You haven’t lived until you experienced a tuk-tuk rickshaw ride in India. “So we are in India right now. I figured hey why take a car service to get to our meeting when I can take a tuk-tuk,” says George Stroumboulis, Ideoli CEO and Co-Founder. No shocks, no air conditioning, no seat belts… No problem.
Dear California, we have arrived! With our new offices, showroom & warehouse. Located in beautiful Newport Beach. Come visit us!
Every retailer’s goal is to draw customers into their stores, right? Well, at Ideoli, we are able to provide our clients with just that. Our beautiful LED rings create the“wow” factor that draws people into their stores, increasing their chances of generating sales. The ring chandelier’s unique design captivates your attention and sparkles from every angle of the retail location. Super excited how our products look and enhance the clients space. With our Ring Chandeliers being such a hit at our client’s prestigious New York Flagship store, we were invited to install our LED rings in their locations across the Middle East. It’s very promising seeing what we’re doing over here and the reaction our clients have. Makes it all worth it. Not only do our clients love it, but the customers love it too! Here’s what they had to say about the ring chandeliers. I love it, I’d love it in my home. It’s beautiful. It’s very ‘wow’. Elegant and stunning. It makes it look very classy. They were beautiful and it’s a focal point of the store. It’s the first thing you notice when you walk in the store. It’s clear to see how a stunning focal point lighting fixture can make a big difference in a retail store’s appeal. At Ideoli, we can raise the elegance and interest in any store with our LED ring chandeliers.
Ideoli has been expanding aggressively into new markets since it was founded. To help guide our growth we created a board of advisors with a group of extremely knowledgeable individuals. One of our advisors is Grant Whitmore, a digital media specialist living in New York City. “Hi, I’m Grant Whitmore, I’m an EVP of Digital at New York Daily News. I live in New York and I’m a board of advisor at Ideoli. Grant has worked for some of the world’s largest media companies driving results in a competitive industry. I’m the Executive Vice President at New York Daily News, I’m responsible for everything that we do digitally for New York’s biggest newspaper. I’ve seen a young company get its, figure out their production model. Figuring out how to acquire customers has always been something that’s been super interesting to me, it’s great to see these guys get such a working start.” Grant is the epitome of professionalism and business acumen, helping Ideoli move in the right direction. “One of the things with young companies is really trying to figure out what are the best things to focus on and being on the board of advisors for Ideoli, I think we’ve got a great opportunity to help George and Chris and the rest of their team figure out where there are great opportunities, helping them to clear hurdles that they run into. Cos it’s a very complex organization, it’s multinational in nature. Ideoli has the ability to deliver really high quality product, much much more, as a result of how they manage their supply chains and I think that that’s going to be a huge differentiator for them. And also there’s the fact that these two guys bring such a great energy to this and bringing forth outstanding relationships throughout the entirety of their eco system is going to help them.” Grant has made an immediate impact on our team and we’re extremely excited to have him on board. I’m really really lucky to be a part of this, it’s an honor to be a part of Ideoli and I know that they are going to be tremendous.
In order to impress your clients, you need to give them 110%. If they ask you to jump, you need to ask them “how high”! George, can you believe this guy? “I can’t stand these cheesy clichés, Chris”. Tell me about it! Jumping to keep the client happy is not enough in our world… of course not, to keep our clients happy… we don’t jump. We freaking fly! And never bother to ask them in the first place… we just do it! Maybe we show this guy what we mean? Ideoli is all about going above and beyond what is expected from their clients… and from the industry. So when it comes to our clients, we do everything that is imaginable, possible and needed, to exceed their expectations. And to do this, we believe in 5 simple principles to amazingly-awesome customer service. 1) DON’T BE AN ASSHOLE! We hate assholes. Whether they are on our team or on the client’s team, life is too short and too beautiful to deal with them on a daily basis. So, when we are confronted with true assholes out there, we simply remove them from our equation. 2) BE RIDICULOUSLY CREATIVE! If you can think of it, then we can create it. And if you don’t have the exact vision of what you need but have an idea, then integrate us into the brainstorming process early on. We have an international team with the engineering, design and marketing capacity to knock your socks off. It’s what we do! 3) SHOW AND YELL, NOT TELL! Show and tell is fun and effective, but Ideoli prefers to engage in “Show and Yell”… as in, show our clients what we can do for their product needs and then have make them yell with joy and satisfaction from what we deliver. 4) DON’T F*** UP! Easier said than done. F***ing up is part of the process and life… its inevitable. But when we mess up at ideoli, we are obsessive about taking immediate, effective corrective action at all lengths to correct any issues that may take place. We are passionate about that. 5) HAVE THE BEST MILKSHAKE! If you are really good at what you do, your milkshake should bring all the fans to the yard… (and we’re like, its better than yours)! We believe our milkshake is good enough to get the right people’s attention. But once we have your attention, we work hard to listen to our prospects, create products that convert them into clients, and do everything to keep them invested and engaged. From jumping on a 15 hour flight to grab a beer with our clients, to traveling to the other side of the world to help oversee an installation project. Whatever it takes! Wherever it takes us! That summarizes our simple principles when it comes to impressing our clients.
