http://www.spreadshirt.com/us/US/About-us/Current-News-2525/ Latest Spreadshirt press releases us Sun, 06 Jul 2008 09:32:16 -0400 0 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss http://www.spreadshirt.com/us/US/About-us/News-2104/newsId/86 Leipzig, April 24, 2008 – Enthusiastic customers are the best prerequisite for sustained growth. Spreadshirt, the world-wide creative platform for apparel, therefore has a good reason to confidently look ahead: It's through high quality and superior service that the company makes many of its customers so happy that they not only return, but also tell their friends and acquaintances about their positive experiences. This accounts for the high Net Promoter Score (NPS), which is an internationally-used management ratio to identify customer satisfaction and loyalty. For the first time Spreadshirt has released its NPS and with a rating of 42% are in the top quarter compared with other firms. Spreadshirt CEO, Jana Eggers, sees the implementation of the NPS as part of the company strategy which is focused on continual growth and customer satisfaction. This is the base for a successful business and they are consistently Spreadshirts focal points. "We are proud that our customers like our product so much that they share it with others," says Eggers. "In addition, these results provide important indications where we can continue to improve ourselves in order to increase this score in the future." The Net Promoter Score concept was developed by Satmetrix and Fred Reichheld in collaboration with the firm Bain & Company. The NPS is based on the assumption that the customer's willingness to recommend a company to others is directly related to their satisfaction and loyalty. The value of the NPS is determined with the help of one question: "How likely is it that you would recommend company XY to a friend or colleague?" The possible answers range from 0 (unlikely) to 10 (very likely). Enthusiastic customers that decided on 9 or 10 are identified as promotors. Those who voted 6 or less are categorised as detractors. The level of the NPS corresponds to the difference between enthusiastic and critical customers and therefore can range between -100% and +100%. Satisfied customers, who voted 7 or 8, are not considered in the calculation. "The Net Promoter Score concept fits perfectly with one of our company core values. We don't want just satisfied customers, rather really enthusiastic ones," explains Eggers. Spreadshirt is offering the NPS in 11 languages and 20 countries and would like to continue to take part in further technical development of the concept. This company exists in close contact and exchange with market researchers from General Electric and trnd, the platform for word-of-mouth marketing, which also works with the Net Promoter Score. Furthermore, CEO Jana Eggers will report at this years’ Net Promoter Conference in London on the experiences with the introduction of the rating at Spreadshirt.   Downloadable Material: NPS distribution on a Quantils Basis The significance of the Net Promoter Score   Internet: What is the Net Promoter? Satmetrix Connected Marketing www.spreadshirt.net http://www.spreadshirt.com/us/US/About-us/News-2104/newsId/86 http://www.spreadshirt.com/us/US/About-us/News-2104/newsId/87 Leipzig/Boston February 28th, 2008 -- Spreadshirt has launched its new logo, the result of a global crowdsourcing contest, the Open Logo Project 1.6 (OLP). Kim Larsen’s ‘Love Tab’ was the winning design, chosen from 2,800 submissions (from 45 countries). Kim is a 23 year old graphic and interactive media designer from Sweden. "We wanted to take this to the community who use, create and live our product, rather than to an agency", says Jana Eggers, Spreadshirt CEO. Each entry received comment and evaluation by an expert panel, the other designers, the Spreadshirt community and employees. The judging panel included web 2.0 guru Dr Frank Piller, renowned San Francisco graphic designer Scott Hansen, Computerlove, Branded and laFraise. Kim Larsen says: "I wanted to make personal branding visually simple and to embed a symbol everyone can relate to. The heart resonates with the feeling of love you have for something you’ve created and the stitching with the hand-crafted nature of the product." For more on the brief, designers, entries and comment: http://olp.spreadshirt.net   Press information: Sarah Beerbohm Phone: +441727 753 358 E-Mail: sarah.beerbohm[at]spreadshirt.net   Downloads: Kim Larsen's 'Love Tab' http://www.spreadshirt.com/us/US/About-us/News-2104/newsId/87 http://www.spreadshirt.com/us/US/About-us/News-2104/newsId/28 Boston, MA July 24, 2007 – Spreadshirt founder and respected angel investor, Lukasz Gadowski today announced the promotion of himself to President, a newly-formed strategic role in the company, and the promotion of Jana Eggers, current North American CEO and Global EVP of Marketing and Product, to replace him in the role of global CEO. “Spreadshirt will remain my top priority,” said Gadowski. “But, after six years of hard work, I want more time to share my experience with other entrepreneurs through angel investing and advising.” In addition to founding Spreadshirt, Lukasz has successfully invested in StudiVZ, hitflip and rapleaf. Gadowski and Matthias Spiess founded Spreadshirt in 2002 without venture capital. Quickly, the company established itself as European market leader in personalized clothing. 