is CDN 100. Delivery takes three to six weeks.
As we've said before, there's nothing like customization to make consumers feel unique. What other wearable items can be hand-decorated for an exclusive touch.... and price? ;-)
Website: www.ndeur.com
Contact: ndeurshoe@gmail.com
Spotted by: Ana Bucur
As our regular readers know, we've covered quite a few examples of gravanity,* from children's books to personal requiems. So when one of our spotters presented yet another example of a business that's using customization to stand out, we couldn't resist. What's getting the gravanity treatment this time? Cuff links. Created by Eleven Forty Co., the links are individually modelled on photographs of a child, a loved one, a pet or a famous role model. They're available in a range of precious metals and are priced from GBP 225. When they're not holding a shirt cuff together, the two halves cleverly snap together to create a miniature bust.
This isn't the studio's first foray into high-end personalization. A few years ago, Eleven Forty Co. introduced Opus, an uber-premium football table that's made to order. Customers pick their teams, which can feature friends, family, celebrities or real football players. Each player's head is cast in 3D from a photograph supplied by the customer. One to keep an eye on if you're looking for inspiration for a customized product to bring to market!
Website: www.elevenforty.com
Contact: hello@elevenforty.com
Spotted by: Flemming Birch
* Gravanity is what our sister-site trendwatching.com dubbed the enduring trend of catering to consumers who want to leave 'something' behind in print, audio or imagery. It's a goldmine of inspiration for entrepreneurs and marketers.
We've written before about platforms for minipreneurs that aggregate the offerings of many merchants in a single online or offline space. A few weeks ago Rumplo stepped into the fray with a t-shirt-specific site that helps consumers find the coolest t-shirts from independent makers around the world.
Brooklyn, NY-based Rumplo aims to make it easy to browse, search and subscribe to artist-produced tees from around the globe. Users can browse categories such as color, typography, slogan, photography or gradient (in addition to the more obvious "new" and "most popular"), and Rumplo serves up a selection of matching submitted shirts from independent producers all over the planet. Designers, stores and registered users can all participate in submitting links to t-shirts they love, and users can subscribe via RSS (e-mail delivery is coming soon) to their favorite designers, tags or topics. All t-shirts on the site are open to comments by registered users, along with designation as "faves." What users won't find, however, are the works of any on-demand printing sites, which Rumplo's founders have deliberately exluded.
It remains to be seen if Rumplo will charge sellers any kind of fee in the future, but meanwhile plans are apparently in the works for advertising support. By focusing on independent producers (and excluding others), Rumplo takes a partially curated approach that is sure to help users wade through the clutter and find the gems in the online t-shirt marketplace. A model to emulate in other markets!
Website: www.rumplo.com
Contact: www.rumplo.com/contact
Spotted by: Josh Mervis
Whether it's board riders or hotel seekers being targeted, there's no doubt that the verticalization of video sites continues apace. The latest evidence: Shoetube, a new video-sharing site for those obsessed with shoes.
Launched about two weeks ago by Massachusetts-based Powderhouse Productions, Shoetube aims to use online video and social community to connect women through their passion for shoes. The free site features original video programs, user-generated videos and photos, and sponsor-created content, along with professionally written blogs, forums and articles on fashion news and trends. Among the site's regular video programs, for example, are Behind the Boot, which provides access to the makers and shakers of the shoe world; Real or Deal, a studio show daring viewers to guess which shoes are from high-end designers and which are knockoffs; and Walk on By, in which Shoetube.tv hosts ask passersby nationwide, "Where'd you get those shoes?" Coming soon is a Boutiques section, which will showcase videos and photos, blogs, contests, polls, and shoe deals from well-known shoe companies. Ad-supported Shoetube provides sponsors with promotional opportunities through video ad overlays, boutique microsites, banners, contests and polling efforts. Through a collaboration with Nine West, for example, Shoetube is helping to promote the shoe brand's 30th anniversary and the launch of its fall 2008 boot line; to celebrate Shoetube's launch, meanwhile, shoe brand daniblack is offering a USD 1,000 sweepstakes prize to a Shoetube.tv registrant.
From aardvark fanciers to zwieback aficionados, it's a niche-filled world out there, full of opportunities for topic-specific video sites. And when there's the likes of Twistage (which Shoetube used) and Magnify at the ready for help on the technical end, there's no reason not to pick a niche and get to work!
Website: www.shoetube.tv
Contact: www.shoetube.tv/about-us/contact-us
Spotted by: Amy Leung
Back in 2006, Nike generated copious amounts of street cred with techies when it partnered with Apple and released its Nike + iPod Sport Kit, which allowS gadget-loving runners to synch their iPods via a special sensor placed inside their Nike shoes.
Now, the US athletic shoe manufacturer seems determined to win over green-minded customers, too. In January, Nike introduced the Air Jordan XX3, which uses eco-friendly materials. Then in February Nike went a step further with Trash Talk. From the sole to the shoelaces, this shoe is produced not only from ‘environmentally preferred’ materials but also recycled waste, with much of the latter coming from Nike’s own production facilities—scraps that would otherwise have been discarded.
Trash Talk is the brainchild of Nike celebrity endorser Steve Nash.The All-Star guard for the NBA’s Phoenix Suns is a committed green-living advocate. And a retail price of USD 100 aptly illustrates how a company can turn garbage to gold. That’s a lesson which should be well taken by beleaguered manufacturers in the US and other developed nations. As these manufacturers look for ways to compete with lower-cost producers in Asia, they might find the secret to reinventing themselves is stacked up in the trash bins of their own factories. Yet another way for brands to rack up those greenie points ;-)
Website www.nike.com
Spotted by: Bjarke Svendsen
