In 2013, Bradford Shellhammer stepped down as chief design officer of Fab, the design shopping site he founded in 2011 along with Jason Goldberg, the company’s CEO. Fab was a hit early on, scooping up hundreds of millions in venture capital, but it started to experience growing pains. To keep up with the pace, it swelled from a 14-people to over 700 and the business changed. Now but Bradford has moved on…
Bezar, his new company which launches officially today, has echoes of Fab. The site will host digital “pop-up shops” where designers, handpicked by Shellhammer and his tightly-run team will offer products available for just three-days. One shop per category: home goods, art, accessories, and jewelry, all in the $60 to $100. Shellhammer hesitates to use the words “flash sale” but he hopes that the urgency will drive users to click and buy.
I have known Bradford and his husband Georgi for a few years now, and I was involved with Fab’s sales from the outset so, I’ve lived through the evolution. I was working on licensing of my artwork to create merchandise for Fab when things began to unravel there in 2013. (Fab started as Fabulis, which was sort of a gay Facebook which had a few sales before it pivoted, one from a 2011 art exhibit of mine.) I’m really excited for this new venture and the site looks fantastic, as do the products I’ve chosen to feature here to give you a little taste. But go here to look around the site. I was a BIG fan of Fab’s products, having done a few art flash sales there in the early days and I shopped there enough too to be considered a “preferred” customer. I don’t doubt I’ll be sucked in again to what Bezar has to offer as well. You can follow Bezar on Instagram here. You can sign up here.