2005 brought expansion to the North American market, and over the past two years, Business Week, Red Herring, and several government agencies have recognized Spreadshirt for its high-growth. In 2006, leading venture capital firm, Accel Partners, invested in Spreadshirt to support growth through enhanced services and additional international focus. “I’m honored to have been asked by Lukasz and the board to lead Spreadshirt during this exciting time,” said Eggers. “My passion and experience is in helping companies maintain focus under the challenges created by rapid growth. With Spreadshirt, I have a product and team I believe in.” Eggers brings extensive executive management experience, a career focus on early-stage businesses, and a deep knowledge of the US market – a key area for growth. Most recently, she led Intuit’s QuickBase to be the Fortune 1000 company’s fastest growing business unit, while at the same time founding and leading Intuit’s corporate Innovation Lab. Prior to this, Eggers held leadership and technical positions at American Airlines’s Sabre, Lycos, Los Alamos National Laboratory, and several start-ups. She has been recognized with various leadership awards, and regularly is an invited speaker on innovation and management. “Jana is an exceptional person with an incredible array of talents. I am happy to see her at the helm,” said Matthias Spiess, co-founder and CTO. “Her knowledge and network in the North American market will be an essential piece of our success.” “Lukasz is taking an important step for himself and Spreadshirt,” said Rezzo Schlauch, Spreadshirt’s Supervisory Board Chair. “His Midas touch will now support Spreadshirt and younger companies. I look forward to my work with Spreadshirt at this new stage.” Harry Nelis, Accel partner and Spreadshirt board member said: “Lukasz and Jana have complementary skills, and work well together. We see this change as combining the best skills in the right mix – which will accelerate Spreadshirt’s growth in Europe and North America.” Once ratified by the board of directors, the change will be effective on 1st August 2007.   http://www.spreadshirt.com/us/US/About-us/News-2104/newsId/28 http://www.spreadshirt.com/us/US/About-us/News-2104/newsId/22 Expanded Website Features Deliver Increased Options for Buyers and Sellers, Engaging Web 2.0 Features, and More BOSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Spreadshirt, the award-winning e-tailer and manufacturer of customized clothing, launches a new version of its site, bringing buying, creating, and selling expressive “stuff to wear” from the Web2.0 geeks to “the rest of us” – creating an unprecedented level of capabilities for wearable self-expression. Spreadshirt fulfills personal branding needs with custom apparel — allowing customers to show who they are through what they wear. Spreadshirt customers: Create. Design expressive apparel with simple text, stylish graphics, or photos in just a few clicks and just a few minutes. Buy. Find expressive designs from hundreds of thousands of designers and shop partners through a marketplace or partner shops. Sell. Build a shop or participate in the marketplace to create a personalized clothing label for themselves or their group with no investment. “Most people don’t know what we do can even be done,” summarizes Lukasz Gadowski, Spreadshirt AG CEO. “While making improvements for our current customers, we really focused on making things easier for people new to this concept. Now, we are eagerly awaiting the reactions from buyers and sellers, the geeks and the others.” Europe's Web2.0 aficionados know the Spreadshirt success story — a profitable company built by a community without venture funding, acclaimed for growth by Red Herring and Business Week alike. The company expanded across Europe and into North America since its founding in 2002. In two years in North America alone, Spreadshirt secured over 100,000 online sellers or ‘shop partners’. And, in late 2006, the company named Jana Eggers CEO of Spreadshirt, Inc., the German company’s North American subsidiary, and is planning a North American headquarters in Boston, MA. “I joined Spreadshirt because of the eye-popping quality of their print technique,” said Jana Eggers, CEO, Spreadshirt, Inc. “Spreadshirt’s shirts are ‘hanger worthy’, so they are perfect for self-expression. Who wants a lame representation of themselves?” New Features Creative marketplace. The new marketplace combines the one-stop shopping of a mall with the creative expression of your favorite boutique shop. Buyers find what they like quickly, then save their favorites, tag for recollection or simply purchase what suits their fancy. Sellers can add designs, or designs and apparel combined. Simply put…we’ve added more options to publish these creations and make money. Faster shop set-up. Geeks will take the effort of setting up a shop to attract their customers; the rest of us won’t. Without taking away capabilities, we’ve made shops easier to set-up and manage. Set-up now takes 10 minutes, tops! And for the geeks… We restructured our shop template to make those who understand TLAs like css and xml much happier. Robust customer area. We’ve added quick, easy access to order status, order management, and reordering. And, for those who want to both buy and sell, you now manage that in one central place. Web2.0-ness. We were way early Web2.0. We added some of the now-common Web2.0 features, like comments and ratings, the ability to email designs or apparel, and quick integration into blogs or other Web sites. Other delighters. There are a host of features that are requests from current customers, including new navigation, new apparel choices and colors, and improved performance.   