“WE ARE.WE
ARE.WE ARE.” Screamed Director of
Retail, Alex in his meanest drill sergeant voice (he actually is an Army
Reserve Drill Sergeant one weekend a month in answer to the question: “What is
LoveSac?”…”We are!”
IT IS ALL ABOUT OUR PEOPLE.There is no doubt in anyone’s mind here at LoveSac HQ that
our people are by far our most valuable asset.Like it or not, our products are weird, require demonstration
and explanation, and with all the video, photos, POP displays, etc, there is
just NO SUBSTITUTE FOR AWESOME PEOPLE.Our most awesomest people are all here for 3 days only, at LoveSac world
headquarters in Stamford Connecticut.
19 of the best Sac’rs in the world have been flown, driven,
and trained up to New York City then on to our offices just up the road in
Stamford….a banking town.LoveSac
is most certainly the weirdest business in this town.No suits here.Surrounded by high-rises filled with tie-wearing finance geeks, we’ve
borrowed the empty space beneath our tiny office where we can all gather around
one long conference table with the purpose of elevating our collective
LoveSac-abilities.
The day begins early, at the Stamford Inn.Who knows what goes on after hours with
19 Sac’rs locked up under one roof – I don’t wanna know.But we woke everyone up playing “HI-LO”
where everyone lines up from high to low according to the category called.
We all crammed into our cars (the LoveSac Bus is, um, busy
right now), rolled over to the office where the day of fun began.It’s “wear your favorite T-shirt day
for this first long day of training.Powerpoint presentations….YEAH.Vision training, mission training, financial training, inventory
training, supply-chain training, book-club knowledge sharing, etc, etc, etc.
For lunch we had some wicked-good carnitas tacos from our
favorite neighborhood taco joint….and get crackin’ on the staff-wide Guitar
Hero single elimination tournament in the infamous "Rockstar Room" at LoveSac HQ. Katie, Casey, Mims, Dave, Brian, James, and Torin advance to the next
round of Guitar Hero glory…Tashia, Andy, Eddie, Libby, Svi, Hellen, Amy and
JesAnne were ELIMINATED. I’m not
saying they sucked….but it WAS entertaining.Overall, I’d have to say that those from the field are
better than those from HQ…even though WE’RE the one with the RockStar Room
right here in the office.(Shows
you how much it gets played).It’s
all a show.LoveSac isn’t really
fun…..but we like to pretend we are.(ok, its kinda fun).
Now back upstairs for dinner in the office, then right back
downstairs for more presentations after dinner….goin’ till 11 pm tonight.LoveSac is…...FUN!
Hey, who's that hottie rockin' with the baby in tow? -- Shawny D.
Okay, so it’s not new.It’s actually the same old office, but
we actually finally moved in!Two
plus years in the same place and I feel like we never really unpacked…until
now.
WELCOME TO THE NEW LOVESAC H.Q. OFFICES
I’m not sure if any of you have ever felt
this way at home or at work, but its like we were all in such a hurry to get to
work that we just threw some furniture down, plugged stuff in, and started
typing.Wires strewn everywhere.Boxes on the floor piling up with
“stuff.”Last week I noticed that
our full-size office copier/printer/fax was actually straddling the space
between a desk and some weird table – just “functional.”Bare walls, or worse, crap taped to the
walls everywhere, crooked, out of order—just functional—barely.
(ONE OF MY ONLY SHOTS OF THE OFFICE “BEFORE”
CROWDED BY PEOPLE WEARING FUNNY HATS AT OUR BABY SHOWER FOR LUCKY)
Well, those days are finally over.And it is not like last week was
convenient or anything.In fact,
it was probably the most inconvenient time that it could have possibly
been.We are about to open 7 new
stores in 60 days!We are in final
sampling to launch about 20 new products this fall!And we are in talks with numerous new investors interested
in helping us grow our business.CRAZY, CRAZY times.
