Eldridge Back on the Scene

James Eldridge, who previously made up half of the Springdale-based handmade furniture manufacturer James+James, has joined another startup venture hoping to capitalize on the social media platform Instagram.

Eldridge, 26, told the Northwest Arkansas Business Journal he has acquired a minority ownership stake in a company called Instapparel.

Instapparel.com is a website where users can log in with their own Instagram account and design custom shirts using their own pictures.

It is the idea of Tyler Carroll of Siloam Springs. Both men studied at John Brown University and Carroll owns TC Screen Printing, a company he started in 2010 in California.

The shop opened a Siloam Springs branch last year. Instapparel, Carroll said, began as an outgrowth of the company in the summer of 2012.

“At first glance, it’s such a promising company with such a great hook,” Eldridge said. “It is so very specific. It’s Instagram users, of which there are about 180 million. That is a great, strong market and we’ll take it.”

In early October, Eldridge sold his half of the furniture business — James+James LLC — to company founder James Smith for an undisclosed amount.

The two college friends launched the venture from a garage in Rogers in January 2012. By the end of 2013, James+James was collecting more than $100,000 in revenue each month, from a 7,800-SF facility on West Randall Wobbe Lane in Springdale.

Several media organizations, including CNNMoney, took notice of the company’s rapid success.

“I was blessed that it was such a positive thing for us,” Eldridge said. “There’s always a strange dynamic that occurs when there are two 50-50 business owners. There just came a time when we had different directions we wanted to take the company. I was thankful for everything we had done together, it was just the right time for my wife and I [to exit].”

After selling his shares, Eldridge paid a visit to Carroll in November at Carroll’s screen print shop in Siloam Springs. Until then, he had never heard of Instapparel, but was immediately intrigued, so much so that he bought in as a co-owner.

As the company’s chief marketing officer, Eldridge believes he has latched on to another small idea that will lead to booming business.

From Nov. 1 to Dec. 31 last year, Eldridge said Instapparel sales increased 110 percent over the previous two months.

“We had orders in December from seven states and three Canadian provinces,” he said. “That was really cool, that we couldn’t just pin it to any one specific area. They were from several different areas.”

Growing a Business

Eldridge attended John Brown University but didn’t graduate. “Either I failed the school system or it failed me,” he joked.

He said his experience at James+James taught him that his passion for all things entrepreneurial could be poured into growing a business.

“Providing a service and doing it in a way that people want to return to is what I absolutely love,” he said. “Whether it’s this or other ventures I am involved in, my passion is for creating a strong business that has real value to the customers. That’s something a lot of companies tend to leave on the wayside when they are providing a product or service. They think if they are providing a product or service, then they have done their job. But what customers are returning for isn’t necessarily a product or service.”

Here’s how it works. Instagram users log in to the Instapparel website with their name and password to design their product.
Instapparel currently offers 100 percent ringspun cotton T-shirts, V-neck shirts and tank tops in several unisex styles and sizes.

All orders are printed and shipped within 24 hours of payment. Customers generally receive their order between two and four days after shipping, Eldridge said.

Orders placed are printed in California, but starting Feb. 3, that process will take place at TC Screen Printing in Siloam Springs.

The majority of shirts are priced at $22; some are $24. Shipping is free anywhere in the United States.

Also on the website is the Instapparel Marketplace, which offers entrepreneurial types, professional photographers or aspiring artists the opportunity to sell their own shirts to others.

Production, fulfillment and shipping is all handled by the Instapparel team.

“All they need to do is create their account, design their shirts and refer sales to their unique URL,” Eldridge said. There are 46 individuals who use the Instapparel Marketplace, with more than 600 shirts to choose from.

Instapparel also recently partnered with Springdale printing company Moxy Ox to offer users the ability to build a 12-by-18-inch poster of their pictures, as well.

Eldridge said the company’s expectations for 2014 are to expand its market reach throughout the U.S., while staying headquartered in Northwest Arkansas.

And as Instagram continues to grow — it has evolved in just three years from an iOS-only app to a massive social network with Android and web presence — the market for Instapparel is only going to increase.

“I’d like to see us ship orders across the pond,” Eldridge said. “We have that ability and there are Instagram users all over the planet.”