http://www.spreadshirt.com/us/US/About-us/News-2104/newsId/22 http://www.spreadshirt.com/us/US/About-us/News-2104/newsId/20 Cork, Ireland – February 2007 - Spreadshirt, online specialist for e-commerce and customised clothing, officially announces its new mission statement – “to be the world’s creative apparel platform”. After considerable growth and success for the e-commerce and customizable clothing company, Spreadshirt seeks to reaffirm its main focus: cotton! But cotton that can be designed, bought and sold by our customers. Maintaining the admiration of designers, consumers, shop partners and stakeholders is a top priority for us at Spreadshirt, and as a result we will continue to maintain an open and constant stream of communication with our online community. “We want to build the best possible online creation experience from Homer Simpson to Salvador Dali,” says Lukasz Gadowski the company’s founder, “We believe this can only be achieved by listening to and learning from our users. It’s Web 2.0 at its most creative.” We feel we've outgrown the previous aim of “market leader for customised apparel”. It’s time to reflect on a period of rapid growth, which has seen us add many non-apparel products such as iPod skins, clocks and umbrellas. This has distracted us slightly and taken our focus away from where we really excel, which is producing the best custom apparel in the business from one item to one million. Spreadshirt’s ongoing focus will be to continue to nurture and inspire our creative community as well as to provide the best available platform -- tools, assortment, content and fulfilment -- to buy and sell individualized apparel. Anyone with even the slightest hint of creativity can use the Spreadshirt platform to open their own free store to sell their creations to the masses. “Mission Statements don't always have the best reputation. In the past they were the creation of outside agencies, filed away in a box. We wanted this mission statement to share our excitement and focus for the future with our shop-partner community,” said UK country manager Larry Ryan. “Leave me alone I'm playing Wii” said the company’s founder Lukasz Gadowski when asked about the new mission statement. http://www.spreadshirt.com/us/US/About-us/News-2104/newsId/20 http://www.spreadshirt.com/us/US/About-us/News-2104/newsId/21 Leipzig, 26 October 2006 – Lukasz Gadowski, CEO and founder of Spreadshirt was awarded the Online Star special prize. Given as part of the Internet World Business conference in Munich, this award named Gadowski Internet Entrepreneur of the Year 2006. This is the eighth award given by the OnlineStar, sponsored by the publishing group Ebner Ulm. More than 2.5 million internet users voted the winner for fourteen cateories. Large business such as Google.de (category: online-portals), Amazon.de (category: shopping) or Otto.de (category: fashion & lifestyle) also newcomers like youtube.de (category: videologs) and studiVZ.de (category: social networks) were awarded. Recarding the prize, Gadowski says, “Spreadshirt was founded in 2002 after the burst of the internet bubble without any start capital. It grew out of its own strength. To date, we've created 230 jobs worldwide – this pleased the jurors. We are very happy to receive this award. We don't have a lot time to celebrate since we understand this prize as assignment to continue our successful growth in Europe and the US. And our focus on Asia.“ Online: www.onlinestar.de http://www.spreadshirt.com/us/US/About-us/News-2104/newsId/21 http://www.spreadshirt.com/us/US/About-us/News-2104/newsId/14 Greensburg, Pennsylvania - February 22, 2005 - “When the Boogeyman goes to sleep every night, he checks his closet for Chuck Norris.” This is just one of the thousands of “Chuck Norris Facts” that have been flooding websites and inboxes for the past several weeks. Chucknorrisfacts.com is the ultimate source of everything related to the omnipotent power that is Chuck Norris, and Spreadshirt is pleased to bring this mania to the masses. Chucknorrisfacts.com is also home to the online shop where users can take their favorite “Facts” and place them on everything from T-shirts to mugs. However, even if you don’t want to expand your wardrobe with the latest statements of truth, you can become part of this pop culture craze and submit your own. “We receive on average 200-300 fact submissions per day,” states Mark Seremet, CEO of Spreadshirt. “We’ve received facts from everyone, from students to executives of Fortune 500 companies.” As the number of “Chuck Norris Facts” continues to grow exponentially every day it’s no surprise that his reputation as America’s number one export of pain remains unchallenged. Because as we all (should) know “There is no theory of evolution. Just a list of creatures Chuck Norris has allowed to live.” Founded in 2002 in Leipzig Germany, Spreadshirt is a privately held company with offices in the United States, France, Switzerland and the United Kingdom. Spreadshirt is the leading provider of custom, online apparel in Europe and is growing rapidly in the United States. Spreadshirt is located online at www.spreadshirt.com. Chucknorrisfacts.com is an online shop powered by Spreadshirt. Devoted fans can select from a number of these facts and designs and use them to customize a wide array of apparel and gift items. Kathy Swiderski Spreadshirt 724-454-1651 ksw@spreadshirt.com  http://www.spreadshirt.com/us/US/About-us/News-2104/newsId/14 http://www.spreadshirt.com/us/US/About-us/News-2104/newsId/13 Greensburg, Pennsylvania - February 17, 2005 - The buzz and controversy surrounding Oscar favorite, Brokeback Mountain, has reached the pop culture apex, the T-shirt market. Spreadshirt.com has given fans of the film an opportunity to wear their support by offering a number of apparel items with sayings and designs that include “Brokeback Riding Club” and “Is that a cattle-prod in your pocket or are you just happy to see me?” These designs were created with a wink to the increasing fervor that this film, and its story of a love affair between