Last Thursday I was in New York on the way to a board meeting at South Kent School. Passing through Grand Central I noticed a fair for products made in the U.S.A. The fair was sponsored by Martha Stewart, someone who I am not fond of, but most people deserve a second chance.
The one product in the fair that stood out was lighting fixtures from Lindsy Adelman Studio. The merchandise is high end, interior designer type merchandise. This is not what caught my attention. This company posts on its website full plans for some new designs that they will not sell and anybody can build themselves. The "you make it" products are very popular as evidenced by the product pictures received by the company.
There are several things I like about the "you make it":
- The lighting fixture designs are "open source" and follow the increasingly popular trend for open source hardware
- High end manufacturers expand the number of people who can use their products with no brand issues related to lower price goods
- Such an approach would be a good corporate social responsibility project, where school children could make Bose speakers or Ethan Allen furniture and perhaps compete for prizes for their school (hands on learning)
Another company I liked is Shinola, a company that makes watches in Detroit, and is probably the only watchmaker manufacturing in the U.S. I have not worn a watch in at least ten years, but I still enjoy window shopping for them.