WE DID HIRE PAINTERS OFF OF CRAIGSLIST.WORKED ALL WEEKEND.THIS DUDE PASSED OUT AND SLEPT UNTIL
NOON ON MONDAY JUST LIKE THAT – FULLY WORKING OFFICE, WITH PEOPLE ALL AROUND
HIM.SEE THE CHAOS WE WERE LIVING
IN!?NASTY CARPET, EH!?
But somehow, between many late, late nights
and early, early mornings…making for long, long days, we transformed the office
from what it was, to the Sac H.Q. that it always should have been.And all this on a shoestring
budget!We built our own desks,
made our own furniture (of course), and did most of the work ourselves.Check it out!Please COMMENT and let me know what you think.Like it or hate it, I LOVE to hear from
you.
THE ENTRY, LOOKING OUT:
CURRENT SEASONAL (TATTOO, FOR NOW) COVERS ON DISPLAY. (SAME PLACE YOU SAW THAT
PAINTER PASSED OUT, BEFORE)
THE ENTRY, LOOKING IN: THAT
IS OUR BOARD OF HISTORY.LAYERS OF
8 YEARS’ STUFF STAPLED, TAPED, TACKED UP THERE, FRAMED IN BLACK.TABLE ON THE LEFT WHERE WE WILL CONTROL
ALL THE MUSIC TO ALL THE STORES LIVE, FROM H.Q.
ENTRY, LOOKING IN: CHECK OUT
THESE SICK CUSTOM ORDER MIXED SACTIONALS COVER-SETS.PLEATHER “FORD” COMBINED WITH STUFF SO NEW ITS NOT EVEN ON
THE SWATCH YET!
“WEB CORNER”:HERE SITS MIKE AND SAMBIR, THE WEB
CREW, ON ONE OF OUR (MANY) CUSTOM BUILT DESKS.THESE ARE¾”
THICK 8’ LONG PLY-WOOD “SLABS” MIXED, A 4X4 CUT TO SIZE ATTACHED WITH A LAG
BOLT, AND SOME STUFF FROM IKEA.WE
BUILT THEM OURSELVES.FUNCTIONAL
WITH LOTS STORAGE & SURFACE AREA.
NANCY AND MY OFFICE:WE ARE BIG ON COOPERATION AT LOVESAC,
AND EVEN BIGGER ON GATHERING.OUROFFICE DOUBLES AS
MEETING ROOM.THE WINDOWS ARE OUR
WHITE-BOARDS—ALWAYS CAKED WITH LISTS & PLANS.
CFO’S OFFICE BEFORE:(HEE HEE)
CFO’S OFFICE: AFTER (NOW)
THE ROCKSTAR ROOM
(CONFERENCE ROOM): BEFORE
THE ROCKSTAR ROOM: AFTER
(NOW). NOTICE THE SO-NEW-THEY’RE-NOT-EVEN-ON-THE-CUSTOM-SWATCHES CHENILLE
COVERS.MURDERED-OUT LOVESAC NEON
SIGN STUCK TO THE WALL.MURDERED
OUT CHANDELIER FOR LIGHT.THE
WALLS ARE 100% CHALK-BOARD PAINT & THE WALL BEHIND THE SHOT IS BLANK – JUST
WAITING FOR SOME INTENSE BRAINSTORMING….UP THE WALLS.STACKS OF VINTAGE GUITAR AMPS FOR FRONT TABLE – TO HOLD THE
CHALK & ERASERS (NOT SHOWN).
BIT OF LOVESAC TRIVIA: THE
GUITAR HANGING ON THE RIGHT IS A LEGEND.THE AMERICAN BUILT FENDER STRATOCASTER, SUNBURST.IT IS THIS GUITAR’S SUNBURST DESIGN
THAT INSPIRED THE COLORS FOR THE ORIGINAL LOVESAC LOG0.
THE NEW LOVESAC H.Q.IT’S GOT SOUL AGAIN.IT’S GOOD TO BE HOME.