two men, has created during this year’s Oscar race. As the Academy tallies their votes it seems that everyone from Willie Nelson to Pat Robertson has an opinion about its themes. However, it is within the world of T-shirts that heated controversies can be diffused with a bit of humor and levity, such as “I heart gay cowboys”, not that there’s anything wrong with that. Visit the shop here: www.brokebackgeneralstore.com Spreadshirt, a global force in the customization revolution, offers consumers a simple way to create custom T-shirts, hats, sweatshirts and other merchandise on the Web. Anyone can easily upload images or photos and customize them with text or choose from hundreds of graphics in their design gallery. Founded in 2002 in Leipzig Germany, Spreadshirt is a privately held company with offices in the United States, France, Switzerland and the United Kingdom. Spreadshirt is the leading provider of custom, online apparel in Europe and is growing rapidly in the United States. Spreadshirt is located online at www.spreadshirt.com. Kathy Swiderski Spreadshirt 724-454-1651 ksw@spreadshirt.com  http://www.spreadshirt.com/us/US/About-us/News-2104/newsId/13 http://www.spreadshirt.com/us/US/About-us/News-2104/newsId/12 Greensburg, Pennsylvania - July 07, 2005 - Providing businesses, non-profit organizations, artists and web site owners of any size with an advantageous new way of generating online sales, Spreadshirt, Inc, (www.spreadshirt.com), Europe’s leading micro-manufacturer, today announced its has established its long-awaited presence in the United States. The Company also announced the recent appointment of Mark Seremet, former president and COO of Take Two Interactive Software, as Chief Executive Officer for the U.S. An online marketing specialist, Spreadshirt has more than 60,000 online shop partners throughout Europe, and offers two types of design solutions: • Spreadshop, a complete suite of free online tools that allows site owners to quickly and easily open an online store with unlimited commissions; • Spreadshirt Designer for consumers who want to create their own merchandise, regardless of the size of the order. “Spreadshirt simply offers a superior product than its competitors,” says Mark Seremet, Chief Executive Officer of Spreadshirt. “With higher quality printing, global reach and easy-to-use online design tools, its no surprise that companies and organizations such as Doctors Without Borders, Texas Instruments and The One organization whose recent Live 8 concert series has dramatically raised awareness for AIDS and extreme poverty, are all using Spreadshirt.” Originally established in Germany, Spreadshirt boasts several advantages over its competitors, including: • Printing Technology – Spreadshirt uses a fade-resistant, flexible process that enables users to print on any color item. Its competitors can only print on white or light-colored materials, and designs typically fade. Spreadshirt also allows for printing on the front and the back of items; • Shipping Advantage – Spreadshirt guarantees shipping within 48 hours and, thanks to its international locations, can save its customers money on overseas items; • Design Capabilities – using a drag-and-drop technique, the Spreadshirt Designer enables anyone to easily create a design or slogan right on the site and then see how it will look on the item they have selected. Most other competitors require the design to be completed in another program and then uploaded. Text too can be added by selecting fonts and colors, and simply typing them out on the product. The final image instantly appears on-screen; • Spreadshop – using Spreadshop software, web site owners of all kinds -- from businesses to rock bands -- can quickly set up their own branded online store for free. Spreadshirt takes care of all technological management as well as all aspects of merchandising from production to shipping and payments. There are no contractual agreements, inventory worries or prepayment issues. About Spreadshirt Founded in 2002 in Leipzig Germany, Spreadshirt is a privately held company with offices in the United States, France, Switzerland and the United Kingdom. An online marketing specialist, Spreadshirt is the leading provider of custom, online apparel in Europe and are growing rapidly in the United States. The Company received the Futuresax 2002 Award, as well as the Hewlett Packard Business Innovation Award 2004, and is located online at www.spreadshirt.com. Lindsay Ross  Spreadshirt Inc. 911 South Main Street Greensburg, PA 15601-4140  USA  http://www.spreadshirt.com/us/US/About-us/News-2104/newsId/12 http://www.spreadshirt.com/us/US/About-us/News-2104/newsId/11 Greensburg, Pennsylvania - June 29, 2005 - Spreadshirt, Inc. announced today that Mark E Seremet, co-founder of Take Two Interactive Software (NASDAQ:TTWO) – the publishers of Grand Theft Auto, has joined the company as its new chief executive officer and that Mr. Seremet will join the Company’s Board of Directors effective immediately. Mr. Seremet is an experienced and successful executive with a diverse background and skill set. Mr. Seremet was the co-founder, President and Chief Operating Officer of Take Two Interactive Software where he was instrumental in driving the company from a start-up to a successful, publicly traded firm. As well, he was the founder and CEO of Paragon Software who developed the first video games around the Marvel Comics (NYSE:MVL) characters including Spider-man, X-Men, and the Punisher. Mr. Seremet has also served as Chief Operating Officer for a leading medical information systems firm based in Paris, France and Barcelona, Spain. He is a former Small Business Administration winner of the Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award, serves