Storque articles by EtsyinthePress

Etsy in the Press: The Best of the Rest (of '09)

2010-01-07T14:17:00-05:00

Hello Etsy, and adios 2009! I want to share the best of the year-end (October - December) press that Etsy garnered in 2009 — which was quite a bit, so we're going with a list this time around, arranged in handy categories for your reading pleasure. I hope that you all felt the love, and here's looking forward to a great 2010!

Etsy is an Awesome Shopping Destination

Shine, Eco Fashion World, LXTV 1st Look, Parenting, The Today Show, InStyle, The Today Show, New Times SLO, eMarketer.com, Parents, Daily Mail, Tonic, The Daily Green, The Today Show, E Magazine, Nashville News, LXTV New York, Fab Sugar, Magnet, Los Angeles Times, Inhabitat, and New York Weddings.

*Etsy items were also featured offline, in several magazines' holiday gift guides including Lucky, Wine Enthusiast, Country Living, Real Simple, Better Homes & Gardens, Every Day with Rachael Ray, and Food + Wine.

Seller Love

People, Paste, GLAMOUR Beauty, The Knoxville News Sentinel, People Pets, Regina Lewis, Good Housekeeping, CBS 2 News Chicago, The Philadelphia Inquirer, Juxtapoz, 1000 Ideas for Creative Reuse, Los Angeles Times, KERA, Sacramento News 10, Publisher's Weekly, epicurious, Planet Green, News on 6, The New York Times, Des Moines Register, Woman's Day, Tampa Tribune, Vogue Knitting, The Luxury Spot, CBC Radio, and Boho.

Trends n' Things

The New York Times, People Style Watch (check out their Tweet Ticker), The Wall Street Journal, Interior Design, The Today Show, The Sunday Times, and the San Francisco Chronicle.

Serious Business

Reader's Digest, The Globe and Mail, Compete, USA Today, Telegraph, The Silicon Alley Insider,The New York Times, KYFR News, Web Nation, The New York Times, and Forbes.

Miscellaneous Fun!

The New York Times, The Silicon Alley Insider, Cute Overload, Perez Hilton, and The L Magazine.

For more Etsy in the Press, go here!

Have you (and your Etsy shop!) been in the press lately? Let us know in the comments!

Etsy in the Press: All About Alliteration

2009-10-05T16:00:00-05:00

I present you with a plethora of press (I heart alliteration, and I apologize in advance). In all seriousness, let's talk shop(ping). You may be familiar with Nina Garcia, former editor at ELLE Magazine and a judge on Project Runway. No slouch when it comes to style, Nina has recently written a book called The Style Strategy, in which she references Etsy as a great place to shop for handmade.

And Nina's not the only one who thinks so — some awesome Aussies at news.com.au, as well as Paige Rien, who dabbles in design for HGTV and writes for The Luxury Spot, would agree. As would the fabulous folks over at Time.com, who (as previously noted) voted Etsy as one of their Top 50 Websites of the year... for the third year running! Add to that lovely mix the makers of Marketing Magazine (that one wrote itself), who dubbed us one of the 10 hottest fashion websites. They had a particularly poignant description: "Comparing Etsy with eBay is akin to comparing Chanel's Paris flagship store with Primark's Hammersmith outpost. The latter is all about volume and price while the former is all about design, authenticity and all things beautiful."

So what are some things people are shopping for these days? Why, weddings, of course! That's according to, "The Girls in the Beauty Dept." over at Glamour's Daily Beauty Blog, who topped it with the hilarious headline, "I Found the Perfect Hairthing for My Wedding."

Weddings are a special day, when all attention is focused on two individuals (...in theory; in reality, it's all about the bride, and that's how it should be, right fellas?). And what better way to express your individuality than through custom cake toppers? The New York Times recently ran an article to that effect, which included the word "commemorabilia." There is also an accompanying slideshow that you should see. Of course, the perma-snarks over at Gawker had something to say about that. But they did manage, in their own back-handed way, to compliment the Etsians who make said toppers.

Speaking of individuals, one writer for Channel 3 in New Zealand is chronicling her wedding planning adventures on Etsy, summing it up with, "Oh dear. I think I'm hooked. Quick, someone block the website before I spend all our money!" The media moguls at Mashable had an interesting take on the topic as well, giving tips and tricks for planning a wedding using social media. Of course a crucial component (oh, I am on a roll here) of any wedding is the dress. Inhabitat offers us up as a the perfect place to procure eco-friendly wedding dresses, as well as garments for the groom's party.