From Park City & Sundance Film Fest last week to Aspen this week, the Sac crew has gone Rocky Mountain High, arriving in SnowMass, Colorado for Winter X Games, 2009. We've teamed up with ESPN and the local Aspen radio station, KSPN to create the "LoveSac Radio X Lounge," for X Game attendees to hang out, listen to some tunes, and warm up! I'll be hittin' it up live, on the air on KSPN throughout the day--especially as we prepare for the Sac Riding Races (see videos below). Listen to KSPN online, broadcasting LIVE from the X Games, and the LoveSac Radio X Lounge: http://radiotime.com/station/s_42048/KSPN-FM_983.aspx. In fact, TEXT: "XGames" to number: 32075 from your mobile phone and WIN 4 TICKETS to the X-Games VIP seating this weekend, as well as a LoveSac SUPERSAC, VALUE OF $600+. CONTEST!!! TEXT TO WIN!!!!
Check out the videos and pics below, showing the entire Aspen scene as we roll in on the LoveSac Bus, and then as we prepare for typical LoveSac mayhem....from the first trial of Sac Riding (ouch) to Team LoveSac owning the X-Fest Snow Skate competition...
CHECK OUT THE LOVESAC RADIO X LOUNGE (video above)
Benny, Team LoveSac, tears it up at the X-Fest Snow-Skate park. This is a weird sport. Skate deck with 4 little skis on the bottom. I'm actually dying to get a hold of one of these for future dragging-behind-the-car runs. This thing would be perfect. Albeit, an almost sure way to break an arm (at 45 mph).
SNOW SKATING (ABOVE) SAC RIDING (BELOW)....
MY CUTE WIFE, TIFFANY (RIGHT) CHOSE TO RIDE THE MOTO-X SLED...NOT THE SAC.
CHECK OUT THE WHOLE SCENE, VIEW FROM THE ROAD OUT OF THE WINDSHIELD OF THE LOVESAC BUS. GIVE YOU A GOOD IDEA OF JUST HOW BIG A PRODUCTION THE X GAMES IS EACH YEAR. MY BOYS MURPH AND KYLE TAKE OVER THE TOWN EVERY YEAR. IT'S AWESOME TO BE HERE SPREADIN' THE LOVE.
My 2008 coast to coast drive in the LoveSac Bus ends in sunny California, at the California LoveSac Stores. I've met every Sac'r in the country, and, gotta say, I love em all. That really is my favorite part of operation Front Line. It's not the training; it most certainly isn't the remodeling and merchandising; it's got to be the Sac'rs--those that work for us and those who are just fans of the Sac. CHECK OUT SOME OF THESE WACK JOBS, from my visits to LoveSac Tyler Galleria in Riverside CA and Northridge CA...
No store visit without someone ridin' a Sac full speed down the main hallway of the mall. (wait till you see the video, coming soon to the in-store DVD) After 3 grueling days and a nearly full remodel of the LoveSac Tyler Galleria Store, the Manager, James, wasn't the only loopy one. But thanks to a hard working staff, the store turned out great, and we had some crazy Mexican Food getting adventures that last night on the LoveSac Bus.
Besides the typical store visit I had a little visitor of my own. Bud and Keenan, from Home Break Surfboards, brought me my long awaited custom LoveSac surfboard. A "fish," just as requested, facilitated by their new partner (and my partner of 7 years), Mr. Jon Coltharp--manager of the LoveSac factory since 2001. Check this bad boy out...
We'll come back to the surfboard later--I promise. First, we had some serious training to do with the Tyler Galleria Staff...
In search of the best Mexican Food of the Inland Empire, we headed up Magnolia, further into Riverside. We found the natty natty Mexican food, and some other wierdos along with it...
All in all, the Tyler Galleria Crew were definately keepin the vibe alive, and it was a laugh a minute to be with em. It's good to see that LoveSac is still alive and kickin' in California, even if it a shadow of what we once were....LoveSac is back in black and we are about to blow it up again. So on to the Northridge store--just above L.A., for my final Front Line visit.
