Initial conversations with @garrixonstudio went well, as their lead sales guy Joe D was very personable and easy to talk with. I called him out of the blue, told him the idea and he was curious…I explained the concept as bespoke 1 of 1’s - almost like a ‘Nike ID’ approach - same soles, same materials, slightly different graphics (based on Ape features). It sounded like he understood the ask and promised a discussion with the design team the following week to see what they could provide.
A week or so later, I called him back and he started off the conversation by telling me that after our initial discussion he googled my name and found a couple of articles on @yahoonews and @footwearnews with my name on them so he knew I was serious and he knew I was capable of providing whatever it was that they needed to help bring our vision to a reality. And, more importantly, he told me that the design team would be able to get it done. Success!
A month after initial contact - on September 2nd - we received a Garrixon Sales Proposal and request for payment - $3k for our first sample. Although this sounded a bit high, I was high on the idea that we could get this done…and they promised a 6-8 week turnaround, so I figured we’d have something to at least *promote* by Christmas. So I paid the invoice immediately, signed the contract, sent it off and crossed my fingers.
I should have known something was off when I received an email a week later asking me if I was going to sign the contract…
(I'm taking a break for the weekend...I will resume the story on Monday)