Not sure how many of you have seen this particular product I’ve been quietly behind, the HUPBOX. It’s exactly what you see, a clear shoe box created for both storage and design… although I’d say it falls further to the “design” side of things. I can’t exactly say it has been successful, but that’s fine. I knew going into this project that ultimately I would want to walk away with a learning experience more than anything on a smaller project which would hopefully contribute to a better experience in other projects. Perhaps even prior to even getting involved which I don’t regret, I should have asked more questions by as the saying goes, hindsight is only 20/20. The box concept itself isn’t new and a Japanese designer had previously done one as well for the likes of NORT and even on a pretty big Converse collaboration. But we figured that we could probably bring it to market for cheaper than the price they were offering.

Well let me tell you, the market for a $40+ USD box (not including shipping I might add) is quite small. In our day in age, people aren’t opening their wallets like they used to which nobody needs to announce. Or perhaps I collectively with the two other people that started it haven’t been able to turn dedicate as much time away from our respective jobs as we’d like to focus on it.. Or maybe the real fact is that the timing is off by a few years (too late) due to the current sneaker climate. But, while any new project you enter won’t necessarily face the same questions, the fundamental aspect of asking then asking more and more questions should form the basis of a stronger business foundation going forward. I have no business background and I knew that like many, my first one wouldn’t hit out of the park.

The box itself I can’t fault, the quality and materials are bang on thanks to the awesome work of one of my partners. For a box that’s glued, you would have thought that it was molded and the material quality and thickness is great and makes for a relatively robust product. But when you see the price tag, should we go on to making further boxes I can’t help but wonder if we can maintain (definitely not lower) the price given the inflationary changes in China. Oh yeh, the logo we probably should have toned down to something translucent/sandblasted/white, anything that would not make the logo as visible. I think that this really took away from us being to push as a storage solution cause here you have these branded boxes when people weren’t necessarily looking for that.

At the end of the day I am definitely not choked on embarking on a project that didn’t really develop into commercial success. But I did come away with a greater understanding of the backend of a business. The nitty gritty of logistics and shipping honestly sucks especially in our case due to the weight, fragility and bulk of the boxes.

-Eugene