on several non-profit boards, and is an accomplished author and speaker. Lukasz Gadowski, founder of Spreadshirt, Chairman and CEO of Spreadshirt, GmbH, commented, “I am pleased to announce that Mark has agreed to lead our US operations. We are excited and honored to have such a proven businessman with the skills necessary to rapidly take market share and quickly advance our organization to new heights.” Mark Seremet added, “Spreadshirt is an exceptional company with a very compelling business model. I believe the affordable, customized apparel and products that we make available in small batches or even down to one piece will eventually capture a large segment of the overall printing market in the United States. Lukasz and his team have created the perfect vehicle to make these services available to everyone over the internet. I was most attracted by the shop partner strategy along with the exceptional design tool they created to allow for the simple construction of custom products. I am thrilled to be a part of such an innovative company with so many dedicated, talented employees and look forward to assisting the organization in its rapid growth strategy.” Lindsay Ross Spreadshirt Inc. 911 South Main Street Greensburg, PA 15601-4140 USA http://www.spreadshirt.com/us/US/About-us/News-2104/newsId/11 http://www.spreadshirt.com/us/US/About-us/News-2104/newsId/10 Louisville, Kentucky - February 25, 2005. The German micro-merchandising success story of Europe is bringing its e-commerce service to the Louisville, Kentucky. Founded in 2002 without capital, Spreadshirt now has headquarters in Germany and offices in Spain, Ireland and now Louisville, Kentucky. Winner of the 2004 European Hewlett Packard Business Vision Award, the international start-up was recognized by the jury for its "imaginative, creative and successful business plan and intelligent use of technology”. Spreadshirt now plans to bring its award-winning services to the US. Having made their mark as Europe’s provider of high-quality prints on brand-name products, and renowned for competitive shipping times and prices, Spreadshirt is introducing Spreadshirt Designer and the Spreadshop platform to the US. “Spreadshirt Designer” (www.designer.spreadshirt.com) is an online t-shirt machine for personalized apparel and gifts. Users can customize t-shirts with designs and texts for bachelor’s parties, family reunions, tour groups, or individual gifts for birthdays, holidays and special occasions. Or just for expressing oneself (a popular one: “I will NOT fix your computer”). The Spreadshop platform lets website owners use the same personalization function to sell their own goods. Website owners set up a shop with their own customized products, and generate commissions for every sale. Installation, usage and personalization of a Spreadshop is free and commissions are unlimited. Already, over 60,000 European partners profit from this micro-merchandising model. It’s proven an ideal solution for website owners of all kinds (clubs, organizations, rock bands, companies, educational facilities) looking to generate additional revenue from their websites and to broaden and deepen their online presence. Texas Instruments, for example, has used the service to reach out to its younger audience. Doctors without Borders donates €4 to its program for every product bought. The coffee bar chain Coffee-Bay uses the online shop to provide uniforms for employees and merchandise for its customers. The advantages according to Marcel Reinhardt: “I don't have to have all sizes on hand and the staff can choose their own style. And, as we are moving our company towards becoming a franchise, this system of decentralized supplying is even more practical". No investment, on-demand production and shipping within 48 hours make Spreadshirt an attractive and pragmatic business solution. High quality printing put Spreadshirt at the top of the line. Similar services in the US either require bulk orders for screen printing, or only offer digital printing. Spreadshirt prints starting at one order, and requires no contractual agreements or prepayments. Instead of digital printing, which fades and deteriorates quickly and can only be made on white or light colored products, Spreadshirt uses flock printing which is fade-resistant, wear-resistant and can be used on any color product. Quality print methods, superior online technology and user-friendliness has made Spreadshirt a market leader in the European customized merchandise sector and one of the biggest Internet businesses to emerge post-boom. To find out more about Spreadshirt, and what it can do for you, please visit: www.spreadshirt.com. To design a product, visit: www.designer.spreadshirt.com To start a free Spreadshirt shop, go straight to: www.spreadshirt.com For images, go directly to: https://www.spreadshirt.com/Downloads.127.0.html If you would like to know more about Spreadshirt or to set an interview, please contact: Mark Seremet  Spreadshirt Inc. 911 South Main Street Greensburg, PA 15601-4140  USA  http://www.spreadshirt.com/us/US/About-us/News-2104/newsId/10 http://www.spreadshirt.com/us/US/About-us/News-2104/newsId/9 Louisville, KY - February 14, 2005- Spreadshirt, a web-based customized apparel provider, has invested in the Louisville area to start up its USA-based affiliate, Spreadshirt.com. Formed in 2002 in Leipzig Germany, Spreadshirt is a privately-held company. Prompted by success in Europe and the rising demand for its products and services in the United States, Spreadshirt has moved to Louisville. Spreadshirt also has offices in France, Switzerland and the United Kingdom, with headquarters in the former East Germany. Spreadshirt won the futureSAX 2002 for its