Ideoli has been experiencing tremendous growth with international brands. To help guide our growth we created a board of advisors with a group of extremely talented individuals. One of our advisors is Allen Kieffer, a legend in the retail construction arena. Allen got together with our content team to tell us what he’s all about. “Hi, I’m Allen Kieffer, I am a Retail Development Consultant with Crazy Results LLC. I live in Ventura, California and I’m on the Board of Advisors for Ideoli. Allen has helped drive the success for some of the world’s largest retail brands. Semi retired from Guess Jeans two years ago and decided to go to France for a year, tried studying culinary arts for a kind of a gap year and when I came back I started up consulting; kind of organically. So at Guess I was there for 12 years and I was Vice President of Retail Development, where I oversaw the design for all of their stores worldwide, the construction of the stores in North America, their sourcing and their facilities management; so it was cradle to grave.” Allen has previous experience working with Ideoli’s co-founder making this advisory role a natural fit. “What they do differently is they’re not out solely to make money and to turn a quick client; they’re out to make relationships, to keep those relationships, strengthen those relationships and take them on however they need to go. My role helping Ideoli will be to help with sourcing but also help give them ideas, help guide them in different directions if they come up with an idea, to help bounce ideas back and forth.” Allen has made an immediate impact and we are extremely excited to have him on our team. I couldn’t be more excited to be part of Ideoli because there is limitless possibilities and with the two of them putting things together it’s fantastic and you know; I couldn’t be more flattered and I’m looking forward to a long tenure with Ideoli.
Ideoli is expanding quickly across several international markets. To help guide our growth, we created a board of advisors with a group of extremely impressive individuals. One of our advisors is Robert Peck, a Canadian diplomat and former ambassador of Canada. “My name is Robert Peck; I’m a Canadian Diplomat and former Ambassador. I live in Ottawa, Canada. Robert has worked with prominent heads of state and continues to be a catalyst for positive change throughout his career. I was Ambassador to the Hellenic Republic to Greece and I was Ambassador to the People’s Democratic Republic of Algeria.” As the Canadian Ambassador in Greece, Robert helped Ideoli’s co-founder with his entrepreneurial initiatives. “We became friends and as I watched him do all kinds of new things, particularly Ideoli, I thought wow! Anything I can do to help someone like him succeed I’m pleased to roll up my sleeves and get involved.” Robert has tremendous communications experience in the political arena on an international scale. “I hope that I can be helpful in terms of connecting the company with important stakeholders but also bring some understanding about what it means to do business in the international environment. And I think that the company to me conveys an image of cutting edge, something that is not a cookie cutter; and brings that really innovative dimension to lighting. I’m very very impressed by what the company has achieved. I know that it’s by dint of hard work, tenacity and getting out there and hustling. Business is tough in a globalized economy, and that’s why that energy, that enthusiasm is that much more important to succeed.” Robert has made an immediate impact on our team and we are extremely excited to have him on board. I am absolutely delighted to be on the board of Ideoli and look forward to working with its great team in the months and years ahead.
