Etsy

File:Etsy logo.png
URL	Etsy.com
Commercial?	yes
Type of site	E-commerce
Registration	Optional
Created by	Robert Kalin, Chris Maguire, Haim Schoppik, Jared Tarbell
Launched	June 18, 2005
Alexa rank	159 (May 2012[update])[1]

Etsy is an e-commerce website focused on handmade or vintage items as well as art and craft supplies. These items cover a wide range including art, photography, clothing, jewelry, edibles, bath & beauty products, quilts, knick-knacks and toys. Many individuals also sell craft supplies like beads, wire, and jewelry-making tools. All vintage items must be at least 20 years old.^{[citation needed]} These items range from old boots and ice skates, to dresses, hats and scarves. The site follows in the tradition of open craft fairs, giving sellers personal storefronts where they list their goods for a fee of $0.20.^[2] It has been compared to "a crafty cross between Amazon and eBay,"^[3] and to "your grandma's basement."^[4]

History [link]

Etsy staff at work, July 2010

Art in the Etsy office

The site was launched on June 18, 2005, by iospace, a small company composed of Robert Kalin, Chris Maguire and Haim Schoppik. That initial version had taken two and a half months to build.^[5] Later Jared Tarbell joined the team. Former NPR executive Maria Thomas joined as COO in 2008, was promoted to CEO and left Etsy in December 2009. Robert Kalin resumed his role as CEO from December 2009 until July 2011.^[6] Investors include Sean Meenan, Spencer and Judson Ain, Union Square Ventures and founders of Flickr and Delicious.^[7]

While much speculation surrounds the meaning behind the name Etsy, one story is Etsy got its name because Robert Kalin "wanted a nonsense word because I wanted to build the brand from scratch. I was watching Fellini's 8 ½ and writing down what I was hearing. In Italian, you say 'etsi' a lot. It means 'oh, yes.' And in Latin, it means 'and if.'" ^[8]

Etsy has grown significantly to eight hundred thousand sellers and twelve million buyer accounts^[9]. The engineers frequently add new tools and functionality to the site to help sellers gain exposure and traffic, including Adobe Flash-based visualizations and a taxonomy of categories with tags.^[10] Etsy passed $1.7 million in sales in May 2007.^[3] On July 29, Etsy had its one-millionth sale and anticipated its two-millionth sale would occur mid-December 2007. In November 2007, buyers spent $4.3 million purchasing 300,000 items for sale on Etsy, an increase of 43 percent from October 2007.^[2] In June 2007 it expected to be profitable by the fall,^[11] but in December 2007 it was not a profitable company.^[12] In January 2008, Etsy received an additional $27 million in funding from Union Square Ventures, Hubert Burda Media, and Jim Breyer.^[13]

In February 2008, trouble at eBay, including a strike by some dissatisfied sellers, brought speculation that Etsy could be an increasing competitor.^[14] At the same time, however, some Etsy sellers expressed unhappiness with how Etsy was handling complaints about stores.^[15] At the time, a comparison of the two websites included complaints that on Etsy, items are difficult to find, the interface "feels slow", and the buying and selling process is United States-centric.^[16] Other reviewers have enjoyed using Etsy's specialized search options,^[17][18] including the "Shop Local" tool.^[19]

In July 2008, Rob Kalin ceded the position of CEO to Maria Thomas.^[20] Some longtime Etsy employees left the company in August 2008, including founders Haim Schoppik and Chris Maguire.^[21] In September 2008, Etsy hired Chad Dickerson, who formerly worked at Yahoo!, as Chief Technology Officer.^[22] The company acknowledged concerns about vendors selling other people's work as their own.^[23]

In April 2009, users organized an "etsyday" promotion on Twitter that brought extra attention to the site.^[24] As of May 2009, it has approximately 60 employees and sales of $10 to 13 million per month,^[25] possibly boosted by consumer interest in cheaper and more personalized goods due to the United States recession.^[26] Etsy is popular as a side-business^[27] as well as a place to buy goods made from recycled and upcycled materials,^[28] along with less expensive or more unusual versions of mass-produced items.^[29] The unique nature of many of the items for sale is part of their appeal to some shoppers.^[30][31]