innovative business model and the 2004 Hewlett Packard Business Vision Award. Spreadshirt is a profitable, fast-growing company with 50 current employees and plans to double its size in the next twelve months. Spreadshirt’s success comes from its user-friendliness and the services it provides. Individual customers select their apparel, select their design, and see an image of the product as it will look when printed. Users can easily move, scale, and change the colors of designs and texts on the products. Spreadshirt offers a wide range of products: including t-shirts, sweatshirts, jackets and hats. Spreadshirt also invites website operators to open their own shops to sell their own designs at a profit. Setting up a shop is free, and shop owners set the shop design, the products within the shop, and the commission gained for each sale. Spreadshirt takes care of production, shipping, payments and returns. This partnership has attracted over 50,000 web users and is one of the fundamental cornerstones of Spreadshirt’s success. Based in the Bluegrass Industrial Park, the company plans to invest $2 - 3 million in its Louisville location during the next two years and to employ over 30 people. According to Lukasz Gadowski, Spreadshirt’s founder and CEO, “Louisville was selected for its geographic proximity to the East and Midwest population centers and because the UPS hub is located in Louisville.” Spreadshirt and its international affiliates have already emerged as leaders in the online customized apparel market by providing customers with competitively-priced, high-quality products that are ready for shipment a day after ordering. To find out more about Spreadshirt and what it can do for you, please visit our website at: www.spreadshirt.com. If you would like to know more about Spreadshirt or to set an interview, please contact: Mark Seremet Spreadshirt Inc. 911 South Main Street Greensburg, PA 15601-4140  USA   http://www.spreadshirt.com/us/US/About-us/News-2104/newsId/9 http://www.spreadshirt.com/us/US/About-us/News-2104/newsId/8 Introduction: Spreadshirt.net is one of the fastest growing Internet companies in Europe. It provides individualized textile merchandize products as well as online business opportunities. Today we are talking to Larry Ryan, the UK and Ireland Marketing Manager of Spreadshirt.co.uk Torsten: Larry, you are based in Dublin, the Spreadshirt headquarters are in Germany and you now are promoting the business in the UK. How did you obtain this position? Larry: Hi Torsten. Well, I run a number of websites myself and was keen to sell branded merchandise so I had been looking around for years for a service like Spreadshirt that is tailored to UK and Irish users. Obviously there's a few US companies around, but I wanted a service where I could price goods in Euro or Sterling and where postage to UK users would be fast and cheap. I was also interesting in selling colour t-shirts, whereas most services only offered white or grey. I was looking into setting up my own service when I found Spreadshirt, who, at that stage, had been operating in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland for a few years. The guys told me they were about to launch a UK version of the site, so I applied for the marketing position. I then visited headquarters in Leipzig, Germany where I was extremely impressed with the product they were offering — all goods are manufactured on site and the quality standards were really high. Luckily I was offered the position and firmly believe the new Spreadshirt.co.uk site has enormous potential. Torsten: I take it you have a lot of experience in e-commerce under your belt. When did you start your online marketing career? Larry: My background is actually in e-learning — online training products — and I worked for many years with Skillsoft, one of the main players in the market. I began work on my own sites around 2000, when I launched an Irish football website that has grown into one of the most popular Internet addresses in my country. Torsten: Please, give us some more background information on the business idea behind Spreadshirt. Larry: The business model is very simple. There are so many websites around with a loyal visitor base that are in a great position to sell branded merchandise — for example shirts or mugs with logos or slogans on. However, a lot of webmasters are slow to get involved because they don't want to handle large quantities of stock, can't afford the startup costs, or are reluctant to manage distribution etc. Spreadshirt allows these sites to enter the merchandising market without any startup costs or risk whatsoever. A site owner simply signs up for free with Spreadshirt, uploads a new design to the Internet, chooses some high-quality products on which to place those designs, and sets a markup price above our base price. A shop is automatically created which the webmaster can integrate into the rest of their site by pasting a few lines of code. Spreadshirt handles payment, delivery, customer service etc. And the webmaster simply collects the revenue generated from sales. For example, a number of rock bands have used the service to sell their own range of t-shirts to fans. Sites can make very good profits by simply investing the hour or so it takes to set up a shop. Torsten: What about the company's name. When I first heard about it I thought of the phrase «spread the word, spread the shirt». Was that pun intended? Larry: It's partly a pun on the term «Spreadsheet» but you're right, the «spread the word» angle is an important part of the message. Of course many companies use our products simply as a marketing tool to get their URL known. Even setting up a shop to hand out free shirts to customers can have huge