Customer Story: Ale from Miduny

Welcome Ale. When and how did you start Miduny? 

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I am an architect by trade. I went to architecture school, and I run alepreda, a bespoke architecture studio in Brooklyn. However, I've always been fascinated by objects and crafts and naturally gravitated toward designing and manufacturing them.

When I first moved to New York, I worked for a large architecture firm for six years. During that time, I rented a small workshop in Brooklyn. It was an urban escape of sorts, to unwind, to experiment with sustainable materials, making objects and furniture, etc.–just as a hobby.

That space was frequented by artists, and we'd often stop by each other's studio to share what we were working on. One of the first pieces I made for my own consumption, the MiMi table, was well-received by my artists/architects friends. So I made a few more and traded them for art pieces.

In 2017, I decided to leave my job and launched my own architectural practice. By then, I had a few furniture designs, and it occurred to me that there might be a market for unique, sustainable, small-batch furniture.

Being originally from Italy, I knew there were a lot of excellent furniture manufacturers, especially outside Milan or Verona, the provinces closest to my hometown. I shopped around in Italy, sharing my ideas with local manufacturers, and eventually found a good partner.

Since then, I've grown that eCommerce business organically, and my batches have increased in size along with it.

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Incredible. So, do you manufacture your products in Italy and ship them to the US?

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Yes. I'll manufacture 100-200 pieces of various products. What's great about manufacturing in Italy, is that under the same roof you'll find three generations of craftsmen, each with unique technological know-how. This allows us, as designers, to tap into the latest technologies as well as centuries-old techniques. The manufacturers I leveraged are family-owned businesses, each specializing in something unique and are dispersed–for example, the finisher–"lustrino" in Italian–is a true master and is very jealous of his process and recipes.  

Once complete, the products are flat-packed in custom-designed boxes, shipped in wooden crates to the US, stored in my Brooklyn workshop, and shipped upon order.

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Doing this + running your own architecture practice must be so time-consuming. How do you do it?

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I do have support, and the activities have synergies. But I've also made a conscious choice to grow more slowly to allow myself to do both concurrently. The other aspect is learning to delegate.

For example, I've designed the website myself, but there's a point where you realize a developer is needed. At first, the hardest thing for me was learning to have faith that the products would keep selling and that I'd be justified to hire help.

And that's why you decided to work with Storetasker, right?

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Yes. I was looking to implement customizations to the website. And my experience was great. What I loved about the process was how quickly I got proposals. By the time I was wrapping up receiving offers from other sites, the desired improvements were essentially already implemented via Storetasker.

And your site runs on Switch Themes, right? Is that a good one?

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I absolutely love it. If you are trained in graphic design, having a rigorous grid behind the layout is invaluable, and the Switch theme provides that. I had looked at many different options, but the aesthetic was essential to me, and the Swith theme minimal approach resonated with Miduny's own aesthetic language. I switched to Shopify when I found this theme. And it was very easy to implement. Launching the site was very straightforward.

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Last question: What's your key to success?

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Really caring about the customer experience and the product.

Being a perfectionist, I want to make sure every touchpoint of Miduny is perfect. And I do receive great feedback from customers on this: When they open the box, the packaging is well designed, the experience of putting together their product is enjoyable, and the final piece is beautiful because the artisans behind it care so much about their craft.

And, of course, that also carries into the web experience. I want to ensure our photography and digital presence reflect our passion for design, craftsmanship, and the handmade nature of our products. And I think in this day and age, people really respond to that.

Ale, thank you!

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