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Fashioning a Challenge, Pittsburgh Style
In this economy, thrift shopping is trendy, with sales rising as retail spending plummets. Pittsburgh company ModCloth was inspired by secondhand before it was cool.
When founder Susan Gregg Koger's thrift store clothing finds began to outgrow her Carnegie Mellon University dorm room, she formed a partnership in 2002 with then-boyfriend Eric Koger, a web design guru, to sell the overflow online. Several years of business success and a marriage later, the company has grown and evolved, becoming a full-time venture for both in 2005.
The company has been on the move, literally. From the dorm to a basement to the couple's home, the inventory began to crowd out living space and was ready for a home of its own. Now located in a 7,550-square-foot warehouse in Pittsburgh's Strip District, the company has once again filled its digs with fashion.
No longer limited to the gently-worn ModCloth now features new, vintage-inspired clothing in keeping with its original concept. However, the site does maintain a "one-of-a-kind" section that still features thrift-store finds that were just too good to pass up. It also has expanded to include retro home décor items, including salt and pepper shakers, decals and posters.
While initially the contact number on the website was Susan's personal cell phone, the company now has a phone of its own. Susan handles purchasing and merchandising, and travels widely to trade shows to locate just the right items to fit the company's style and customers' tastes. Eric, now armed with a CMU MBA in entrepreneurship, is in charge of business functions and technology. Pug dog Winston, the official mascot featured on the site, oversees all aspects of the operation.
- 70 to 100 phone and online orders are received each day.
- ModCloth now employs 21, with photos and profiles of each featured on the website.
- The company has raised $1.55 million in capital from investors.
- The site has attracted over 4,000,000 visits in the past three years.
Due to skillful marketing, the site comes up near the top when online shoppers seek mod or retro clothes on their favorite search engines. With close-ups and multiple images from an in-house photography studio, ModCloth has worked to overcome customer resistance to purchasing clothing without the benefit of a fitting room. "Our product images are some of the best on the Web," says Susan. "When you buy something from ModCloth, it's been tried on by four or five girls thinking about where we'd wear it." The company hopes its clothing is worn everywhere, with one eye on the past and the other firmly focused on the future.
Finding Furry Family Fun
Family game night is making a comeback, and parents are finding that the enthusiastic squeals of delight from the kids are now accompanied by the woofs and meows of the pets. DARF has found a way for all family members to join the fun, even those with fur.
Since an estimated 63% of U.S. households own a pet, the company found its niche in creating "fun stuff for pets and their owners to enjoy together." The company emphasizes the importance of teaching pets to be good citizens, learning how to behave and live a richer and happier life. Featuring dice, card and board games, this company isn't afraid to get its paws dirty with loads of furry fun.
The company's first offering, Funagle, is a game designed for 1-4 humans age 12 years and up and 1-4 canines age 12 weeks and up. The object of the game is to get the pet to do tricks ranging from the mundane, such as begging and rolling over, to more advanced skills, perhaps persuading Fido to moonwalk or do the wave, motivated by voice, gestures or treats.
Other canine games include Mutthead, which asks humans to do the same tricks as their dogs, such as exchanging kisses or balancing treats on noses. And Do You Mind has the goal of persuading dogs to perform tricks on command.
DARF has expanded its product line to ensure that the feline members of the family are not sitting idle while their canine siblings have a good time. Catfeats is designed for 1-4 people and 1-4 cats, and features paw print dice.
- DARF was founded in 2006 by a marketing and design manager who quit her job to fill this niche, inspired by the fun she had with her dog in a reward-based training class.
- DARF is based in Portland, Oregon, which has been named the most dog-friendly city in the US by Dog Fancy Magazine.
- The company has grown beyond the US to include distributors in Belgium and Australia.
DARF players can gain fame based on their accomplishments. The company's website showcases the names and breeds of pets that have gone to the head of the class and achieved the highest scores. And, dogcam photos of a family playing Funagle are available for all to see. Testimonials include a suggestion that this would be the perfect party game for a dog's birthday.
From the beginning, this company has captured the attention of humans and animals alike, with the initial press release generating over 100 articles, as well as TV and radio features. DARF's goal is to turn its pet project into a financial success, inspiring humans and their furry friends to roll over and play happy.
Getting a Read on the Market for Books
Readers who hate to spend money for a book that sits idly on the shelf after reading have previously ventured into to the library or used bookstore. But those frugal bookworms now have an added option with BookMooch. The company has formed a community that "lets you give away books you no longer need in exchange for books you really want."
The dictionary defines mooch as "to obtain something without paying for it, or to borrow something without intending to return it," which well describes the company's mission. The concept is simple: visit the website to find out who's looking for a book you're willing to part with, as well as those you want to read. This encourages readers to de-clutter their living spaces, knowing that their gently-used tomes will find good homes.
Members earn points for their activities through BookMooch: listing books earns 1/10 of a point, and giving away a book earns one point. To add to its global reach and reward members for the extra cost, three points are awarded for any book shipped to another country.
Points are banked, and each earned point entitles members to a book of their choosing. Books received can be kept forever, or they can be recycled back into the BookMooch community. There is no cost to join; the only financial transaction is the shipping charge.
- BookMooch is funded by a link from the website to Amazon.com called the Moochbar; it's estimated that one book is purchased from Amazon for every 25 swapped, earning the company a commission of about 8% of sales.
- The company is based in Berkeley, California, and is considering expansion into videos and CDs.
- BookMooch boasts a virtual inventory of about 480,000 books among its 70,000 trading members in 90 countries; they average 3.5 trades per month.
To avoid obsessive site-watching, waiting for the desired selection to appear, members can keep a wish list, and they will find the book in the mail as soon as the points are earned and the book is available. To keep members honest, feedback on senders is posted, much like eBay, with the added incentive of earning 1/10 of a point for doing so. Altruistic Moochers can also donate their points to charities, including children's hospitals and African literacy.
According to the company's founder, "We're just trying to do something fun and huge — like be the biggest bookstore on the planet. It seems to me we should be able to trade more books than Amazon sells." A grandiose goal, no doubt, but perhaps there's a little bit of Mooch in all of us.
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