benefits for the PR of a site. Torsten: What are your responsibilities as the UK and Ireland Marketing Manager of Spreadshirt? Larry: Obviously my key responsibility is to attract as many shop partners to use our service as possible. Spreadshirt already provides merchandise for over 50,000 sites across Europe and we're keen to reach the same figure in the UK and Ireland as quickly as we can. Within that role, I'm responsible for online branding, advertising, managing pay-per-click campaigns etc. As well as targeting site partners, we will look to attract corporate partners such as hosting companies with whom we can work together to offer our service. Torsten: Spreadshirt is German based company which is expanding its operations worldwide. How do you communicate with headquarters? Larry: I'm in regular phone contact with headquarters — Skype is my favourite at the moment. And of course email and instant messaging are key tools. When necessary, I can fly direct into Leipzig from London in ninety minutes so it's not too inconvenient. Torsten: You might have heard that Germany is facing dramatic changes of its social and economic systems. One of the major current challenges is to create new jobs especially in the Eastern part of our country. People like you are exellent example demonstrating that it is indeed possible to offer new services and products that can be marketed worldwide. What would you say is the key to success when it comes to establishing an Internet business? Larry: Yes, in many ways, the economic climate in the east of Germany is similar to the situation here in Ireland in the early nineties, where unemployment was very high. In Ireland a blossoming IT sector — largely thanks to US multinational investment — played a big part in improving the economy and in Germany now there are many thriving young IT companies like Spreadshirt. I think the key to Spreadshirt's success and its phenomenal early growth is the clarity of its business model. The benefit to Spreadshirt's clients (mostly website owners) is very clear — they can provide their customer with quality merchandise without incurring upfront costs. It's the same with any online business whether content or e-commerce based. If you provide a product or service that fulfils a customer need, you are in with a good chance of succeeding.   http://www.spreadshirt.com/us/US/About-us/News-2104/newsId/8 http://www.spreadshirt.com/us/US/About-us/News-2104/newsId/7 Louisville - November, 15 2004 - Your favorite t-shirt with self-designed printing was never so easy, quick and economical: with Spreadshirt Designer, the online t-shirt machine, individually designed t-shirts can be designed and on the way to impatient customers in just a few clicks. With an incomparable selection range of over 35 t-shirts, shirts, tops and jackets in all colours, choosing won't be easy, but the results are certain to please. With even more freedom in the interactive setup: endless text on the front and back of your shirt, combined with hot designs. Perfect for stag nights, hen nights, birthdays, family reunions and more. Show your pride with your city, your birth year, or, for the less creative, your name. A large selection of fonts and colors available, you set the size you want. What's more, customers benefit from Spreadshirt's service with shipping within 24 hours and the right to exchange and return. Psst! Pass it on...there's an attractive affiliate program available with generous commission rates for products sold. This way, website owners can partake in Spreadshirt's new service. Spreadshirt Designer UK is a new service from Spreadshirt GmbH, based in Leipzig, Germany. Founded in 2002, the company has become the market leader in Germany for micro-merchandising individually printed textiles/merchandise. Over 25,000 customers have already used Spreadshirt's services. Fuelled by winning the HP European Award for business innovation, Spreadshirt is furthering its international goals in the UK and France. The short version: The online T-Shirt machine Do it quick: create your own t-shirts with the creative, interactive Spreadshirt Designer. First pick your favorite shirt, top or jacket from many colours, then put your own text in a trendy font and add a hot design. You're done! Shipping within 24 hours, the perfect last minute gift. Need inspiration? There's always a new "Shirt of the Week". www.designer.spreadshirt.com www.spreadshirt.com  http://www.spreadshirt.com/us/US/About-us/News-2104/newsId/7 http://www.spreadshirt.com/us/US/About-us/News-2104/newsId/6 Leipzig, Germany -  July 29, 2004. Micro-merchandising specialist Spreadshirt won the "Business Vision Award" from Hewlett Packard (HP) Germany. In the view of the jury, Spreadshirt is the "most imaginative, creative and successful small business" of the competition applicants. "Spreadshirt was chosen especially for the innovative business plan and intelligent usage of information technology" raved Regine Hohsbein, jury member from HP Germany. "This business shows that good ideas can create business success even in challenging economic environments."   