Ideoli is back on the road with our clients in Orlando, Florida. We have been working over the last several months conceptualizing, designing and fabricating a truly unique decorative light fixture for a nationally-recognized retailer. Today we are on site to receive the shipment from our factory and oversee the installation process – making sure this showcase piece is properly presented. Ideoli founders, George Stroumboulis and Chris Hartswick, always make it a point to be on site with the client during the first-store installation. Their dedication to making sure the client’s vision is realized, is their top priority and the foundation of the business they created. The client envisioned something on a piece of paper and left the rest to us. After months of renderings, prototypes and adjustments, the team agreed on the final design and we rolled into the production process. Having our fixture be the focal point of an 8,000 square foot retail space is truly exciting and humbling. With a custom design, imported quality materials and an advanced LED color-changing system, this diamond will help drive more attention to the store, generate interest from potential customers, and help with increasing overall store revenue. That’s what it’s all about.
Technology! We love it because it makes us wiser, faster, responsive and more productive in our personal and professional lives. When it comes to finding and procuring new interiors for your commercial spaces, the internet is the best place to start your search – helping give you design inspiration, conduct price checking and become more knowledgeable on specifics to help narrow down your options. But what happens when you need to buy large quantities of fixtures, furniture and lighting products from international sources? We often hear of procurement professionals saying they logged on to a popular website known for finding foreign manufacturers of anything and everything – and negotiated a very cheap price and use this as the driving factor to proceed further. But when a reputable manufacturer presents their products and technology to the same procurement professionals, they are hit with “I can buy this for cheaper online” or “I have a direct email relationship with the foreign manufacturer” or “you are simply buying from the same supplier and adding a markup”. At ideoli, when we are confronted with these comments, we always advise them to proceed with caution and wish them best of luck!
We are passionate about creating things and invigorating spaces… but we are also very passionate about invigorating the communities we live in. Ideoli’s team was tasked a while back to pick a series of charities that we can get involved with to help make a difference, and that is what we did. Today we are on site at a local church in downtown Manhattan. We are preparing lunch for the homeless and doing it as a team. Invigorating your community is something we started, and it embodies us being able to appreciate what we’re doing as a company and be able to give back to the community. “I think that what we’re doing here today is very important, I think that a lot of people don’t know that there are a lot of homeless people and a lot of people that are not homeless, they actually have homes, but they may not be able to afford a meal.” “Invigorate Your Community” is an initiative we started to help impact and influence those around us. At Ideoli we really want to venture out into the community; we want to have a community footprint the same way we have an international footprint. Getting out there especially as a team, bonding as a team and giving back, there’s nothing better than that. “Coming from what is considered to be a third world country, I’ve always felt the need to give back to my community; which is why I’m very proud that Ideoli is commencing talks to give back to my hometown of Mexico. It is really important to support the local society because when it comes to business it is not only about making money but also supporting your local community and the people.” We are actively working on some projects where our products will contribute to this initiative and help several communities along the way.
Ideoli is global. With business, partners and associates in every imaginable part of this planet. We have associates working with us located from the USA to Vietnam, Argentina to Greece, Ireland to Mexico… and everywhere in between. If you are looking to join a progressive team of crazy – passionate professionals, then get in contact with us to discuss.
We’ve taken our time to launch Ideoli to the world. This past summer, we hosted our official reveal show in the heart of New York in an upscale studio. Ideoli’s dedicated team came together to design, fabricate and install the optimal space where we could showcase who we are. We invited our friends from the retail, design, distribution and specification community to come and experience our space. Our 4 business pillars were on display – furniture, fixtures, lighting and showcase pieces. Each with examples of products we have designed and developed on display. Being able to show our partners what we manufacture with actual samples on hand was truly beneficial. We hosted happy hours in our space and created an environment for our peers to network (and drink) in. There were also fun activities on hand where our friends competed for prizes and bragging rights. We were able to introduce our Board of Advisors to our partners to engage in further discussions. The reveal show was a tremendous success and Ideoli is looking to create a full-time studio where partners can stop by at any given time to see the latest projects we are working on. Thank you to everyone who came by, showed support and engaged in our interactive space. Ideoli has officially been revealed… onwards we go!