Which gives me a sweet segue into our next segment, going green. Etsy can be a great place to help save the planet, in a variety of ways. The Daily Green denotes our decor selection, while the B'More Green blog section of the Baltimore Sun recommends us for back-to-school choices. Focusing on fashion, Feel Good Style has been "doing quite a bit of shopping on Etsy and have been thoroughly satisfied and quite literally, have been seen jumping up and down in glee with the results." Meanwhile, The Green Life, a part of the Sierra Club site, stated their stance on shopping for jewelry. The Sierra Club! Could it get any greener? On the seller side, E, the environmental magazine, offered up tips from Etsy sellers on greening up your shop.

In other business news, the latest issue of Entrepreneur includes a look at Etsy and features some of our favorite, um, features. Fortunately, Fast Company notes that consumers are hungry for personal connections, and finds that to be one factor for financial fitness.

Time for trends! Paste magazine seeks sloth stuff. Today Show.com chooses crafting to calm. Good Housekeeping.com gets giddy for (pet) garb. Real Simple's Simply Stated selects snappy coloring book. The Los Angeles Times spots silverware, sort of. Hope that helps. Again, apologies. Arrivederci!

For more Etsy in the Press, go here!

Etsy in the Press: Dog Days

2009-08-14T10:24:00-05:00

The dog days of summer are upon us once again. What exactly is a dog day? I am always interested by the origins of such terms, and luckily, Wikipedia is there to help:

The term "Dog Days" was used by the Greeks, as well as the ancient Romans (who called these days caniculares dies [days of the dogs]) after Sirius (the "Dog Star", in Latin Canicula), the brightest star in the heavens besides the Sun. The dog days of summer are also called canicular days.

Dog Days were popularly believed to be an evil time "when the seas boiled, wine turned sour, dogs grew mad, and all creatures became languid, causing to man burning fevers, hysterics, and phrensies."

Good times! Luckily, we've managed to avoid the burning fevers and hysterics. (And thankfully, not everyone has become languid.) Take, for instance, the authors of the following pieces. The Globe and Mail and The San Francisco Chronicle discuss how Etsy is a great place to shop for home decor. Meanwhile, News Channel Five in Nashville, TN recommend us for wedding planning. The folks at TampaBay.com say, "Looking for a unique gift in a hurry? Turn to Etsy." Another notable press mention: PC Magazine selected Etsy as one of their Top 100 Web Sites of 2009, in the shopping category, of course! AlwaysOn also selected Etsy as one of their AO Global 250 Winners in the consumer category.

I think that one of the reasons that Etsy is such a great place to shop is because of the connections that can be made. This is the theme of a recent post on Willamette Live. Speaking of connecting, there is a great interview with our own Sean about our new Facebook Connect feature on All Facebook.

Another powerful tool for connecting is Twitter. The Business 101 series onTwitter.com featured Etsy as a case study recently, and ecommerce-guide offers some thoughts on tweeting as well.

Under the heading of fun seller news, drivebybags was profiled on Twin Cities Live, sharing the story of how their unique tote bag business came to be. In other exciting television happenings, RitzyMisfit had one of her necklaces featured around the neck of The Bachelorette on ABC! And finally, a love letter, featured on Auctionbytes, involving Italian boyfriends, Etsy, and vintage.

Happy Canicular Days to everyone! Enjoy the dog-themed Etsy items!

For more Etsy in the Press, go here!

Etsy in the Press: Summer Reading

2009-07-15T14:00:00-05:00

It's time to hit the beach, and accordingly, there's a need for some light reading. Personally, I prefer nonfiction for most of the year, but as things heat up, I like to find myself a nice page-turner. With that in mind, I'll be dishing up some quick reads from the interwebs and beyond, and maybe even some celebrity gossip. Feel free to read this poolside on your iPhone.

First up? Shopping. We love it! And we love it even more when it's done on Etsy. Which is why I was pleased to find just such recommendations from the San Francisco Chronicle, Examiner.com, Rhode Island Monthly, Wallet Pop, and Shelter Pop. The New York Times also covered Marian Lizzi's Etsy-fueled shopping habits, which you can follow on her blog, kraftomatic. It's a fun read.