http://www.spreadshirt.com/us/US/About-us/News-2104/newsId/6 http://www.spreadshirt.com/us/US/About-us/News-2104/newsId/5 Leipzig, Germany - March 18, 2003. The merchandising specialist Spreadshirt has taken on the fan merchandising areas for the Internet portals Tiscali and Bravo.de and the aid organisation Doctors without Borders. These new key customers strengthen the position of the Leipzig business as the market leader of finished products of Internet-based merchandise. Spreadshirt takes care of all aspects of fan merchandising from production to shipping and payment. Clients make a commission for products sold. Since May 2002, Spreadshirt has provided a service to allow website operators to setup their own merchandise show with minimal effort and no cost. This function has served many well. The start of April should bring the 5,000th registered shop partners, says company founder and CEO Lukasz Gadowski. The clever system: Every homepage operator can start a free, personalized merchandise shop in just a few minutes. Articles for the shop include quality, name-brand textiles, mousepads, cups, underwear and caps that the shop owner can design and with logos, texts, photos and more by uploading a graphic file. When a visitor buys something from the shop, the shop owner earns the commission that can be set without limits. All operational services: printing, shipping and payments, are taken care of by Spreadshirt. Spreadshirt Shop Partners can let their creativity run free. Many respond to current trends. "If I want to know what people are into, a quick look at the shops lets me know", says Lukasz Gadowski. "Political shirts, current events are always relevant", says the CEO. With a high product quality, standard 48-hour shipping, competitive pricing, reliable and accomodating customer service, the company expects that its shop partner rate will more than double by the end of the year. http://www.spreadshirt.com/us/US/About-us/News-2104/newsId/5 http://www.spreadshirt.com/us/US/About-us/News-2104/newsId/4 Leipzig, Germany - October 2, 2002. With accolades and a prize award of €2,500, the Leipzig Internet merchandising specialist Spreadshirt has won the first round of the Saxony IT Founders Competition futureSAX 2002. The jury selected from 19 submitted entries based on an application and a 10 minute presentation. The experts - business consultants and IT specialists - found Spreadshirt's business model one of the three best business ideas in this year's competition. In the following second round of the competition, the SET (Saxony Development for Telematics reviewed the entrants. Spreadshirt Founder Lukasz Gadowski: "We wanted to use the second round to show how well the business idea is implemented. The nomination is a great success for the team". The prize money will be used in furthering Spreadshirt's services. Spreadshirt started its unique e-commerce platform in the beginning of May. This software allows private as well as commercial businesses to quickly and easily market to their website visitors and to improve their popularity and turnover. With commission payment at the start, there are no costs or risks. The smart system: anyone interested can set up their own free shop for personalized merchandise through the Spreadshirt platform in just a few minutes. The product selection includes textiles and caps in a number of colours that can be printed to meet the ideas and tastes of the shop owner. For every purchase made, the shop owner makes a commission. Spreadshirt takes responsibility of all operational functions: printing, shipping and payments. Since May, over 1,800 website users have already registered for a Spreadshirt shop. About Spreadshirt: Spreadshirt was founded in the beginning of 2002 in Leipzig, Germany. Founders are one student from the Graduate School of Business Management in Leipzig and a master's degree holder in electrotechnology with experience in new economy technology. Currently, Spreadshirt has five employees. For more information about the futureSAX competition, please visit www.futuresax.de   http://www.spreadshirt.com/us/US/About-us/News-2104/newsId/4 http://www.spreadshirt.com/us/US/About-us/News-2104/newsId/3 eipzig, Germany. 06.05.2002 - The online merchandise specialist Spreadshirt started its unique e-commerce platform at the beginning of May. This software allows private as well as commercial businesses to quickly and easily market to their website visitors and to improve their popularity and turnover. With commission payments at the start, there are no costs or risks. The clever system behind it: Anyone interested can start a free, personalized merchandise shop in just a few minutes. Articles for the shop include quality, name-brand textiles, mousepads, cups, underwear and caps that the shop owner can design with logos, texts, photos and more by uploading a graphic file. This can be a favorite design, quote or comic. Shop owners set commissions for each product, and earns that amount for every visitor's purchase. Password-protected entrance to the platform gives owners information on the orders and earnings statistics and lets owners modify their shop and products. The operational functions - from ordering of print on-demand textiles, to shipping and payments - lies in the hands of Spreadshirt. The automated Internet platforms guarantees smooth work process, especially important for textile print companies. For customers this means: quick processing (within two workdays) and a high level of success. After a thorough test phase with a handful of partners, including web enthusiasts binichsexy.de and dotcomtod.com, Spreadshirt is certain that there will be positive response to commercialisation on the Internet and will be ready to expand the merchandising potential. Even Lanu, the new-economy sceptic and operator of dotcomtod.com, is impressed: "The shirts are so soft that I don't need softener anymore. And after 30 washings, the printing looks as good as new." About Spreadshirt: Spreadshirt was founded in Summer 2001 in Leipzig. Founders and Managing Directors are a student from the Graduate School of Business Management in Leipzig and a master's degree holder in electrotechnology with experience in new economy technology. Currently, Spreadshirt has five employees and is partnered with two printing companies. http://www.spreadshirt.com/us/US/About-us/News-2104/newsId/3