Title: Shop Listener 2024: Online Stores [music]

Brian Lehrer: Brian Lehrer on WNYC, and now for our last segment today, we'll continue our annual holiday gifting series, Shop Listener. Those of you who sell gifts online are up today. We did brick-and-mortar stores last week, and now if you were locked out last week because you only sell online, now's your chance to call in and promote your business. 212-- this is the other phone number. This is not our donate line. This is our call-in line, 212-433, WNYC. 212-433-9692. What is Shop Listener? Well, in recent years, we've been running this series as a way of giving back to our dedicated listeners. You all support us during our fundraising drives and on Giving Tuesday, so many of you, and in return, we hope that this promotion of your businesses serves as a thank you for all that you do or just for the general principle of trying to support a community, in this case, our community of listeners.

Listeners, it's pretty simple, it's a straightforward invitation. If you own a business with an online element and you sell items that would make great holiday gifts, you can call us right now for a shot to promote your business on the air. 212-433-WNYC, 212-433-9692. We will take your Shop Listener online holiday gift selling calls right after this.

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Brian Lehrer: Brian Lehrer on WNYC, and before we go to the phones, I'm going to remind you that even if you don't get through through, you can list your business. If you're a WNYC listener and you sell any kind of holiday gift, whether it's online or if you have a brick-and-mortar store at our website, wnyc.org/shoplistener, and for the rest of you, of course, the other half of the equation is we hope that you shop from WNYC listeners who post there or call in now. We're going to go to the phone calls here in just a second but this exists online with a map of the brick-and-mortar stores that our listeners are posting, and a list of the online ones.

Listeners, if you want to post your business, you can go there, and if you want to look and go browsing for potential holiday gifts that WNYC listeners are selling as a buyer, it's wnyc.org/shoplistener. Moira in Washington Heights, you're on WNYC. Hi, Moira.

Moira: Hi, how are you doing?

Brian Lehrer: Good. What you got?

Moira: I have Cabrini wines and spirits here at 91 Pinehurst and 181st Street in, I think your neighborhood, Washington Heights. I've missed all the brick-and-mortar calls, so what I've done is, I've created an on air-listener code just so they can use my website starting tomorrow the 4th through Monday the 9th and get a 10% off $100 orders including e-gift cards, and we wrap, and if it's out of our three-mile range of delivery, Uber will give you a quote for that in New York City. I can give you the code if you're ready.

Brian Lehrer: Go ahead.

Moira: L-O-A, D as in dog, U as in until, and then 1-2. 12. Load U12 as is just going on air to the listeners.

Brian Lehrer: For Cabrini wines and spirits. Moira, thank you very much. Stephanie in Fairfield County in Connecticut you're on WNYC. Hi, Stephanie.

Stephanie: Hi Brian. It's great to talk to you.

Brian Lehrer: What you got?

Stephanie: My business is called admissionscheckup.com and basically, what we are is a group of 25 former admissions officers, and students who get this as a gift, upload their application to our website and we have former admissions officers who will critique their application, give them suggestions ahead of that January 1st deadline. A lot of students are going to hear their deferred in mid December and we can give them some ideas about how to make their applications stronger ahead of that January 1st deadline. That's what we do.

Brian Lehrer: That's something to give to a college student's family as a gift. How do people access that?

Stephanie: admissionscheckup.com is the website. We also work with students who are applying to MBA programs, and we've been in business for close to 15 years now, so if you want your application or if you want your student's applications critiqued by a former admissions officer who gives insider scoop suggestions, we are the go-to place. Also, by the way, we have former admissions officers from NYU, Columbia, Yale, UC Berkeley, American University, so all over the country.

Brian Lehrer: Neat. Thank you very much. Good luck with it. Will in Harlem, you're on WNYC. Hi, Will. What you got?

Will: Hey, Brian, how are you? I'm so honored to be on your radio show. I make private wedding podcasts for newly engaged couples. I help document their love story through an audio documentary so they can share it with family and friends via private links on podcast. It's like a promo for the wedding.

Brian Lehrer: Oh that's so neat. A lot of people get wedding videos made. You're making a wedding audio?

Will: Yes, it's about the spoken word and stories that are told at weddings just to document them and let people know more about how the couple met each other and decided to get married. My website is listenwithus.com.