In March 2010, Kalin said that the company is profitable and "plans to go public, though not until at least next year."^[32] In December 2010, Etsy said it had seven million registered users and predicted $400 million in transactions for the year, and that it would continue to focus on a personal community feel as it grows larger, as that is part of what distinguishes it from eBay.^[33] In 2010, Etsy saw revenues increase from $180 million to $314 million, which fell short of the $400 million prediction. ^[34]

In March 2011, Etsy "introduced a Facebook-style social networking system called People Search... to help buyers and sellers connect with each other and become friends". By doing so, however, Etsy effectively made any past purchase with feedback eminently searchable. Etsy has since made changes to their systems to better guard information regarding users' purchases. ^[35]

Operations [link]

Etsy Labs community workspace area.

Etsy makes money by charging a listing fee of 20 cents for each item and getting 3.5% of every sale,^[36] with the average sale about $15 or $20 and mostly sold by women^[11] who tend to be college-educated and in their twenties and thirties.^[25]

Along with handmade products, people on Etsy sell vintage items,^[37] homemade sweets, and craft supplies. Etsy offers multiple options for paying for items, including credit card, money order, and PayPal.

Etsy's head office is located in DUMBO, Brooklyn which features an open Monday craft night to the community in the "Etsy Labs". The site's technology, customer support, marketing/PR, business and communications teams operate out of this office. Additionally, Etsy Labs has a workspace that provides equipment and donated materials where members gather to make items, take and teach workshops, and attend special events.^[2]

Etsy is one of the main members of the Handmade Consortium, a 2007 effort to encourage buying handmade holiday gifts.^[12]

Controversy [link]

Etsy has been criticized for inconsistently applying its rules about items having to be handmade,^[38] and it has been working on fraud detection.^[39] In April 2012 the writer of Regretsy, a popular blog, did independent research into a specific featured vendor, Ecologica Malibu, and found evidence to accuse the vendor of being a reseller, which would be against the Etsy Terms of Service.^[40] The vendor asserted that it was in line with the Terms of Service, stating that the shop had simply failed to identify itself as a "collective" that included the work of several individuals, and many Etsy community members posted on the Etsy forum expressing unhappiness with the lack of action taken by Etsy.^[41]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Official website
• Interview in Exberliner magazine with Etsy's European CEO

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (February 2009)

Nikki Silva is a radio producer, and museum curator from Santa Cruz, California.^[1] She is one half of the Peabody Award winning public radio team, the Kitchen Sisters.

Over the past twenty years, Silva has worked as history curator at the Museum of Art and History in Santa Cruz, California, and as a freelance curator and exhibit consultant specializing in regional history. She and her husband, designer and artist Charles Prentiss, have produced dozens of exhibitions for museums throughout California including long-term exhibits chronicling the histories of Santa Cruz County, California, San Jose, California, Campbell and San Leandro. Some of the special exhibits Silva produced include: "California Indian Basketweavers": a look at historic and contemporary Native American weavers and their work; "The World Famous Tree Circus": the saga of a California roadside attraction; the history of the Chinese in the Monterey Bay Region; "Never a Dull Moment": the story of the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk, the last of California's early 20th century coastal amusement parks,^[2] and many more.^[3]

Published works[link]

• Hidden Kitchens : stories, recipes, and more from NPR's The Kitchen Sisters (Rodale Press, 2005)

References[link]

External links[link]

• The Kitchen Sisters

This biographical article needs additional citations for verification. Please help by adding reliable sources. Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately, especially if potentially libelous or harmful. (January 2011)

Michael Kors
Michael Kors Photo: Ed Kavishe, Fashion Wire Press
Born	(1959-08-09) August 9, 1959 (age 52) Long Island, New York, United States
Nationality	American
Education	Fashion Institute of Technology
Occupation	Fashion designer
Spouse	Lance LePere (since 2011)[1]
Awards	1999 CFDA award for womenswear designer of the year 2003 CFDA award for menswear designer of the year
Labels	Michael Kors

Michael Kors (born Karl Anderson, Jr.; August 9, 1959)^[2] is an American fashion designer. He is best known for designing classic American sportswear for women.

