Monday, February 18, 2008

Nekorifik- The New Cat’s Meow


by: Lucy Halberd

It’s hard enough to find a good neko or grunge themed store in SL, but to find one with a touch of femininity and amazingly fair prices is a whole other ballgame. On January 30, 2008, Lawra Fredrickson did just this for us lost neko/grunge fans by opening Nekorifik!

Lawra first began her venture by renting some shop space in various malls throughout SL, but she soon found that there just weren’t enough prims to house her ever-expanding clothing line. Thus, her newest store location was born! Located in Neo, Nekorifik has an open, welcoming atmosphere from the moment you arrive. The store is set up in such a way that you can see all of your selections right in front of you. No pesky signs or space fillers to get in your way.

When you first teleport to her store, you see a wide open area in which you can sit and chat with your friends. Soon, Lawra will be holding weekend events complete with live DJs and contests! She also hopes to create a selection for those men out there including shirts, pants, shoes, necklaces, and more! Once you step inside, you can see that each item is offered in a rainbow of colors, which she has very cleverly chosen names for. “All of the clothes kind of have a theme....for the names anyway. The names are fruits, kind of silly, but fun! So instead of colors, I call them 'flavors'.” I jokingly asked Lawra what happens when she runs out of fruit names. “I've made up some pretty unique fruits on my own already,” laughing for a moment before adding, “Choccoberry and pepperberry are two of them.”

How did you come up with the name for your business?
There are so many neko shops where the shop name has nothing to do with neko. I wanted it to be easily found in search.

What made you want to open it?
Well, I started making things for myself first. Then my friends asked me why I didn't start selling them. I hadn't really thought about it until then. So, I rented a few shops at a couple of malls and things started selling pretty well, but you run out of prims and room pretty quickly at small mall shops, which led me to opening this new store.

What audience is your merchandise geared most towards?
I guess mostly neko, which is where it all started, but it seems to be moving towards punk/grunge as well. I think those all kind of run together anyways.

Is it hard to come up with new ideas for your shop?
Not yet! I've got all sorts of ideas floating around; it's just hard to find the time to make them all!

How often do you create new merchandise?
Well, the last couple of weeks I've had something new up every other day or so.

What is your current big seller?
The new hoody I just put out is really popular, as well as the V-neck halter. Hopefully this dress soon! Lol

Do you plan on having any regular specials?
All the time! I love sales!

What kind of sales do you think you'll have?
Next weekend, actually, I have a 1/2 off sale planned and I’m working on a buy one get one free sale once things settle down!

Lawra is hoping to someday offer custom orders and personalization on her items if time allows. She is also toying with the idea of offering a members only freebie once a month to members of her group. If you’d like to join the Nekorifik group for updates and information on her merchandise as well as event notices, you can join one of two ways. Either stop by her store located at http://slurl.com/secondlife/Neo/113/14/31/ and click on the spinning object near the entrance to receive a group invite, or you can simply type “Nekorifik” into the groups search bar and join that way. Another great way to find out what’s new with Nekorifik is to check out Lawra’s blog at http://nekorifik.blogspot.com/.

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