These cool fruit baskets sell like hotcakes
Posted on December 26, 2008
It is seldom that you see a product that is aesthetically unique yet highly functional at the same time. But once you spot one, you just know that it has the X factor.
When French wood artist-cum-businessman David Lefebvre of Directly from Wood and his team participated in the recently concluded Christmas markets in various French-speaking Swiss towns and cities (Geneva, Lausanne, Montreux, Yverdon, Neuchatel, Cressier, and Bienne), his wooden fruit baskets became an instant hit among shoppers.
“These fruit baskets are really nice and unique. I bought one (apple-shaped fruit basket) last year for my sister in Italy. I came back today to buy another one — for my sister’s friend who saw the fruit basket I gave to my sister,” said one contented Swiss customer.
The handmade fruit baskets come in different shapes — from turtles, owls, cows, cats, dogs, ducks, and squirrels to apples, pineapples, flowers, and stars — and sizes. Some are made of rubber wood mixed with rose wood, while others are made of MDF (Medium Density Fiberboard). What is commendable about the design is, one can collapse the fruit basket and flip it sideways in such a way that it becomes completely flat, which makes it less bulky and, thus, more portable. Ingenious!
Despite the widely reported economic crisis all over the world, Lefebvre said that it didn’t stop the holiday shoppers to buy his fruit baskets, which cost between 45 Swiss francs (USD42.00) to 80 Swiss francs (USD75.00) apiece, depending on the the size and model — not really cheap by Swiss standards.
“People buy these fruit baskets because they think the design is amazing. And they cannot easily find them just anywhere else,” explained Lefebvre, a former banker who left his job seven years ago to pursue his business dream.
Lefebvre, 33, has been selling his wooden art creations in Swiss Christmas markets since last year. Because of the great sales turnout this year, he would like to come back to Switzerland next Christmas.
Sometime next year, Lefebvre plans to add a twist to the existing design: that is, to come up with leather-covered fruit baskets, which he thinks Italian customers would really like.
Directly from Wood has outlets in France, Italy, and Ireland. (Video used by CNN)
TIDBITS: Christmas markets are commonplace in Switzerland. Generally speaking, products sold at these outdoor markets are handmade (i.e. arts and crafts items), and not mass produced. Which means that they are not readily available. Incidentally, the last day of the Swiss Christmas market (Weihnachtsmarkt) in Bern is tomorrow (Dec. 27).
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hopped into this site…
Are the Christmas markets similar to our pinoy tiangge?
Those baskets are quite pretty. I think I can make use of one for my bananas, apples and oranges loads