By Starr Miller Ruby Lane is celebrating its 20th anniversary this year. Its story is, simply put, an incredible one. Born at a kitchen table, the now mega giant in the online antiques and collectibles industry is the brain-child of owner Tom Johnson. To fully understand Ruby Lane and its presence in the industry, one must know the story of Johnson – he has more than 33 years in the technology industry, including a position at IBM in their high-end computer graphics division, as well as serving six years as the Technical Liaison at IBM Japan in Tokyo. It was this exposure – along with his great love of 1950s California Pottery – that led to the creation of Ruby Lane in 1998. The company is named in honor of his mother Ruby. “I have a background mainly in technology, coming off a career at IBM,” Johnson said, “but I had a strong passion for collecting and design. In 1998, I was collecting 1950s dishes and found it cumbersome to complete a set. Searching shops online was difficult and often proved fruitless, especially since the Internet was in its infancy. With a desire to help others find antiques and vintage collectibles via the Internet with ease, I worked together with my co-founder to launch Ruby Lane. We began at my kitchen table with nothing more than a single server and couple of computers.” The idea was to create an easy to use online community of shops that showcased only the highest quality antiques and collectibles, making Ruby Lane the one-stop shopping destination. Starting with just one shop, Ruby Lane has steadily grown to host more than 2,000 shops today with an extensive selection of more than a half million vintage and antique items. As anyone who has witnessed the ever-changing tide of technology, Johnson says that it’s been a priority to understand the inevitable in the past two decades of business. “I often tell dealers that I can easily appraise a website by date by just by looking at it for a few seconds, much like they can do with vintage and antique pieces. When we started 20 years ago, there were no smartphones and the size of the best personal computer screen was about a third the size of a computer screen today. Technology changes almost every day, and keeping up with it is challenging for the company, but that’s what we do best so our sellers don’t have to worry about it. We want them to focus on selling their goods.” When asked his opinion on the murmurs of negativity towards the current atmosphere in the antiques industry, Johnson is forthcoming: “As time goes by, people’s tastes, wants, and needs change. Right now we’re in a period where antiques are sort of out of vogue, but vintage is still rather strong. It’s up to our industry now to show consumers, especially younger ones, that buying real antique and vintage is almost always a better value and quality than what is manufactured today, and by doing so reduces the carbon footprint. As with almost all things in decor and fashion, there will be a time when antiques make a powerful comeback, but for now vintage is king.” Johnson knows that his success has been hard-earned – and because of that, he has a plethora of knowledge to share with the new generation that is inevitably on the horizon. “My best advice is to be passionate about whatever you decide to do. If you are drawn to vintage or antique pieces in your everyday life and enjoy the thrill of the hunt, then you are a perfect candidate to sell online. I suggest picking a small niche within the Vintage and Antique space that you know very well, and go from there. You’ll soon discover what is attracting shopper’s eyes and you can focus on that part of your business.” Contact: www.rubylane.com |