Trends. They're trendy. They also offer valuable insights into the zeitgeist of a particular place and time in a given cultu— oops. Sorry, sorry. Light and fun. Well, I'll compromise. Here's a brainy take on a recent trend, the "Keep Calm and..." courtesy of The New York Times Magazine, by Rob Walker, who is no stranger to Etsy. One trend that is much more than a passing fancy is Craftivism, covered here in The Storque, and recently in The Times-Picayune in New Orleans. Another is the green, or eco-friendly movement, mentioned on the Mother Nature Network, and on Planet Green (congrats to the Etsy Organic Team!). Speaking of teams, the Etsy Plush Team snagged a cover story in Stuffed Magazine. Actually that is not a trend. I've gone off topic. Again.

Celebrities! We love/hate/stalk them. Sadly, Michael Jackson is no longer, but Paste Magazine chose to honor his memory with a collection of MJ tribute items from Etsy. Happily, Sarah Jessica Parker's new twins are healthy, and dressed up in these shirts from stoopher. Project Runway winner Leanimal gave us a nice little shout-out on her blog recently, as did Sheena Matheiken, half of The Uniform Project duo, on Glamour's blog. Speaking of shout-outs, Etsy was also mentioned on the hit Showtime series, Weeds.

For those of you who would like to contemplate deeply, you can ponder this bit from The Age, in Australia — where it is obviously not summer at the moment. An interesting read nonetheless. Thanks for stopping by, now go get to work on that tan! But wear sunscreen.

For more Etsy in the Press, go here!

Etsy in the Press: Chipper

2009-06-11T16:00:00-05:00

The tail end of spring is here, I just attended a fabulous free concert in the park, and Etsy got some great press mentions recently. All of this has got me feeling chipper. So where to begin? How about with the big guns, a.k.a. television.

On May 22, 2009 Etsy fan Tory Johnson, founder of Women For Hire and author of Will Work from Home: Earn the Cash — Without the Commute, did a special segment all about Etsy on Good Morning America. Tory profiled the stories of several Etsy sellers, gave some tips, and mentioned what a great place Etsy is in general. I believe I heard the word, "Etsy" at least nine times. My personal favorite part? At the end, she advises the hosts of GMA (who were attempting to recreate some Etsy items) to, "keep your day jobs, because the real artists are on Etsy."

Also on the tube, Sarah Gray Miller, Editor-in-Chief of Country Living magazine, gave us a nice little shout out on The Today Show. The mention is at the tail end of the clip. Thank you, Sarah!

Another thing that puts a spring in my step is when Etsy is touted as a great place for shopping, with great items available from Etsy shops shown off as examples. It's especially nice when that happens in places such as Lucky magazine, as happened in the April issue. This was also the case in the March issue of Real Simple magazine, noted in our Forums here and here. And Etsy was in the May issue of Better Homes & Gardens magazine. My apologies that direct links are not available, but if they were, people might not buy the magazines.

Who likes being somebody's favorite? We do! It warms my heart to see Etsy making lists of favorite places to shop, such as on iVillage.com, the Bangor Daily News, or the Banner Graphic out of Indiana. Another great form of favoritism (the good kind) is when we win awards, such as CNet's WebWare 100. Rob Kalin, our founder, was recently dubbed a Top Entrepreneur by Crain's New York Business.

In other interesting reading, I found this piece in The Washington Times which talks about the rebirth of the craft movement. It touches on many different aspects of how crafting has evolved in the digital age. Check it out! And with that, I am off to find more inspiration online, and maybe at the park.

For more Etsy in the Press, go here!

TakeOffYourClothes Wins Leonard Lopate's T-Shirt Design Contest

2009-06-10T14:30:00-05:00

Congratulations are in order! Brooklyn clothing and accessories designer (and Etsian!) takeoffyourclothes was recently chosen as one of five winners in a T-Shirt Design Contest through The Leonard Lopate Show, a popular public radio talk show in New York. Entries were judged by fashion designer, author and television personality Isaac Mizrahi. Takeoffyourclothes' design is called the XL Godet T-Shirt Flesh/White 6, as shown above. To see all of the winners' submissions and hear their interviews with Isaac and Leonard, check out WNYC.

You can see more of takeoffyourclothes' innovative designs below.

