31
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 play
ing 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
Mike Dubin
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 pro
mote 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.
Eventually the Sperbers want to expand their line by incorpo
rating 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
Steamtunnels rides along with online delivery service Kozmo.com.
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.
So, what’s Kozmo.com all about?
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 nation
wide—in Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles, Portland,
San Diego, San Francisco, Seattle, Washington, D.C. and New York—
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 ror 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 Kozmo
speak 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. •