Tag Archives: retail
3D Printing Retail Store Hosts Open House in Denver, CO
Denver, CO, is now one of the first cities to have a 3D printing retail store, joining the ranks of Manhattan where MakerBot held its grand opening in September 2012. Aleph Objects, a Loveland, CO startup founded in 2011 that makes the LulzBot 3D printer, joined forces with The 3D Printing Store and welcomed over 400 people to an open house on February 7.
The Store blogged about the 400 people who swarmed their open house:
People started showing up at 1 and didn’t leave until 7:45 pm. This is additional proof that there is a great deal of interest in how 3D printing works.
Principal Deb Wilcox said, “It was so gratifying to see kids that seemed to know about and people much older wanting to learn more….. whether they were hobbyists, inventors or architects, and we had all of these and more.” In fact, she continued “It was so crowded that some people couldn’t even get up to see any of the 6 printers we had in operation and are making an appointment to come back. We’ll have to do this again.”
At the 3D Printing Store in Denver, customers can select a digital design to print on site, or they can purchase a consumer 3D printer for about $1,725.
Aleph Objects was also recently featured in the Denver Post:
At its Loveland headquarters, Aleph has about 40 LulzBots, each printing parts that are used to build the 3-D printers themselves. The machines, which retail for $1,725, can create objects that are up to 8 inches in length and width and 4 inches in height.
Aleph’s next generation printer, dubbed the TK-0, will take those dimensions up to 12-by-12-by-11. It is an open-source machine, meaning anyone can download component designs to build their own 3-D printer.
A 5-pound spool of ABS plastic — which can create hundreds of objects — costs $100. Other printable materials include nylon, PLA plastic and wood.
Moe said broader adoption beyond hobbyists and tech geeks is not far away as the software to create digital designs gets easier to use and the price continues to drop.
“I think we’re getting really close to that price point,” he said, adding that the company has shipped printers and parts to 59 countries.
Read more about 3D printing goes big with help of Loveland’s Aleph and Denver store – The Denver Post
In the video below, Aleph Objects CEO Jeff Moe takes us on a tour of his company’s 3D printing capabilities.
UK Retailer Sainsbury’s Sees Disruption to Retail in 3D Printing
Sainbury’s IT director Rob Fraser sees a disruptive shift on its way, thanks to 3D printing. Speaking at BETT, the UK’s largest trade fair for education technology, Fraser commented on the potential impact 3D printing would have on retail.
“We have to prepare for the fact that consumers may soon not want to buy pre-packaged iPhone cases of the shelf, but build and design their own,” said Fraser. ”The big challenge is we don’t know what’s coming but we have to prepare for it. Technology is changing at a rate we can’t predict, and if we can predict it, it’s already been established. The technologies we can’t predict will be with us in five years’ time.”
Sainsbury’s Fraser told UK publication V3 to expect more information about its 3D printing plans later this year.
Via V3.co.uk.
Sainbury’s photo by nogger used under Creative Commons license.
Video: 3D Printing and the Future of Personalized Shopping
ReasonTV’s Nick Gillespie sat down with Peter Weijmarshausen, CEO of the New York based 3D printing company Shapeways, to discuss 3D printing, the future of customization, and the economics behind the new technology.
Gillepsie asks Weijmarshausen if we are “in the dot matrix era of 3D printing.” Weijmarshausen explains how 3D printing will shape the future of shopping, saying “you may think this is science fiction, but it’s not.”
“What we want…is not to be about 3D printing, but to be about empowering people to get what they want,” said Weijmarshausen. “We enable people to be involved in the products, and I think they like that.”
Weijmarshausen believes that the growing popularity of 3D printing will revolutionize the ways we shop, giving consumers the choice to customize their products rather than settle for the small number of mass produced goods already on the market.
Watch the video below.
MakerBot Store Grand Opening in Manhattan: Photo Tour and Video
MakerBot held the Grand Opening of their new MakerBot store in Manhattan last week. In the store, they have their latest 3D printers – called Replicator 2 – printing away, they sell the special plastic spools to fit the printer, and they sell 3D printed goods. It’s as much of a showcase as it is a store.
The photo above is of a proud Bre Pettis manning the store. See the full photo tour at Engadget.
Fujifilm Looking to Break Into 3D Printing Retail Market [Video]
Fujifilm is looking to break into the 3D printing retail market with a new line of consumer devices that could fabricate personalized products like jewelry, toys and other home design items. Some printers would be sold to consumers for home use and others would be sold to businesses as in-store kiosk 3D printers.
Michael Mostyn, Fujifilm Key Account Manager, commented on the company’s new direction:
“Fujifilm is also looking to make 3D Printers available for consumer purchase from retailers in the near future, enabling the family and do-it-yourself enthusiasts to produce low cost, high quality finished parts for their projects at home.
“However, consumer printers would not have the capacity to produce all of the customised 3D products that would be available in-store through kiosks or online.
“Although 3D printing has been around since the 80s, the technology has only recently emerged from speciality prototyping markets.
“The principle of 3D printing is similar to ink-jet printing which uses inks applied as droplets onto paper in thin layers in two dimensions (2D).
“In a retail environment, a customer could use a kiosk to create their customised 3D product from a range of customisable designs or even a photograph, place their order with the retailer and then return to the store at a later time to pick up the product.”
In the video below, FUJIFILM showcases it latest technology in iPhone printing from kiosks to 3D Object printing at The Digital Show in Melbourne 25-27th May 2012.
Via buy-n-shoot.com.