Summer Fashion Guide | More Fashion Posts

Etsy in the Press: Signs of the Times

2009-05-07T15:00:00-05:00

What times? Spring time? These rough economic times? Time to buy your mom a gift? All of the above.

You may be familiar with Tory Johnson, television personality, founder of Women For Hire, author of Will Work from Home: Earn the Cash — Without the Commute, and fan of Etsy. Tory has been a busy bee this spring, first talking up Etsy on The View (see the clip on YouTube from EdwinTV25), where she highlighted work from CrazyKBathandBody, EveBehar, isabellaboo, missrubysue, mom2twogals, and thecoolpuppy.

Tory also appeared on Good Morning America on May 5, 2009. The GMA story was all about mothers, specifically on buying gifts for moms, that were made by moms. She featured great products from Etsy mothers/sellers ASugarAffair, homespunhoney, palomasnest, SugarMohawk, suziesconfections and TheFetchingHound. What a sweet idea! (Author's note: pun fully intended.)

Spring time is a green time, and in April, much attention is given to another type of green, namely the environmental type. That is the focus of this piece from CBS 3 in Philadelphia, which zooms in on the efforts of local sellers CouchDesign and fabrik, two shops who are seeking to raise awareness of these issues.

Another thing on minds lately is also green — the financial sort. A recent post on Bizzia talks about the new artisan economy, of which we are an integral part. My favorite quote? "Back in Colonial times, before the Industrial Revolution, all business was small artisan business. It seems we are going back to the past. I am over-simplifying, I know. But I for one am looking forward to it." Me too!

But how are good sales numbers possible in such a dire economy? Perhaps it's because Etsy is simply a great place to shop for unique handmade products. But don't take it from me. Take it from The Chicago Tribune and Gloucester County Times of New Jersey. Or perhaps it's just because craft is cool. That is the essence of this story in The New Zealand Herald. In either case, we'll take it.

Finally, in ultra-local news (and by that I mean our office), Ina Steiner of Auctionbytes paid us a visit recently. It was a pleasure to meet her in person, and you can check out a few more snapshots of our space in the article. And with that, it is time for me to go. (Apologies for the awful puns, sometimes I can't help myself.)

For more Etsy in the Press, go here!

Etsy in the Press: Mo' Better Sweater

2009-04-03T12:35:00-05:00

Ok, technically it was a sweatshirt, but why split hairs? This past weekend, Etsy was featured prominently on CBS Sunday Morning, presented by the entertaining and insightful Mo Rocca. Mo paid us a visit and spoke with Rob about Etsy, Davos, and the benefits of handmade items. He then set out to make a sweatshirt for himself with help from ruffeoheartslilsnoty, and have it critiqued by none other than Martha Stewart (she was forgiving). I liked this piece because it addressed the idea that handmade is serious business, but presented it in a friendly, fun and appealing tone — very much like Etsy itself.

Speaking of Martha, her guest last Tuesday was our friend Rosie O'Donnell. They talked about Rosie's charity, and the success of her Etsy shop as they crafted Munny dolls. You can see the clip here.

Changing gears a bit, another story that is prominent lately is that the economy, led by big businesses, is not doing so well. No news there. But Etsy is composed of many small business, and many of them are doing well despite the general malaise. The evidence of our cumulative success was recently documented on CNN's Small Business Success, which I also recommend you watch. You can get a few good business tips and a peek into our offices to see your favorite admins hard at work. This success is also the basis of recent articles in Entrepreneur, The Guardian, and the show Day to Day, on National Public Radio. One common thread among them is the importance of personal interaction between buyers and sellers. You can see that in the comments on this article from Apartment Therapy. This is an important point that separates us from the Targets and Best Buys of the world. The personal touch is what makes Etsy special, attracts shoppers, and keeps them coming back.

Speaking of shopping, let's move on to the stories about ... shopping! For starters, there is a two page spread in the current issue of New York magazine. Sarah Bernard gives readers a (slightly snarky) take on Etsy, and highlights some great items from local Etsians. Not to be outdone, House Beautiful magazine also features a lovely spread this month, and also features interviews with several sellers. Local sellers have also been getting some nice press from the likes of The Columbus Dispatch, the Lincoln Star Journal, and in The Age. The story in The Age also focuses on the community aspect of crafting, another important component of Etsy. This sense of community on Etsy (and this here blog you're reading) was recently recognized by the Huffington Post as well.