The Northridge LoveSac Crew (right) were definately, once again, a unique crew of Sac'rs. I like it! They all pitched in as we tore their store up from the floor up, and in just a few short hours, it was like a new place. We replaced every light bulb, killed those life-sucking flourescents, moved the behemoth fixtures, and makd the place look like new. Then we busted out some wicked sales training on the LoveSac ice-queen (this woman just wanted nothing to do with the Sac), and we met a nice little LoveSac family too. Check out these two videos of Chris, Sue, and their cute daughters--who ultimately get their way...
With some lousy Pizza Hut Pizza on the Bus, and one final Guitar Hero throw-down in the parking lot of the Northridge mall, my Operation Front Line, 2008, was finished. Yes--that west-coast Pizza was making me miss home and the good old Colony Grill, in Stamford, Connecticut, with the bombest thinnest, spiciest, best pizza in the United States of America, and I knew it was time to be on my way. So THANK YOU TO ALL OF YOU, Staffers, fans of the Sac, customers, to everyone who made my 2008 tour as wierd as it was...thank you so much. YOU make LoveSac what it is. YOU keep us weird, and we like it. YOU deserve a MERRY CHRISTMAS, HAPPY HOLIDAYS, HANUKKAH, KWANZA, or whatever it is you're into. So have one.
I, on the other hand, was not about to leave California without trying that surfboard. So I have have reached the end of the line. From Boston to So Cal, LoveSac is still spreadin' the Love coast to coast, and the vibe lives on into 2009. Signing off from Huntington Beach, California.....watch this....
src="https://lovesac.typepad.com/.a/6a00e5501c846a883301053687ee01970b-250wi"> Ride the Love. Happy Holidays.
My 2008 LoveSac Front Line store tour has brought me to Las Vegas, Nevada. Tiffany and Lucky (my wife and new baby) were able to come on this leg, thank goodness. I love it when they can come with. It make it all better. I have to say, sin city has some of the biggest LoveSac fans I've seen in the country. Check out all this great footage...
So finally, it is time to move on to the last leg of the tour! California, here I come. I can't wait to get out to the Tyler store and Northridge store. Best part: I am meeting Bud, the one-legged surfer, to get a hold of my LoveSac custom surf board. Cannot wait. Me and EZ hit the road...
My cross-country store tour brought me back to Salt Lake City, Utah for Thanksgiving! I can't complain. Home for the Holidays is always a good thing, especially with an extended family as huge as mine (and my wife's). We kicked it off on Thanksgiving NIGHT with a LoveSac Bus appearance at the Fashion Place Mall midnight opening for Black Friday. Thousands of people lined up outside of the mall entrance as we circled the parking lot in the bus throwing our balls at people, trading LoveSac schwag for stupid human tricks, and an ongoing Guitar Hero battle on the LoveSac Bus. It's as close to Girls Gone Wild as we get on the LoveSac Bus. Check out the chaos in this video...
I began the real work with a visit to Layton Hills LoveSac. It looked great! Best staff I've ever seen there. Thankfully, the Layton Hills Crew has been running a pretty tight ship. Good merchandising, and a growing business. I had a couple of fans of the Sac waiting there for me on arrival. Check out the green tea girls of Layton...
In each store we make a video which will be used inside of the in-store video. Layton did the wannabe Sac immitator race. Not bad. It was the best human Sac costume I've ever seen.
I then tore up Fashion Place Mall for a couple of days, completely re-arranging their floor and lighting...a change needed for years now. The staff there is a VERY cool group of young Sac'rs who later showed up for a late night ride on the bus to the infamous "PIE" pizza place near the U of U. Crazy times.
We had some REAL fun at the Gateway. One of those never-ending all-nighters that got really ugly, but ended up pretty...a completely new concept store now. We had all kinds of adventures in remodelling (and trying to keep the store running with happy customers thru all of the chaos), as you can see below in the numerous strange videos. Good stuff. The Gateway Store turned out amazing, I must say, thanks to the hard work of everybody on their staff, as well as Davey, Charlie, and Spencer from HQ, and even Andres, who flew up from New Mexico LoveSac to help out. Check this mess out...
