The Grommet is Closing, What Product Makers and Innovators Need to Know
Update Nov. 2023: The Grommet has been brought back to life since I wrote this blog post! GiddyUp acquired the Grommet brand and has relaunched it as a platform for trending products. We’ll be following up with new content, sharing all about the new Grommet, how it works, and tips for submitting your product.
Last week, I took a Friday break and headed to Maxwell Street Days in Cambridge, Wisconsin, with my mother-in-law and some family. Cambridge is a quaint midwest town, with Main Street full of mom-and-pop-owned businesses and shops. Storefronts with curated display windows curate with local and handmade goods along the half-mile strip. We stopped in the cafe for a cup of coffee and were on our way to see what sort of deals each store had for their annual sidewalk sale.
We popped in and out of stores to shop (and find some relief from the heat). We found something familiar. It was a door mat with a topographic map of Lake Ripley. Each of us had purchased a wood etching of the lake as a gift. It’s sentimental. And in my opinion, meaningful creations make the best gifts. My MIL mentioned she bought hers from The Grommet and was disappointed they were closing.
Yes, The Grommet the closed for good.
Wait, What’s The Grommet?
Some background, The Grommet was established in 2008 as a product incubator. Every day the Grommet would share a new product from a small, relatively unknown brand. Readers could support the up-and-comers by buying their products. It helped launch fan-favorite brands like Fitbit, PopSockets, and (my personal favorite) Rumpl. Founders Jules Pieri and Joanne Domeniconi started the Grommet to provide a platform for innovative, independent “makers” of products. A platform like The Grommet is necessary because product innovation is born out in the wild, in people’s homes, not in the conference rooms or of big corporations and retailers.
Rumpl The Original Puffy Blanket
Popsockets Phone Grips
How Did We Get Here?
In 2017, Ace Hardware acquired a majority stake in the Grommet. And then last year, Ace relieved Pieri and Domeniconi of their positions with the Grommet. And then, earlier this year, Ace announced they were shuttering the Grommet.
Ace Hardware is structured a bit differently than your typical retail chain. Ace is an independently owned franchise model. Because of the franchise model, each Ace location has its own buyer (or buyers) and therefore does not have to carry private brand products or partner brands. In contrast, most other retail chains own all of their stores and control which products go on the self. So when Target decided to test Olive & June as an in-store brand, they determined which stores would carry the product. Ace only offers products to its franchisees but cannot make the individual stores stock the products. Ultimately Pieri believes that’s part of why The Grommet was unsuccessful under Ace’s umbrella.
What is the Significance?
There is a typical road map for how new products get into retailers and gain market share. Jules expressed this super eloquently in her book, How We Make Stuff Now, so I’ll quote it here.
The historical ladder that a new product or company used to climb to retail success [has] changed. Makers used to introduce their young products at the lower rungs of the ladder: at independent and specialty stores. Once they got their sea legs there, they moved up to selling to regional players and small chains. After that, they move up to national chains, and some might land at the larger big-box retailers.
eCommerce and discount retailers have disrupted the path to retail in several ways. Small shops have been squeezed out of the market. Competition from Amazon and big-box retailers (I’m looking at you, Walmart) have been stealing customers away from small independent stores with lower prices and convenience shopping. The larger stores also have an advantage of scale. Big-box retailers can buy in volume while charging customers less without too much of a hit to their profit margins. The loss of traffic to larger retailers and lack of financial agility has forced a lot of small shops to close. As these small stores close, new products have fewer retail entry points.
What’s Next?
The market still needs product makers and innovators. New products are the lifeblood of the retail industry. With fewer retail entry points makers and innovators will need to stay alert for opportunities and ready to jump on them when they present themselves.
As I mentioned earlier, innovation doesn’t happen in a conference room. Innovation is inspired by life. Real people encounter real-life problems and then use their creativity, talents, and energy to bring new products to life. This cycle has been happening for a long time and isn't stopping now. Especially now when access to information and resources has made it easier than ever to launch a new product.
Be Ready and Look Ahead
My MIL expressed it well. She loved shopping on The Grommet. The platform allowed her to find new and unique products that she knew her family would love. At the same time, she felt great that she was supporting innovative small businesses. In her words, “There is nothing else like it, right now.”
We need ways for new ideas to enter the retail space. There will be another platform that emerges to fill this void. Just like retail is changing dramatically, so is the path to retail for new products. It’s unclear where that next entry point will appear. But makers and innovators, be ready when it shows up. We need you and your big ideas.