A few posts previous there were all kinds of great comments on our Mother's Day artwork. Some loved it, finding it cute, fun, and interesting; others absolutely hated it, finding it sexist, in poor taste, and offensive. Here we go again with our Father's Day ad...Is THIS one sexist??? Comment here.
ABOVE is our Dad's and Grad's ad and window poster celebrating father's day and graduation! This is hanging in every store window now. The Sac/Squatt Cover package that goes along with this art has over 300,000 stitches in a straight-stitch embroidery using 3 colors of black, purple, blue thread making up its unique "inked" design. This is the first ever Sac of its kind. But in this case, it is the ad/poster I am asking about. What do you think? Love it? Hate it? ALL comments are welcome, and the 3 comments that I like best (the funniest, most thoughtful or well-argued comments), will win THEIR choice of an Easter Phur Cover worth over $300 (Super, Movie, or CitySac) from our last Limited Edition Line, OR a $50 in-store gift card. All comments due by Monday, June 1st. I'll annonce a winner by June 5th.
PS: Hats off to designer Alex Hinton from Salt Lake City, UT - the baddest ink artist in the land. (That is NOT him pictured above)
I look forward to hearing what you have to say! Don't hold back, either way.
My favorite thing about Lovesac is the people. Retail requires logs of people. People at HQ. People in the stores. Customers, even...and with lots of people we get plenty of weirdos. I like weird people. They make the company interesting. RIGHT: That is a Sactionals Base Box. Meet Lauren - the woman who makes it all happen at HQ. If you received product, at any level, its likely at least partly Lauren's fault that you did. But, as Doreen will tell you, "This is what happens when you don't behave." Don't ask me what she did to deserve this, but take comfort in the fact that we are not a government agency - no your hard-earned tax dollars are not paying for these antics.
Charlie, our resident travelling weirdo, seeing this photo of Lauren was not to be outdone. He passed along this freakish photo (RIGHT) of himself in a box from years to go via email. I'm not sure why. Freakin' weirdo:
Finally, on our last trip to China, Dave Underwood, my biz partner of 10 years and Director of Product Development here at LoveSac was compelled to share a room with his assistant, Product Deisgner, Spencer. Spencer is a light sleeper and Dave saws logs. I mean this dude snores like snoring was an Olympic sport.
Las trip, Spencer ended up sleeping behind a closed door, in the bathtub. This time, Spencer was not about to be run out of his own room. He put Dave's butt in the bathroom...in style: (yes, that is the entire bed)
The new HOTEL LOVESAC was constructed in less than 5 minutes and cost far less to build than the $1 Billion Yankee's Stadium we visited once they arrived. My sister, Wendy, and her entire family came to stay with us on the East Coast this weekend--her first trip ever to the Big Apple and her kid's first time sleeping 100% on LoveSac furniture (parents took the guest room). Check out how Sactionals and PillowSacs make absolutely perfect extra guest beds, in case you ever need one. Here's how:
1. Have friends (or family). Or, as some have been known to do, use LoveSac furniture as your only furniture. (Yes, my nephew, Tyler, is putting his Yankees ice cream helmet-cup on my dog).
2. Tuck in your Ottoman (lone Base Piece) into the L-corner of your Sactionals sectional. Secure moste easily with clamp, alone.
3. Move Back Pillows. Place mattress topper or blanket over cushions. Sactionals cushions are LoveSac soft, and definately large enough (roughly Queen sized) to sleep on. A mattress topper to cover the cracks makes them softer than most beds! Also, Sactionals Bases are flat on top, not sloped back/down like all other sofas...making Sactionals excellent guest beds.
4. Just add bedding. My favorite are goose down filled comforters....available at LoveSac.com very soon, btw!
5. PillowSac Rocker: multi-functional.
6. PillowSac guest bed by night. Just place black Rocker Frame (upper left) on its side - stores easily. Lay down on the PillowSac. OR, the newest Khaki PillowSac Inserts from LoveSac are actually 1 foot longer than the Covers, making them exactly the size of a "Full" (or "Double") Mattress! Take the Cover off and fit it with "Full" sheets. (shown below with Eskimo Phur Cover still on.
7. Just add guests. Matt & Jess out cold.
8. My dog chooses the Sac over any "real" bed any day.
PS: Don't forget to teach your nephews the lessons their parents won't: How to ride motorcycles and how to catch crabs. :)
About 4 posts previous I asked the question "Is this sexist" about our current Mother's Day window poster hanging in all of our stores right now and currently visible on the homepage of lovesac.com. I chose my favorite ones and I am going to send them each a limited edition MOM blanket for themselves (or possibly for their moms!) this Mother's Day. If I chose your comment (below) be sure to email me ASAP at chairmansac@gmail.com along with your mailing address so I can get it with you on time!!! I chose 4 winners. I don't necissarily agree with all four, but I appreciate their fire and their articulate ways...