Personal life[link]

Kors was born Karl Anderson, Jr.^[3] on Long Island, New York, the son of Joan Hamburger, a former model, and her first husband, Karl Anderson, a college student.^[4][5] When his mother remarried when he was five, he was told he could change his name, and he chose to become Michael David Kors.^[6] He grew up in Merrick, New York and graduated from John F. Kennedy High School in Bellmore, New York. Kors' mother is Jewish and his father was of Swedish descent.^[3][7][8][9] Kors currently resides in New York City and married his longtime partner Lance LePere in Southampton, New York on August 16, 2011.^[1]

Career[link]

Michael Kors began designing clothes at the age of 19 and studied fashion design at the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York City.^[10] In 1981, Kors launched the Michael Kors womenswear line at Bloomingdales, Bergdorf Goodman, Lord & Taylor, Neiman Marcus, and Saks Fifth Avenue. Building on his success, Kors was named the first ever women's ready-to-wear designer and creative director for the French fashion house Celine in 1997. In his tenure at Celine, Kors turned the fashion house around with blockbuster accessories and a critically acclaimed ready-to-wear line. Kors left Celine in October 2003 to concentrate on his own brand. Kors launched his menswear line in 2002.

In addition to the Michael Kors runway collection, the MICHAEL Michael Kors and KORS Michael Kors lines were launched in 2004. KORS is considered the mid-tier line, between the runway and MICHAEL collections. The MICHAEL line includes women's handbags and shoes as well as women's ready-to-wear apparel. The KORS line contains footwear and Jeans. Currently, Kors has full collection boutiques in New York, Beverly Hills, Palm Beach, Manhasset, and Chicago. This year, Michael Kors celebrates 30 years in business.

A dress by Michael Kors, 2010

Among the celebrities who have worn Michael Kors' designs are Jennifer Lopez, Rachel McAdams, Michelle Obama, Elissa, Heidi Klum, and Catherine Zeta-Jones.^{[citation needed]} Joan Allen wore his gown when she was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actress for her role in the The Contender. In addition, Jennifer Garner wore a custom creation as an Academy Award presenter in 2006. As Creative Director of Celine, Michael Kors designed many outfits for actresses to wear on screen. Gwyneth Paltrow wore Kors' designs in the movie Possession. Cate Blanchett also wore his clothes in the movie Bandits. In addition, he outfitted Rene Russo's character in the 1999 hit remake of The Thomas Crown Affair. Elissa wore his dress in the World Music Awards 2005. The ad campaigns for Michael Kors often reflects the jet-set sportswear that Kors fans are fond of. Previous campaigns include the model Carmen Kass on the tarmac of an airport, on a safari in Africa, and relaxing on a yacht.

Kors is a judge on the Emmy-nominated reality television program Project Runway, which aired on Bravo for five seasons; subsequent seasons aired on Lifetime.

Other honors[link]

In 2010, Kors received the Oliver R. Grace Award for Distinguished Service in Advancing Cancer Research, an annual honor bestowed by the Cancer Research Institute, a U.S. nonprofit organization dedicated to advancing immune system-based treatments for cancer. He received the honor at a black-tie ceremony held June 16, 2010 at The Mandarin Oriental in New York City. In June 2010, Kors was the youngest recipient ever of the Geoffrey Beene Lifetime Achievement Award from the CFDA and received the Fragrance Foundation’s FiFi Award for Lifetime Achievement.

Legal issues[link]

In January 2009, the estate of artist/designer Tony Duquette sued Kors for trademark infringement after Kors allegedly used Duquette's name and images in promoting Kors' 2009 resortwear collection.^[11]

Pop culture trivia[link]

Michael Kors was referenced in the film 'The Devil Wears Prada' by Meryl Streep's character, Miranda Priestly. In the scene, Miranda sweeps into her office and gives a list of instructions to her personal assistant (Emily Blunt). Miranda commands Emily: "RSVP 'yes' to Michael Kors' party and I want the driver drop to me off at 930 and pick me up at 945 sharp."

References[link]

Further reading[link]

• Stern, Gary M., "Kors' Design Leads To More Outlets, Overseas Growth", Investor's Business Daily, May 25, 2012

External links[link]

• Michael Kors biography, Michael Kors Biography
• MichaelKors.com, Michael Kors Official Website
  • Company Mission Statement, Mission Statement
• Michael Kors designer profile at Fashion Model Directory
• Project Runway Season 5
• File:MICHAEL KORS 221.jpg#filelinks, Michael Kors dress