Brian Lehrer: listenwithus.com that's a cool gift for any engaged couples that, I guess give that as a gift from Will in Harlem. Kate on the Upper West Side, you're on WNYC. Hi, Kate.

Kate: Hi, Brian. Thanks for taking my call. I manufacture the most exquisite Christmas tree ornaments and angel tree-toppers on the market. I do sell at Bergdorf's but I also sell online at katekinsel.com, K-A-T-E-K-I-N-S-E-L.com Kinsel like Tinsel.

Brian Lehrer: I was just going to say Kinsel like Tinsel, but it's so obvious that you must have said it a million times already. What's an example? Give me an example or two of these different kinds of ornaments and tree-toppers.

Kate: Well, everything's like a cat or a dog or some kind of an animal. I have an Elton John cat. I have a David Bowie cat, whose body is like hand silk-screened in Tribeca. I have a Felina Kahlo cat, a Catty Warhol, a Roger McGee, a Chien-Michelle-- no. Excuse me. Yes. Chien-Michelle-Barksalot, but they're made really, truly, either the fabric is hand silk-screened in Tribeca or they're made with really, really high end metallic brocades. They're quite exquisite. You have to just take a look and see.

Brian Lehrer: That's awesome. Okay, how do people get in touch.

Kate: They can go right on my website at katekinsel.com Kate, thank you very much. Good luck with it. Sue on the Upper West Side, you're on WNYC. Hi, Sue.

Sue: Hi. Thank you, Brian, for taking my call. I'm calling for a friend.

Seaker A: Oh, yes, calling for a friend. I've heard that before. I'm just kidding. Go ahead.

Sue: No, no, seriously. [laughs] Her name is Satoko Komatsu. That's not my name. She's a Japanese jeweler from the Bronx who's been crafting and selling jewelry since 2015. Having studied jewelry design in Florence. She designs jewelry that's very unusual because her theme is to use Japanese, English, and Arabic scripts, each individually, of course, not in the same piece to create words out of the scripts that the images actually look like the script but they also look like the object they are representing. For example, the Japanese word for cherry blossom, sakura, which she would write out as sakura, is shaped into a cherry blossom. The Japanese syllables or the English letters, cherry would be C-H-E-R-R-Y, and shaped into a cherry. That's the notion. The jewelry is all 18 karat gold-plated, silver, or plated brass. Free shipping is available in the US all the time. The holiday order deadline is December 17th, and she'll be at the Grand Bazaar on December 8th indoors, so if anyone wants to see her.

Brian Lehrer: Yes, that sounds beautiful. How do people-

Sue: It is beautiful.

Brian Lehrer: -contact online?

Sue: Her name is Satoko Komatsu, but because of the Koko, she has it Satoko S-A-T-O-K-O-M-A-T-S-U.com so the codes are overlapping as it were.

Brian Lehrer: Thank you very much. Yes. Glad you called for a friend. [laughs]

Sue: Thank you very much.

Brian Lehrer: Thank you very much. Mike in Brooklyn, you're on WNYC. Hi, Mike. What you got for Shop Listeners?

Mike: Good morning, Brian. Thank you for everything you do for us, including the segment. I specialize in pre-owned high-end carbon fiber road bikes. Folks that are looking to get into triathlons, Ironmans or maybe just weekend rides with their friends and find that their lower-end bike is not doing it for them and don't want to spend a small fortune on some of the stuff that you might find in your specialized Trek or Cannondale store you can pick up from me for a fraction of the cost. [crosstalk]

Brian Lehrer: How do you make them cheaper?

Mike: Well, they're pre-owned so I offer a much lower price point, generally, let's call it 40% to 60% of their original price. Of course, that can vary depending on the age and the cosmetic condition of the bike, but they're all fine-tuned machines engineered for going long distances, and the number of my customers do multi-day, multi-state, even multi-country rides. I had a group of guys that did a ride from New York City to Montreal and it took them four days.

Brian Lehrer: Did you say road bikes, so it's all the skinny tire bikes.

Mike: Yes. I do have some gravel bikes as well but because New York City is mostly paved, not too much gravel going on here, they are mostly road bikes and they generally weigh 20 pounds or less, and it's the same stuff that you would find in Tour de France, Giro d'italia, and some of the other very popular races around the world.