What is sad are the people who feel that this ad is not sexist. Gender roles are socially constructed in this society by a male dominated patriarchy. Men (white) have defined gender roles since the beginning of time. The roles placed on men are to work and be emotionally absent, while women are nurturing and cook and clean. This concept has been engrained in our (women’s) minds that we were “born” this way, and that is the reason it is socially accepted by even moms! From the day we were born we were given a PINK blanket and then labeled: unreasonable, incapable, nurturing, fragile, cook, mom, wife, and virgin. This was done by men of power to control women, to construct their emotions, to define what their role is in life. The poster for mother’s day is only perpetuating these gender roles. Ads across America, tell us what is beautiful and how to obtain it. Advertisements on TV make women believe that men will not want them if they don’t look like an 18 year old girl. If men don’t want them, how can they be moms one day and cook? Ads like this one are telling us that our role is at home in the kitchen, and for mother’s day the appropriate gift is something that makes our stay at home more comfortable. Young kids learn gender roles not only by the family members and school teachers; it’s the MEDIA that actually affects more children, now that is sad. So this ad is shaping young girls minds that a mom sits at home and cooks and cleans. These young girls grow up get married have babies, without ever developing to their potential. So I think it is amusing that men believe they can actually have an opinion about this. Men (white) are the reason this poster is up. Every man wants a woman at home with a baby in one hand and dinner in the other (cold beer in the fridge). Now I know there are exceptions to everything I’m saying, and not every woman aspires to be a mother anymore and sits at home all day. I believe we need to look at the power of advertisements in shaping our roles in society.
I love it!! I don't think its sexist. I just got done reading Mattie's comments and this is what I think...I think its so so sad that women don't think they are good enough so they try to be a man, you know what I mean? Women and men are different, they are suppose to be different. That doesn't mean woman can't succeed in the business world and it doesn't mean men can't be nurturing. The poster is funny...not really TRUE to life but funny all the same. I am a stay at home mom with 5 kids and I never stop going. I cook, I clean (sometimes) I love on my kids, I run them everywhere, I go to lunch with the ladies and I actually make a difference in the world by teaching my children good values so they can grow up and make a difference in this world. I am proud to raise a family and be a mom. I would not want to go to some crappy job every day and have to do what a "boss" tells me to do. I love the freedom I have of being a mom and a strong woman. I don't think "career women" who don't get to have kids have much of an opportunity to reach their full potential. I think the "liberal woman" needs to get a reality check and chill out and enjoy life.
This is AWESOME. It is witty and crass yet totally not offensive. I think the big difference between this poster and your easter one is the image is not disturbing, it just something we can all related to in one way or another - you can imagine your mom trying out your LoveSac and enjoying it.
Of course moms love sac, that is how they became moms in the first place.
Way to stir the pot, Mattie--although I must ask: You still got that other part time job of yours?...seems incongruous, maybe just a little!? Eric Bennion: I had to smile. The rest of you: Happy Mother's Day!!! PS. If you thought THIS poster was sexist, I'm dying to hear what you have to say about our Father's Day art, coming up soon!!!
Monday, April 20th – Product for 13 Mexico City locations had shipped and the remaining 17 stores were staged.Alex returned, as promised, joined by Ezra and Mike.Damian and Adam headed back to the good ol’ USA with the satisfaction of a job well done.
Andy, Ezra, Mike and Alex met with Alejandro to begin setting up stores.The plan was to set up four locations on Monday. (Didn’t Robert Burns write something about the best laid plans?)In order to pull off a project like this there is a tremendous amount of preparation required so that you can arrive and realize that preparation is a waste of time.
Based on the best information available Shawny D laid out three different floor plans (330/sf, 440/sf, 540/sf) which showed display product, configurations and where to hang the art.No one merchandises like Shawny D which meant set-up would go quickly – just follow the plan – allowing more time for training.As luck would have it not a single store provided a space that came close to matching the square footage we planned on.Instead of laying out one store 30 times it became clear we would lay out 30 stores one time.Booyah!
(Editor’s note: We’re LoveSac.We work hard.We do not get discouraged.A standard LoveSac situation is FUBAR.You can sleep when you’re dead)
As the day wore on it became clear that we would only complete one location. (At left, L - R, Andy, Alejandro, Ezra and Mike survey their handiwork). Following the first set-up we needed to return to the warehouse to ensure that product for the other 17 locations was ready to ship so that we could perform set-ups outside of Mexico City by Thursday. Tired and frustrated from a long first day we expected the worst at the warehouse, only to be greeted by the scene pictured below:
Our former Sea of Sacs was not bare floor on the left were dozens of pallets ready to for transportation. The trucks were loaded that evening and it was clear Andy and Alex could plan travel to Monterrey for Thursday.
