In its first year of existence, eZiba.com, the online retailer of exotic handcrafts based at MASS MoCA, has carved out its own niche based on exclusive sources in 70 countries, according to its chief operating officer, Bill Miller.
“We’re on a path to profitability,†said Miller, who came on board in April from giant toy retailer FAO Schwarz, where he was executive vice-president.
“It’s been an exciting year. We’ve proved to people this can really work.â€
The first year had several benchmarks for the new company, including being named to Forbes Best of the Web in September.
The company has also launched two new divisions, eZiba Kids and Rare Finds.
And, in company with many other e-tailers, eZiba has jettisoned its reliance on Internet-only sales and issued a catalogue — its first ever — last month.
Also last month, a senior Forrester analyst predicted in the New York Post that eZiba.com will be one of the few dot-com survivors, saying “Unless a site can really distinguish itself from offline retailers, like eZiba.com or EthnicGrocer.com, they’ll never be able to compete with the offline giants.â€
EZiba has formed a strategic alliance with both EthnicGrocer.com and Homeportfolio.com.
Miller said the company has redesigned its homepage, making it easier to navigate, and that comments have all been positive.
The print catalog, he said, is “giving people another way to shop.â€
Now, customers can order by telephone, and gift certificates come in both electronic and paper and print varieties.
“We will always be an Internet-based company,†said Miller. “By far, the majority — between 70 and 80 percent — of our orders come over the Internet.â€
Miller enumerated several reasons for the company’s success. Because of its exclusive sources — 2,000 suppliers, and nearly 2,500 products on the site — eZiba can reach a higher gross margin, he said.
And, he stressed that “we’re growing at a responsible rate, in accordance with traditional, old business practices.â€
“We’re very cost conscious,†he said. “Very bottom-line oriented.â€
The North Adams headquarters employs 50, with another 12 at a New York office.
At MASS MoCA, the company’s technical department is moving from Building 10 to Building 2.
Miller, as executive vice-president for FAO Schwarz, oversaw the Fifth Avenue flagship store, the company catalog and marketing. He built FAO.com into that company’s fastest-growing division, and developed partnerships.
EZiba Kids offers handmade wooden toys — starting at $8 but ranging into the hundreds — which, according to company spokesman Zelda Stern, make “great Christmas and Hanukkah gifts.â€
Rare Finds, being launched tomorrow, Nov. 16, is an online source for galleries, collectors and interior decorators, as well as garden-variety shoppers, for rare and one-of-a-kind items.
Advertisements for eZiba.com have appeared in the Sunday New York Times Magazine, The New Yorker, House & Garden, and Martha Stewart Living, but not, as last year, on New York City buses.
The company also has a real presence, in kiosks in Natick, Dallas, Michigan, California, Chicago and one at MASS MoCA.
Miller expressed pleasure at the number of repeat customers. “Some have ordered three, four, five times during our first year,†he said. “People make an emotional connection.â€
EZiba is a virtual global bazaar, selling handcrafted objects, presented in a cultural context with the story and people who make the object.
The catalog, begun this fall with a mailing to 500,000 consumers, is primarily a tool to attract customers to the eZiba website, Miller said.
It aims to attract traffic by depicting a limited but attractive selection of merchandise, and not only by the intriguing offerings. Customers who visit the site can take $20 off their purchase of $60 or more by entering the code on the catalogues back cover.
The cover shows an alabaster vase from Egypt, for $145 or $265, with the suggestion that it be used as a votive, to highlight the alabaster’s translucency, or to hold dried flowers. Its ancient funereal use in Egyptian burials goes unmentioned.
Other items are a felt nativity scene with a six-inch-tall yurt, a traditional nomadic shelter, from Kirghistan, a former Soviet republic in Central Asia, for $65; a set of three brightly-colored telephone wire bowls, made in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, for $85; and a Y’ekuana Wona basket, decorated with animals of the Amazon forest, from Venezuela, for $175.
Customers can spend knowing their money will help artisans in the various countries earn their living from their traditional crafts.
“We have a code of ethics,†said Miller. He and Stern said eZiba makes sure child labor does not produce the items the company sells.
“We’ve rejected items†because of the conditions involved in producing them, they said. “And we work very hard to make sure people are paid well in their own markets.â€
EZiba is a corporate benefactor to Aid to Artisans, a nonprofit organization giving practical assistance to artisans worldwide, by training and collaboration in product development, production and marketing.
And eZiba has joined with Hewlett-Packard to promote World e-Inclusion, a venture to help individuals and communities in developing regional access to the social and economic opportunities of the digital age.
Most of eZiba’s customers are in the Northeast, and to provide faster deliveries, the company has switched to Keystone, Hanover Direct’s e-commerce service provider, for fulfillment, call center, networking alliances and data management services. EZiba processes orders out of Keystone’s warehouse facility in Hanover, Penn.
And the week of Dec. 11, 20 staffers from North Adams — including Miller and Stern — will travel to Hanover to answer telephones and take customers’ orders.
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North Adams Worked the Weekend Fixing Water Line Breaks
Staff Reports iBerkshires
NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — The Water Department and Department of Public Works have been responding since Friday to multiple water line breaks throughout the city that are causing temporary loss of water in some areas.
"Everyone has water or very low pressure," said Mayor Jennifer Macksey, as of Sunday evening. "We're asking people to just conserve as much as they can. Once the system gets in balance, everything will come back, but we've got to fix them."
The first break occurred Friday in the field behind the water filtration plant, which was difficult to access. That repair was completed on Sunday morning.
"Then we started at 3:30 this morning on American Legion Drive," she said. "We dad to wait a few hours for Dig Safe, which slowed us down, and they're still over there, still trying to make the repair.
"Then about, probably, I would say, eight o'clock [Sunday morning]. We were called to Carr Hardware, where we had another bubble, another break. I don't know if we'll get to that break tonight. The guys are very tired, it's cold, it's unsafe."
Crews have been working in frigid temperatures trying to find where the lines are broken and fix them. The loss of the main line caused a drop in pressure, and the pressure changes are causing more breaks.
Commissioner of Public Services Timothy Lescarbeau was able to assess and get the first break fixed, she said, "but now it's regulating the system and that, coupled with the cold weather, is working against us tonight, but the team has been great.
The Water Department has been responding to multiple water line breaks throughout the city since Friday, causing temporary loss of water in some areas. click for more
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The new thrift and consignment shop on Marshall Street is a little bit "Punky" with an eclectic mix of shiny, vintage and eccentric curated items. click for more
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