Inventorying in the basement

The day that I have anticipated for the last 15 months finally arrived: at 9:30am on Thursday, August 21 the first shipment of Atayne product arrived!  The following 4 days I spent nearly every waking hour inspecting and inventorying the shipment.  This was not and easy task as I was confined to a small room, in a basement.  Just one of the many joys of being an entrepreneur.

Plastic waste from a small product order

The shipment acceptance process was an eye opener.  Upon opening the first box, I realized that every shirt was individually wrapped in a plastic bag.  Every single shirt!  ”What waste,” is all I could think about as I opened each bag.  But then I realized this was yet another opportunity to create a positive change, industry-wide.  My goal is to work with my already socially responsible manufacturer to find a better way to ship, but still protect product from water damage during shipping.

My first thought, “How does Patagonia (one of the greenest companies out there) handle shipping?”  I soon learned from a former Patagonia employee that all Patagonia products are individually shipped in plastic (from manufacturing site to retail).  An opportunity for Atayne to raise the bar to benefit people and planet! I love it.

The Atayne Event Set

The following weekend (Labor Day) Atayne officially launched sales at the Virginia Beach Rock n’ Roll ½ Marathon.  We loaded our event set and 5 bins of product into the Civic Hybrid (a very tight fit) and headed out for the weekend.

Not really knowing what to expect, I would say it turned out to be a great launch.  We sold Atayne tops to strangers who had never heard of Atayne — and who were not hard-core environmentalists.  People were genuinely excited about the brand and products. (Two people left our booth wearing the shirts. And several planned to wear them during the half-marathon.)

To my Atayne investors, nothing indicated excitement more than consumers willingness to pay full retail price for a premium top — in the face of heavily discounted apparel by brands like Nike and Brooks a few steps away, AND in the midst of an economic downturn.

On top of that we raised nearly $500 on behalf of Tommy Neeson.  Be sure to check in on Tommy. He is now in Connecticut, arriving in NYC on September 11.

Mike after the Dances with Dirt 50k Race

And to cap off a busy 10 days, I (and Atayne) moved out of the basement!  We are now above ground with a great new home office and Mike is officially my sugar daddy (I think I should be scared).

On the horizon: Web sales coming as soon as we can get the technology sorted out as well as more events.  Make sure you check the schedule online so you can stop by and visit.

Once again thanks for everyone’s support.

“Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better.  It’s not.”
-Dr. Seuss, The Lorax