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Amy, Heather (25-year-old twins) and Teeter Sperber, 23, are the three sisters behind 31 Corn Lane, a tote bag line run out of their Brooklyn, New York, home.
The Sperbers were raised in Shrewsbury, NJ, where as youngsters they loved clothes and playing dress-up-hobbies that led to sewing and designing—and they devote everything they've got to bringing their fashion dreams to fruition. Teeter said she's online all day scouting shops
and updating the database of clients and tote bag stock, while Amy and Heather devote nights and weekend hours to running 31 Corn Lane, making extras, planning new designs, and hatching more ideas.
Their line of handbags is inspired by the sisters' desire to promote fun and functionality through quirky designs and quality effort. You can find them mainly at stores on the East Coast, such as Patch 155 in New York City, Hello Beautiful Hair Salon in Brooklyn, Newbury Comics in Boston and other record stores throughout New York.
There's more to these sisters than just designing tote bags. Heather and her boyfriend run a record label called "Ear to Ground Records," Teeter volunteers at a local youth center and Amy does graphic design for friends' bands, making both T-shirts and other promotional materials. According to Heather, 31 Corn Lane prefers the intimacy of face-to-face business, so the sisters spend a lot of time visiting stores, showing off their bags and taking orders for new merchandise.
Mike Dubin
Eventually the Sperbers want to expand their line by incorporating clothing and using the Internet (they're currently building a web site), but for now they've decided to focus on promoting their tote bags. Says Heather, "We wear our own product...and we make sure all our pals have totes to wear around. You'd be amazed what a buzz can be created by word of mouth!"
Education: Amy attended the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York, Teeter went to the University of Colorado at Boulder and Heather went to Colorado State University in Fort Collins.
Amy and Heather used to get their kicks: Dressing Teeter up like a doll.
Women who nag: The Sperbers play in a band called The Nagg with three other girls.
Designers they like: According to Heather, the sisters are all fans of the clothing line Built By Wendy (builtbywendy.com). All three also frequent thrift stores to find vintage treasures.
Pretty in Pink: 31 Corn Lane would kill to dress Molly Ringwald.
Advice for aspiring designers from Heather Sperber: "Don't ever take no for an answer and always stand behind what you're creating. Remember, your closest girl pals are your sassiest advertisement!"
Get more information about their line by emailing 31 CornLane@aol.com.
The Kozmonauts Have Landed
By Jane Kim
Do you ever get insatiable urges in the middle of the night for a pint of Ben & Jerry's Chunky Monkey, but don't want to trek to the corner store? Or maybe your mom's birthday is this week but just don't have the time in your loaded schedule to make the trip to the mall? Well, Kozmo.com has you in mind—with their help you might not ever have to leave the comfort of your dorm room again.
Steamtunnels took a ride along with Kozmo,the unmistakably orange courier service that guarantees to deliver the goods in under an hour. Boston managerial team members Will Weddleton and Katherine Kwack took Steamtunnels behind the scenes and introduced us to the Kozmo revolution.
When Joseph Park and Yong Kang created Kozmo.com in 1997, they envisioned a courier service that would combine the convenience of web shopping with the speed of delivery. With 11 locations nationwide—in Atlanta,Boston,Chicago,Houston,Los Angeles,Portland San Diego, San Francisco, Seattle, Washington,D.C. and New York-
So, what's Kozmo.com all about?
this Internet-to-door company is still growing. Kozmo delivers everything from food to health and beauty products. They've recently added a gift service that allows shoppers to ship specialty items like Palm Pilots and Dirty Girl cosmetics, as well as creative Kozmo kits designed for every occasion.
What do you have to do to get the goods?
If you live in one of the cities served by Kozmo.com, just go to the web site, Kozmo.com, punch in your zip code to find the closest branch, browse the list of items and send your order. Within an hour you'll be greeted by an orange-helmeted Kozmonaut—that's Kozmospeak for messenger package in hand.
Virtual security. Guaranteed.
According to Boston general manager Will Weddleton, the Kozmonaut never sees what's inside the package during delivery, so your purchase is strictly confidential until you open it.
steamtunnels.net