The day ended with a visit to a location to scout the location and determine how much product would fit. This visit led to the high point of the trip only 24 hours later.
As Monday drew to a close we had one store set-up and trained.That left 29 stores to complete in one week – what could possibly go wrong?
With lessons learned from the first set-up a goal of five stores was set for Tuesday.Not accustomed to LoveSac hours Alejandro was relieved to learn we wouldn’t start until 9am on Tuesday.To clarify, HE wouldn’t start until 9am on Tuesday.Andy, Mike, Ezra and Alex started at 7am at the Centro Historico location. It was still dark when we left the hotel and we saw a lovely sight (pictured left); a sliver moon with a planet or bright star just below.
By 9am the first store was finished (pictured right).Splitting in to two teams and heading in opposite directions Alex & Andy were driven along the “scenic” route by a cab driver while Alejandro, Mike and Ezra raced off to start setting up another store.Alex and Andy made one stop – the store wasn’t prepared in any way for the set up – so they left immediately and went to Polanco.As the day went on two more locations were completed and both teams reunited finish a fourth location.
At 8:30pm Team LoveSac arrived at Lindavista for the final set-up.The store closed at 9pm - no exceptions. A kick-ass performance, with packaging flying, led to a complete set-up 9:02pm at which point security escorted us out.Apparently store staff isn’t paid by the hour.
The final count for Tuesday: five stores completed in 14 hours with travel accounting for 1/3 of our day. The one lowlight of the day was to learn about a serious problem affecting Mexico City: headless child model (see picture at right). According to local experts the one child model who still has her head (left side of photo) will likely lose hers within the next two weeks. She may be headless as we write this. It breaks your heart.
With a full head of steam from Tuesday we promptly ran in to a brick wall. More product arrived at the warehouse (the missing art and covers which were held at customs for an extended period) and we needed to return to sort it. Only two stores were completed on Wednesday which left Ezra, Mike and Alejandro with Thursday and Friday to complete the remaining five stores in Mexico city, finish sorting the just-received product and train the locations. Alex & Andy decided to get out of town and head to Monterrey Thursday morning to set up five locations and then head over to Torreon to finish one more before flying back to Mexico City Saturday night.
Arriving in Torreon was welcome relief from the traffic and travel time in Mexico City. Getting between locations didn't take more than 30 minutes and each location was prepared for our arrival. The Monterrey Galleria (pictured left) sales team pitched in and we finished in two hours. With a little extra time before our pick-up we reflected on a few funny aspects of our new life setting up LoveSac in Sears Mexico.
For example, we met lots of friendly people. This woman couldn't keep her hands off me (right). Every time you exited a Sears Mexico you were frisked to ensure you weren't smuggling a Sactional base out. Entering the store we realized always meant a journey through ladies intimate apparel (left). Have we mentioned that we really missed our wives?
When all is said and done there is less focus in Mexico on meeting at specific times - the emphasis is on personal relationships, know who you're doing business with. As Americans we try like hell to be on time and don't care at all about the people involved. This small difference in cutlures led to lots of quality time waiting around which always made Alex happy - he loves to wait, knowing there is work to be done and the clock is ticking (right).
On day two in Monterrey we were joined by Antonio (pictured at left, in the middle between Alex and Andy), a young man who quickly learned the LoveSac line and how to set-up a location. Without Antonio we would not have been able to transform a space from this:
To this:
After the second day Alex and Andy decided that it was time to migle with the locals on a Friday evening and relax a little. Asking around we discovered a delightful restaurant which, as we understood it, is the best place in town to enjoy an authentic meal and expereince the friendly service that only a family-run business provides. Andy and Alex posed at the bar so they would always remember the fun evening they had. All attempts to translate the name of the restaurant (pictured above Andy's head) have failed but please take a look at the picture and post your best guess in the comments section. Thanks!
With Monterrey a success the road show carried on to Torreon. No commercial flights were available in the morning which necessitated renting a car for the anticipated 4 1/2 hour drive. What happened next shows how quickly things fall apart in the desert when behind the wheel of a French car which had a nasty habit of quitting every time we approached a Mercedes, VW or BMW. Roll footage:
Despite all odds Andy and Alex arrived in Torreon with two hours to set up, train and get to the airport for their flight back to Mexico City. By this point Andy was at another level - seizing control of the situation he built, trained and departed in the two available hours.
While vacationing in Monterrey Andy and Alex missed the first published articles regarding swine flu. Little did they know that Mexico City was now ground zero for a possible pandemic. The scene at the airport made clear that things were different.