FIRST, A RUG MUNCHER!? AT LOVESAC!?
THEN, A CUSTOMER WHO TAKES HIS SACTIONALS A PIECE AT A TIME...
NEXT, A WINDOW TINTING EXPERT WHO DOES THE FIRST EVER TOTALLY BLIND WINDOW TINTING JOB...ONLY LOST THE TIP OF A FINGER...ONLY AT LOVESAC...
Here is the itinerary for a day in the life of the glamorous Shawny D. on Frontline!? LONGEST DAY IN DECEMBER (so far):
11am THURSDAY: Arrive at the newly carpeted Gateway. Proceed to deal with brand new fixtures, arrived broken on delivery. Fix & set up.
2pm: Tear the entire store apart one half at a time, operating a functional Holdiay Season LoveSac store on the other side.
3pm: Discover yet more supplies (Velcro, staples, nail gun) needed to finish the store. Run to Lowes & Industrial Supply store.
5pm: Pick up LoveSac Bus having had minor work done to prep it for west coast front line visits.
6pm: Arrive back at the Gateway, BEGIN to re-set store layout after total upheaval.
7pm: Window tinter arrives and demonstrates his skills.
9pm: Electricians arrive to climb over the top of us, hanging lights where they can.
10pm: BEGIN to hang the artwork...a 12 hour process for 1 person (yours truly, plus one assistant)
1am: Midnight run for greasy Mexican food to keep us going.
2am: Large Artwork finally in place...goin' all night now...
7am: 75% of small artwork (300 frames!) hung on the walls. Beg Tiffany to wake up, bring me clothes, and deoderant so I can get to my next appointment...
8am FRIDAY: Give speech to room full of 100 entrepreneurs at the Larry H. Miller Shool for Free Enterprise in Sandy on zero sleep. At least 4 of them commit to buying Sactionals. LoveSac is back!
10am: Return to Gateway Mall, finish hanging ALL of the artwork and re-setting store layout for big weekend in sales.
1pm: Rush out to Bountiful, home of my in-laws to shower.
1:20pm: Rush back to Holladay to pick up my nephew Matthew and 8 of his friends for his 10th birthday party (something I hate to miss).
1:45 pm: A bus full of screaming kids playing Guitar Hero, on our way to the Ice-Skating Rink where they expect me to entertain them.
2:30pm: Pull 8 10-year-olds around the Ice-Skating Rink in Murray Utah in the famous "Uncle Shawn Train."
4:00pm: Eat Cupcakes.
5:00pm: Back on the bus for an hour of Guitar Hero in the Best Buy Parking Lot next door.
6:00pm: Back to the Gateway Mall for their Merch Walk-Thru with the Managers.
7:00pm: Sales Training with the entire Gateway Staff, where I work the store floor for 3 hours until closing. They watch, take notes, and we debrief after every group of customers leave. I put the hard-sale on two couples from Idaho, in town, shopping for Christmas. Sold two SuperSac packages right there. Charlie drove to Fashion Place Mall to pick up their SquattoMans!
10:00pm: Mall closes. Back to the LoveSac Bus for Brand Training ON the bus, where the entire staff stares at me while I try to remain coherent for a 90 minute training session. Ahhhhhh! In my sleep deprivation, I forgot to take the Gateway Staff Pic. Bummer.
11:30pm: Part of Gateway Staff hangs out on Bus for some Guitar Hero Action. The FASHION PLACE staff show up with their fiends/boyfriends/girlfriends, having not had the chance to be on the bus because it was in the shop. I take them all to the Pie Pizzeria for some late night pizza action, running the bus' sirens and PA all the way up town.
2am SATURDAY: Leave the Pie. Head back to Bountiful for my first sleep in about 42 hours.
Recent Comments