Brian Lehrer: I can vouch through one of the weirdest things that ever happened to me in my life, that you can refurbish a used bike and really make it great. I once had a bicycle stolen from me and then eventually I actually found the guy, and he gave me back my bike when I confronted him. It was in much better shape than when he stole it because he was actually good with bikes and he refurbished my own bike, and since he was a neighbor in an old apartment in another city, so there's nobody in New York out there who's the perpetrator here. He sheepishly gave, "Yes, okay, I took your bike," but it was much better when I got it back. Anyway, Mike, good luck with that. How do people get in touch online?

Mike: My website is brooklyncarbon.bike so instead of .com, it's .bike, and you can see the bikes that I have and look at the size and I have an FAQ page where you can learn more about it. That's really most of it. I'm happy your bike story had a happy ending. Thank you, Brian. Happy holidays to you and to all the listeners.

Brian Lehrer: Thank you so much and happy riding. How about Sheila in Westchester? You're on WNYC. Hi, Sheila.

Sheila: Hi, Brian. Long-time sustaining member of WNYC. So excited to be on your show.

Brian Lehrer: Thank you.

Sheila: I'm the founder of Simply Masala Indian Cooking Kit. We make Indian cooking easy with our pre-measured spice sachets and a simple recipe. You just buy the fresh ingredients and in 30 to 45 minutes you have a delicious Indian dish. It's really a great gift for curious cooks, and those who love Indian food but don't want to buy 20 spices and use just a spoon, like college kids, apartment dwellers, et cetera. I did this actually for my daughter when she went to college and wanted to cook the occasional Indian meal but didn't want to buy those big bags.

Brian Lehrer: That's good. I'll bet there are a lot of people out there who go to Indian restaurants or order in from Indian restaurants. Yes, I'd like to do that, but I don't know how to do that. What's the web address?

Sheila: Web address is simply masala.com simply as in simply and M as in M-A-S-A-L-A simply masala.com, and we're also a social enterprise with a mission to support STEM education for underserved kids, which is my passion.

Brian Lehrer: That is great, Sheila. Thank you. We have time for one more on the air, then I'll tell you how to post your Shop Listener place online. Kate in Inwood, you're on WNYC. Kate, we've got about 20 seconds for you. Go.

Kate: Wow. Thank you so much. I love your show. I listen every day. I have a small sock company this night. I design them. They're knit in North Carolina. They're really soft and comfortable, US grown cotton, a little touch of nylon lycra, so they keep their shape well, and the band that's comfortable stays up flat toe seams. I have a little stand at the Union Square Holiday Market right behind the Chess Players across from Whole Foods. Then I have an online store which is thisnightsocks.com and my top selling sock is a pigeon sock, followed closely by squirrel socks.

Brian Lehrer: Pigeon socks and squirrel socks. Give the web address again?

Kate: Okay. It's this, T-H-I-S N-I-G-H-T, socks, S-O-C-K-S.com I'm so grateful to be on here. [chuckles]

Brian Lehrer: Thank you so much.

Kate: Thank you so much.

Brian Lehrer: So grateful that you called. Listeners, our Shop Listener project continues. We'll do at least one more call-in, but in the meantime, it's an online thing. If you are a WNYC listener and you sell holiday gifts, go and post them. Post the contact information and everything at wnyc.org/shoplistener, and that of course, goes for the listeners as well who just want to shop. Go browsing at wnyc.org/shoplistener, and maybe you will find a holiday gift to give to someone or to keep for yourself.

From the WNYC listener buying from a WNYC listener, thank you, thank you, thank you for your calls and wnyc.org/shoplistener is where that lives. Thank you also for all your Giving Tuesday donations today. I'm very happy and frankly surprised to say that during that last segment, we did hit the max of a thousand donors during the show today, so all $20,000 that our generous supporter offered at $20 per donation got taken. Thank you to whoever you are, anonymous generous donor, and thank you to the thousand of you who donated this morning for Giving Tuesday here on WNYC. Obviously, we hope you continue giving if you haven't yet through the day, but thank you, thank you, thank you, Brian Lehrer show listeners for supporting WNYC, and hopefully, other nonprofits on this Giving Tuesday.

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