[ibimage==47487==Original==none==self==ibimage_align-center]Everpurse, a Chicago-based fashion-tech startup that equips purses and clutches with smartphone charging technology, announced today a licensing partnership with Kate Spade New York.
According to a report by the Wall Street Journal, this move — the terms of which were not disclosed — is indicative of Everpurse shifting away from bag production and focusing on licensing out its fashion-friendly technology. Dan Salcedo, who co-founded Everpurse in 2012 with his wife Liz Salcedo, told Chicago Tribune's Blue Sky that Everpurse is working with 22 unnamed brands.
Blue Sky reported the Kate Spade collection includes a backpack and tote, which cost nearly $400 each, a $198 wristlet, and another tote, which costs roughly $700. According to the report, Salcedo said all items should be available for holiday shopping.
Mr. Salcedo told Blue Sky that Everpurse has collaborated since Feb. 2014 with Kate Spade, which manufactures its products less than an hour from Shenzhen, China — where Everpurse develops its technology.
“What these brands need was basically a very different kind of company than what we had started as, but always wanted to move toward,” Mr. Salcedo said to Blue Sky.
The deal with Kate Spade comes at a time when Everpurse sits in a firestorm of customer complaints due to a lack of fulfilled customer orders, lack of refunds, and lack of communication. According to an earlier Blue Sky report, the Better Business Bureau issued Everpurse an F rating for 17 filed complaints, one of which is still open and was made April 22 concerning an order from April 2014.
In an email to customers on Thursday, Everpurse pledged that customers will be able to choose a wristlet from the upcoming collection, at no additional cost. Or, customers could gain credit toward a different product of the new collection.
Salcedo told Blue Sky that the last year or so has certainly raised questions, though he doesn’t believe Everpurse has taken a hit in terms of potential partnerships with fashion brands.
Beyond that, Salcedo told Blue Sky that Everpurse is focused on showing its customers some much-needed love.
“We’re putting aside a large portion of our inventory to go out and get back these customers who have loved us from the beginning.”
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