caboose

jackie's start-up

i'm headed to a phat shindig tonight at my friend jackie's. she recently started her own business on the side, called caboose. the plan is to develop a fashion and accessory business; she currently focuses on bags. she's selling them direct to consumers via the web site: http://www.cabooseinc.com/

i know less than the pope about women's fashion, much less bags, but caboose seems to be on to something good. they've been ringing up sales and creating a lot of customer satisfaction. caboose's selling point is a refreshing lack of pretension--fun, functional, unique bags for weekends, the gym, etc.

the market for this is huge. not surprisingly, there are a lot competitors out there (i did some market research for jackie); and good number of women who do it as a side business; some of them are pretty successful.

will be interesting to see how it develops. if caboose can secure some distribution in well-positioned boutiques, it could drive a lot of sales. the margins are nice (although i'm sure the boutiques will take a huge chunk of that away). tonight's party is designed to create some buzz and collect some feedback on what women look for in a bag...and what they'd like to see.