Piper Gellman ’13
On May 22nd, the Mountain Lakes Future Business Leaders of American and Mr. Cosgrove’s Economics class ventured to Scranton, Pennsylvania for an inside look into e-commerce. We had the great pleasure of learning about business from an expert who lives right in town. Mountain Lakes resident Marc Lore owns his own e-commerce business that is geared toward the everyday needs of people, especially new moms, with his corporation Quidsi.
Quidsi CEO Marc Lore with his daughter and Mounatin Lakes FBLA President, Piper Gellman
Quidsi is an online platform that offers customers access to different “virtual stores” including toys (yoyo.com), pet supplies (wag.com), home furnishings (casa.com), bath & beauty goods (soap.com), and their original site, Diapers.com. On the way to the factory, the students received a comprehensive and dynamic lesson about creating and managing a successful business. Mr. Lore also provided a graduate-level business lesson on the way home regarding a possible pizza venture.
At his multimillion square foot factory, we were able to see the extreme efficiency of the business, partially attributed to its status as the most technologically enhanced factory in the world. We were mesmerized by the hundreds of neat Kiva robots that moved the inventory from the warehouse to the packaging staff to those who ship the goods. In fact, thanks to the Kiva robots, the entire process from a customer’s click to the final packaging for shipment takes only twenty minutes!
Although not everyone on the trip will become a business executive, before we make our next online purchase, we will know exactly how that product went from one man’s business idea, to his factory, and finally, to our homes.