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In an effort to focus attention on locally designed products, the Wexner Center Store has launched an It Came From Ohio mini-store on its website. From T-shirts to lamps to books to tote bags, these products deliver a unique and local flavor to the Store’s offerings. Says Store manager Matt Reber: “In addition to our selection of international designs, we like to spotlight merchandise in the store that has a connection to the Columbus region.” The webpage will be updated as new merchandise hits the shelves.
HOME DÉCOR: Three LightenUp lamp designs by former OSU ceramics major Lisa Goldberg (now residing in Brooklyn, NY) are handmade, and feature her hand-drawn sketches of dogwood and flora etched into the ceramic bases. Shoppers can make a comfortable corner by pairing the lamp with the stylish, low Zoom chair (edition of 1) by Jim Edmondson for Against The Grain designs.
T-SHIRTS: For something hip to wear, a great selection of T-shirts is waiting in store: Columbus’s Chop Chop Gallery has three clever designs based on Ohio, including an industrial smokestack and a rainbow background with a heart dotting the “i.” Alison Rose contributes to the Ohio theme with an Ohio Mixtape T-shirt that has a double-reel cassette tape placed squarely in the middle of the state.
BICYCLE MESSENGER BAGS AND TOTES: A great addition to the popular Seagull messenger bags (made out of old, vinyl exhibition banners) has arrived: new Tote Bags from Adam Maynard and Kelly Williams—also made out of exhibition banners—combine being green with the best in form and function. These come in a variety of colors, and of course, each one is unique.
WALLETS AND BELT BUCKLES: Speaking of reusing old materials, Maxine Dear has created a collection of trendy wallets and belt buckles made out of old, hardcover books. Subjects range from nomads of the world to animals and camping.
APRONS & MORE: Michelle Maguire has mastered the technique of screenprinting on T-shirts, aprons (with an image of Julia Child), and Polaroid canvases for Pretty Patti.
BOOKS: Columbus-based comic artist Jeff Smith—whose work is now on view in the Wexner Center Galleries—is best known for his graphic novel Bone, a story of the adventures of young Fone Bone and his two cousins. Volumes 1-7 are now available in the Wexner Center Store. The Art of Bone and Rasl #1, a new sci-fi noir for adults, are also in stock. Fellow Ohio native and comic artist Paul Pope published his first retrospective monograph Pulphope: the Art of Paul Pope in 2007, which contains previously unseen material. The companion catalogue to OSU Professor of Art Ann Hamilton’s 1996 Wexner Center exhibition the body and the object makes another great addition for the coffee table.
The advancements and changes that the Wex has made in the last couple years have been great and terribly forward thinking.
this is no different. Bravo!
Great idea. I’m really excited for the Ohio folks with product on the site.
I’d love to see this be wildly successful and I want the artists/ product folks to actually make some money. I have some concerns.The existing website and store only get about 1,500 unique visitors/ month according to Compete.com. This is kind of like opening a store in a back alley with no traffic. Is there a traffic strategy I’m missing?
This seems like an easy thing for blogs and bloggers to pick up, and write about. At the very least they should make a nice site badge that says “It Came from Ohio” that people can display on their FB and Myspace pages. I would make the content (products, stories) much more shareable have more of a description of the creators involved and create more of a story around “It Came from Ohio”.
If they wanted to be more aggressive they should be sending the products for review to coolhunting.com, springwise.com, apartmenttherapy.com, etc. – A $20 t-shirt might buy them 20k hits.
I’d love to see this be wildly successful and I want the artists/ product folks to actually make some money. I have some concerns.The existing website and store only get about 1,500 unique visitors/ month according to Compete.com. This is kind of like opening a store in a back alley with no traffic. Is there a traffic strategy I’m missing?
bad data.
Does the Wexner Store still carry Lumiere Candles from Grandview? I know wexner carried them at the beginning of the year…
I am still working up the courage to see if the Wex store would be interested in carrying some of my jewelry.
Does anyone know who would be a good contact for that?
I’d love to see this be wildly successful and I want the artists/ product folks to actually make some money. I have some concerns.The existing website and store only get about 1,500 unique visitors/ month according to Compete.com. This is kind of like opening a store in a back alley with no traffic. Is there a traffic strategy I’m missing?
bad data.
compete.com looks to attributing less than 1/2 of what Google analytics is reporting for skreened. So I would agree, i’m not sure how great their data is.
I’d love to see this be wildly successful and I want the artists/ product folks to actually make some money. I have some concerns.The existing website and store only get about 1,500 unique visitors/ month according to Compete.com. This is kind of like opening a store in a back alley with no traffic. Is there a traffic strategy I’m missing?
bad data.
compete.com looks to attributing less than 1/2 of what Google analytics is reporting for skreened. So I would agree, i’m not sure how great their data is.
Daniel same here for the sites I own. Alexa is an even bigger joke. That said, if Wexner.com is getting 3,000 monthly unique that is still a really low number. I would bet most visitors are checking on Wexner events. There are some easy, low cost things they could do to make this store a success with this initiative. Especially since it is a great idea.
Does anyone know who would be a good contact for that?
Probably the manager, Matt Reber. He’s a great guy. Very approachable.
Daniel same here for the sites I own. Alexa is an even bigger joke. That said, if Wexner.com is getting 3,000 monthly unique that is still a really low number. I would bet most visitors are checking on Wexner events. There are some easy, low cost things they could do to make this store a success with this initiative. Especially since it is a great idea.
I appreciate the enthusiasm for the store but I gotta say these numbers are still way off. I’m not gonna get into what the traffic is for the site, but this sort of speculation is always a little awkward.
Needless to say, other ways to promote is always a good thing.
PS: http://www.coolhunting.com/archives/2008/06/four_newlyrelea.php
Daniel same here for the sites I own. Alexa is an even bigger joke. That said, if Wexner.com is getting 3,000 monthly unique that is still a really low number. I would bet most visitors are checking on Wexner events. There are some easy, low cost things they could do to make this store a success with this initiative. Especially since it is a great idea.
I appreciate the enthusiasm for the store but I gotta say these numbers are still way off. I’m not gonna get into what the traffic is for the site, but this sort of speculation is always a little awkward.
Needless to say, other ways to promote is always a good thing.
PS: http://www.coolhunting.com/archives/2008/06/four_newlyrelea.php
Great press. I take it you’re the developer behind the project?