Driving back to the hotel through empty streets on what should be a busy Saturday night cut down on travel time but certainly increased anxiety about what impact the swine flu might have.
Sunday was another off day as the team remained mostly at the hotel, venturing out for a quick meal and to take in the unfolding scene. With only two days to go the hope was that everyone would leave healthy.
Monday was the last full day of work and the mission was to return to locations that had painted their walls LoveSac gray and hang art. In order to present the LoveSac brand and merchandising Shawn came up with a scaled down version of our company-owned stores that included hanging large art on the walls. The finished result was, well, you be the judge:
As the dust settled on two weeks of work Andy, Ezra, Mike, Damian, Adam, Alejandro, Antonio and Alex could look back at a job well done. LoveSac rolled out 18 international locations and is now positioned for global expansion. Not too shabby.
While everyone worked hard there can only be one MVP and in a unanimous vote we're pleased to showcase the winner:
With Alex back in the United States for Army and the warehouse closed on Sunday it allowed Damian, Andy and Adam (L - R, pictured below) a chance to tour Mexico City - here are some images from their day:
LoveSactook its store-within-a-store concept south of the border as part of a deal with Sears Mexico and from the moment we arrived we knew Mexico was ready for the Sac.Our mission: open 30 locations across Mexico in two weeks.Mission accomplished? Nope – not even close.But it was a big moment in the life of LoveSac and when the dust settled we had lots to be proud of.Check it out…
On Tuesday April 14th Andy, Damian, Adam and Alex landed in Mexico City to begin the roll-out - we had a sweet view of the city and mountains (clearly visible on left) from our hotel.We would start work at the warehouse on Wednesday so we were free to enjoy a dinner outside, review the plan and – understanding that we’re LoveSac – head out on the town with our friends Francisco, Alejandro and Bert Jan.We burned it down at Club Solid until the wee smalls then headed home for a few hours of sleep.On the trip home Andy decided that he wanted to capture every moment of the journey.Have a look at his photos of Mexico City, at night, shot from a Jetta traveling at 100 km/h (about 60 mph).It’s almost as if you’re there!
Mexico City has 20 Million people – it is massive.It is not possible to get anywhere in a short amount of time.Riding through the streets of Mexico City is an experience – the crazier your driver the safer you feel.Only the strong survive so everyone drives aggressively and the result is we only saw one accident in two weeks.Viva Mexico!
Step one for the roll-out was to stage the product that would be used in the 30 store displays.We needed to cover 500 bases, 700 sides, fluff 120 Sacs and assemble 30 rocker frames, divide up the inventory for each store and then ship everything out.That’s maybe two hours worth of work – or perhaps a little more.Arriving at the first Sears warehouse we walked past shotgun-wielding security guards, were frisked and then handed giant signs to wear around our necks which indicated we were visitors.To be fair, this is the process for everyone.Security at the warehouses is no joke which prompted Adam to point out warehouses in the US have no security and we should make a plan to rob them.It’s a fair point but we're not investing in ski masks just yet.Adam also believes everyone should have a passport handy just in case you need to flee the country.The bottom-line is that if you have criminal thoughts please contact Adam and he can help you craft a plan and an escape. At the end of Day 1 we had all the bases covered and 30 Rockers frames built - not too shabby.
On Day 2 we moved to Sears’ second warehouse where most of our product lived and the Sac fluffing frenzy took place.When we were finished we had a sea of Sacs.Andy handed out responsibilities to the warehouse team, Damian and Adam worked with a team organizing the product and Alex was pounding on his Blackberry because that’s all Alex does.Sometimes he yells in to his Blackberry to mix things up.
Friday morning Alex decided he wanted to pound on his Blackberry while wearing a uniform so he flew home to spend the weekend at Army, promising to return to with two new bodies.
The Sears Mexico warehouse team (pictured at left) were up to the challenges Andy handed out. In fact, Andy went about running this mission with reckless abandon, giving no thought to his own physical well-being. Inevitably, it wasn't long before he suffered a life-threatening injury which imperiled the entire roll-out. The posted image of Andy's injury isn't for the weak, it shows in bloody-detail the dangers of failing to adhere to basic safety principles such as not cutting toward yourself with a box cutter. It was a needless tragedy and it is LoveSac's hope that further accidents can be avoided. Luckily a crack medical team was on hand to administer first-aid and Andy survived his brush with death.
Staging the product for 30 stores is a labor-intensive process but over the first three days we made significant progress:
But the pallets started to take shape:
It took more than two hours (closer to four days) but we had the display product ready to go – except for the covers and art that was tied up in customs.No problemo, full speed ahead.We modified the plan to set up the displays with available product and then return to put covers on and hang art.How simple is that?
No way that is sexist she has shoes on ;)
Posted by: Eric Bennion | April 27, 2009 at 05:57 PM