Moving on to tech, the buzz about Etsy's API release continues, noted by Ina Steiner of AuctionBytes, and also by Fox Business News, among others.

And finally, I stumbled across this fun bit on i09 about our beloved Jared Tarbell. I can't say I fully understand it, but it sure looks cool!

More Etsy in the Press Posts | Check Out the Community Section

Take the Buy Handmade Pledge (C'mon we're almost at 40,000!)

Etsy in the Press: Kudos

2009-03-05T15:00:00-05:00

...And by kudos, I don't mean those candy bars masquerading as healthy snacks (although they are delicious). I mean kudos: a transliteration of a Greek singular noun kŷdos meaning “praise or renown." Kudos to us — and by us I mean me, you and everyone that partakes in Etsy. "Kudos for what?" you may ask. Kudos for making Etsy one of the best places to shop online! And it's not just me saying that (but I do say that a lot). That comes straight from the likes of sources such as The Guardian, who recently picked Etsy as their website of the week, and from Fast Company, who anointed us into the Fast Company 50, an annual list of the world's most innovative companies. Other folks who thought the same include Examiner.com, the New York Daily News (regarding weddings), and the unexpected and therefore even more compelling Invention and Technology News. Go figure!

On the making side of things, but with a shopping twist, there were two recent notables. The first piece is from Wired magazine, where Clive Thompson discusses the ins and outs of micromanufacturing — in the context of searching for the perfect anniversary gift for his wife. The second piece "Growth Of Crafty Businesses During Rough Economy" comes from the news desk at WCCO in Minnesota, with profiles of some local sellers. In light of our failing economy, this news is that much sweeter, so thank you all for your contributions.

In celeb news, Rosie O'Donnell has been making noise about her Etsy charity shop in places such as Us Weekly and the Tyra Banks Show. And in case you missed it, Mickey Rourke's neckwear at the Oscars last week caused quite a stir. On a side note that I am tempted to call "Odds and Split Ends," I stumbled across this blurb in Allure that I think you will enjoy.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I've got a candy bar to finish.

For more Etsy in the Press, go here!

Etsy in the Press: It's Not the Same Old Show...

2009-02-13T18:10:00-05:00

... on your radio! Not lately, anyway. The recent developments with the CPSIA have been a hot topic as of late, and there has been some great coverage on public radio in the last few weeks. Starting about two weeks ago, with Marketplace's Mitchell Hartman aired a story about the CPSIA and mentioned Etsy. You can read and listen to it here. There was a follow up post by Scott Jagow on the Marketplace blog as well. My favorite passage, from Mitchell:

As a reporter, I’ve never been so inundated with press releases, calls for actions, claims and counterclaims, as I have covering this story. I’ve been approached for interviews by people I didn’t even know were involved. The Etsy.com crafters said they were selling everything, shutting down.

This is a great example of the power of numbers and organization, and a reminder that this fight is not over, and we all must continue to make our voices heard. Brian Lehrer of WNYC also spoke about the CPSIA on his show this week, and again, our name came up.

On an unrelated and lighter note, Etsy came up again on the Brian Lehrer show for the second time in one week (!) during an interview with Faithe Levine about her film, Handmade Nation, accompanied by Callie Janoff aka callieco, reverend at the Church of Craft. The movie has been premiering in New York City this week, and if you're in NYC, see details here. I suggest you get your headphones out and give these all a listen.

And a lighter story came from Marketplace as well. Mitchell Hartman shared the love story of Mikey and Mona of Tinymeat and mamadelic (and now kittencamaro). Check it out here. Marketplace links to an Etsy Love Story that we posted with the couple last year.

In print, I saw two interesting pieces. The first is from the Daily Herald in Provo, Utah. It consists of a series of interviews with three Etsy sellers, meringuedesigns, bonnyfrances, and secondstorywindow. Each presents a compelling story of their Etsy experiences, and commentary on the handmade lifestyle. It concludes with a quote from a Mr. Brown, who I must say is quite eloquent as well. The second story comes from Publishers Weekly, a trade magazine, commenting on the state of craft-related publications today. I thought this was an interesting look at handmade culture from an outside perspective.

And there you have it. Go show your local public radio station some love. Happy listening!

For more Etsy in the Press, go here!