Hey Quirks,
Art Nithipat Thansrikiat is one of our international distribution partners. A big thanks to him for getting Quirky products in Apple-related magazines and Central Retailers locations across Thailand.
– “Boom”
We’ve been sending your products around the world for some time now, and this week, things just go even more awesome’er!
Our Hong Kong warehouse is all set up! We are now strategically located to consolidate inventory from dozens of factories and ship products efficiently around the world while keeping costs down for our global partners. The warehouse hit the ground running this week and is helping us fulfill orders for distributors in Korea, Saudi Arabia, Australia, Israel, Thailand, Philippines, UK, Germany and more. With logistics operations set up in the US and HK we can better serve any market.
We are getting Quirky samples in front of some great partners in many more locations around the world. With samples in hand, our distributors can set up meetings with retailers and start sending us those bulk orders we all love so much.
We have a great brand, an amazing community, outstanding global logistics, and our product line up is getting stronger by the minute in multiple product categories. The list goes on. All of these strengths make life great for distributors. Soon enough we’ll be announcing the next exclusive Quirky distributor. Any leads?
Oscar Wilde was probably a jerk but he sure makes life easy when you write at an eighth grade/blogger level and need a quote to start a post (as I do) so here we go.
“It is what you read when you don’t have to that determines what you will be when you can’t help it.” - O.Dub
I’ve for sure spent way too much time reading the Economist and Foreign Policy for someone who worked for an Automotive Ad Network with a 99% American audience, but there was only so much I wanted to know about the Hyundai Sonata beyond the fact that it has better paint quality than the Mercedes CLS550. I am sure the same goes for you all. You may sell gourmet Italian foods, or you teach elementary students by day, but you find yourself infatuated with the workings of things that will probably never change your life.
And now here we are Quirks, with problems to solve in every corner of the world, in every aspect of our daily lives. That time you spent wandering in the rabbit holes of the Wikipedia gardens was not a time sink. That article you read about the Red Shirts burning down Central Retailers in Thailand actually has implications for Quirky. Come to find out our reseller in Thailand lost products in that fire. The sinking of a Korean ship and the Won losing 10% of its value against the dollar directly affects us when one of our favorite partners has been putting together large orders and sharing revenue with the community but his purchasing power just got hacked. I don’t want to seem like we should only care when it affects our sales. I would like to simply highlight that you can’t always predict what information will be useful. That time you spent reading blogs on Belgian delicacies affects you too. (We are testing waffle makers today. More to come.)
So I encourage you all to follow international affairs and, beyond that, get lost in information outside your industry. Quirky is worldwide, and our products can find a place in every country. Think about products Brazilians would love. They are killing it over there (literally killing a little less in Rio). If you are knowledgeable about or live in a market perfect for Quirky share your knowledge with the group and fill out product research appropriately.
If we just stay in our own industry and our own market, ideas stagnate and there are diminishing returns, not just financially. So read up on every market and every technology because when knowledge from all industries and all corners is shared, you get innovation. Here is a great article on just that: Ideas Having Sex. It will make you excited to be a Quirk.
I will share more specific distribution information in the next Town Meeting. We will continue looking for ways you can help us internationally, whether it is locating resellers, evangelizing Quirky to distributors in a specific market, or translating forum posts. Our distributors are already amazed by our community, so thank you.
Hello Quirks,
It feels good to be in NYC. I just moved out here from California. I grew up in Loomis, CA, a small town where cow chip bingo was a large share of fundraising for our high school athletics teams. For those of you who are international Quirks, I begrudgingly fit some of the California stereotypes. I lived on the beach for some time where I learned to play only terribly “chill” acoustic guitar riffs, surfed, and ate burritos which are now my go-to comfort food. I use the terms “bro” (pronounced breh), “dude,” “hella,” and “tight” with a sense of irony, yet they’ve snuck their way into most conversations unknowingly. I have yet to decide whether I will make efforts to drop my CA dialect while heading up international distribution at Quirky, considering Google Translate will probably not properly translate “dude, that’s hella tight” into various languages.
Moving to New York from San Francisco, I was forced to abandon an array of prized possessions including a Flying V electric guitar, cherished shoes, a gaggle (1) of wooden quail figurines, a quiver of surfboards, and most painfully (literally), a 1960′s Hammond organ I bought for $15 and destroyed my back moving (2). Now that I’ve made the move I will replace those possessions with hobbies that require smaller junk. I have thoughts of cobbling at least one leather shoe, hopefully a pair. I am going to run as many miles as I can in Central Park before winter and I would love to surf at least once a month, even though I am in Manhattan.
Like many sales guys, I don’t consider myself a traditional sales guy, but I am likely the only person at Quirky fond of Microsoft Excel. “I mean, how else do you pivot a table?” (Note from Jess: Groan…) Unlike many sales guys, I love to read.
I am excited to publish blog posts about setting up international distribution. From my experience, researching distributors is not a web-friendly or transparent endeavor, and we at Quirky plan to do what we can to change that. It will be awesome to figure out how to leverage Quirks around the world to create stronger relationships and distribution channels. I can’t wait to make you guys some $$$!
Love,
Garret Van der Boom
Fun Facts:
1. I am allergic to the most pansy allergens including but not limited to pansies e.g. bunnies and kittens.
2. I will eat buffalo flavored anything at any time.
3. I most likely have Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) so I can’t wait for my first real winter.
Footnotes:
(1) I could not find the correct venery for quail figurines but thanks to my research I will now use the proper phrase “a coffle of donkey/ass.”
(2) The organ weighed 166 pounds, 40 pounds more than the friend I suckered into helping me. In the initial move it was carried down 3 floors, up 3 floors. One month later the organ was moved down 3 floors, up 2 floors before departing for NYC. Chiropractic is included in our health benefits, so that is chill.
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