Endemicworld

endemicworld.com is New Zealand's online design store. The site went live in December 2007 and is quickly becoming a favorite shopping destination for New Zealander's and expats looking for design products from New Zealand designers. They sell everything from homewear to headwear to jewellery to art publications to organic cotton t-shirts to upcylced billboard bags. The common factor is that the brands are all from New Zealand designers. Over half of the products are made in New Zealand and they have a large sustainable/fairtrade category which is part of their mission towards sustainability.

The site is managed by Elliot Alexander and he is very clear about their goals to become more than just an online store. They design and produce their own products under the brand name kinoo (www.kinoo.co.nz) and are quickly building a design community around the site and its brands with a facebook fan page, a flickr gallery, blog and now some video on vimeo. Soon to hit the site are regular video product reviews on the blog that will make purchasing the unique design products a real experience. Visitors can also read detailed profiles of the designers behind the brands.

endemicworld.com is crisp, fast, and navigates easily. The product photography is consistent and they update it regularly with featured designers new product and daily blog posts.