The Grommet had a large exhibit in the lobby of the recent NY NOW gift show — and as the company literature promised, this meant that you could “purchase and manage orders from multiple Makers in one place.”

So what is a Maker?  This relatively new term refers to a craftsperson or artisan who creates engineered products such as those using electronics of 3-D printing.  The implication is that the maker has a small operation, either hand-making each item or using machinery to produce merchandise on a very small scale.

Maker culture stems from the first Maker Faire held in San Mateo, California in 2006.  The event, which included workshops and a DIY (do it yourself) competition, is probably where the term originated. This year Maker Faires were held all around the world, including Japan and several European countries.

A craftsperson can often pursue his or her art in their own home with a few tools, but the type of technology-based work done by makers often requires more sophisticated machinery. Hence the development of the maker space, which is similar to a hackerspace in that it allows individuals to share both ideas and tools. (By the way, if you still think of a “hacker” as a person who uses a computer to gain unauthorized access to data, that’s old school.)

According to Adweek, quoted in an article by Tim Bajarin for Time, “The maker movement, as we know, is the umbrella term for independent inventors, designers and tinkerers. A convergence of computer hackers and traditional artisans, the niche is established enough to have its own magazine, Make, as well as hands-on Maker Faires that are catnip for DIYers who used to toil in solitude. Makers tap into an American admiration for self-reliance and combine that with open-source learning, contemporary design and powerful personal technology like 3-D printers. The creations, born in cluttered local workshops and bedroom offices, stir the imaginations of consumers numbed by generic, mass-produced, made-in–China merchandise.”

This new movement means that there are now unique, creative products available to retailers direct from the designer, often at reasonable wholesale prices thanks to recent technology changes that make small-scale production economically feasible.  It provides us with a new source of made in America goods — and will encourage a new generation of artisans to use their talents to make merchandise that our customers want to buy.  Companies such as The Grommet help facilitate the connection between various makers and the public, and identify those artisans who are able to sell their products on the wholesale market.

Happy Retailing,

Carol “Orange” Schroeder