Products |
Cordless LED Table Lamp
By
Published: Sep 19, 2022
Category:
Home
I was inspired by a rhapsodic New York Times article about “The Lamp That’s Taking Over New York” to review the rechargeable Pina Pro Table Lamp. Some of you wrote to thank me — this was the ideal solution for outdoor dining or romantic dinners indoors that no longer required candles. A bargain at $145.
A few weeks later, email arrived from Gregory.
He had invented a similar lamp. It had a heavier base that made more uses possible: “home, office, night light, nursery, bedroom, dorm, bar, camping, BBQ and more.” And a dramaticcaly lighter price: $39.97.
Could he send me one, and in what finish: black, gray, or gold?
I selected a color. He sent a lamp. It’s as good as the Pino Pro, and more versatile. Just $100 cheaper. [To buy Gregory’s lamp from Amazon, click here.]
I was curious: who is Gregory, and how did he come to make this lamp? I got quite a story:
I spent my early years in Connecticut and upstate New York. As long as I can remember, I have been interested in travel, seeing new places, and learning new cultures. In middle school, I got my first taste of adventure when I boarded a plane by myself and went to visit my cousins who lived in London. I was excited and energized by being immersed in a place so different from what I knew. A few years later I joined a group and rode my bike from London to Rome over the course of a month, camping out along the way, eating lots of baguette, jambon, and fromage along the way.
When I went to college in Maine, I knew that I wanted to study abroad. Having studied French in high school, my first thought was to go to France. I clearly remember my father telling me, “France is beautiful, but it’s the old world. Go to China. China is the new world.” I knew nothing about China, but when I got off the plane in Shanghai in August of 2006, I was hooked. The sights and sounds, the smells, just the pure sensory assault that is a megacity like Shanghai — especially in 2006, when construction was booming but the city still retained some of its old-fashioned and otherworldly charm — was thrilling.
I lived and worked in Shanghai for 10 years. I found a career, made friends, and built a family there. All the current geopolitical chaos aside, I have found the Chinese people to be hard-working, honest, loyal, and pragmatic. At the people-to-people level, I see very little antagonism or animosity like what is described in the media or on the political level. Only when I watch or read the Chinese media do I see or feel any anti-American sentiment.
Working in sourcing and procurement in the textile industry, I spent a lot of time in factories. I have been impressed with the improving efficiency and quality over the years. I have watched the conditions in factories improve and seen the average monthly wage for workers increase from less than four hundred dollars to now nearly one thousand. I have watched low-end manufacturing leave China in search of lower labor costs and less restrictive environmental and regulatory controls (see Vietnam, Indonesia, Thailand). I have seen the effects of the trade war up close, no less the destruction to America’s image abroad that Trump wrought.
In 2021, with the pandemic raging, I was looking for a new side gig, a way to learn a new skill in the age of the internet and e-commerce. Seeing the huge and growing power of Amazon as a platform, magnified as it was by the pandemic and millions of people spending more time at home, I did lots of research. I came across a cool and useful product and decided to give it a shot using Amazon’s FBA program for third-party sellers.
The lamp you hold in your hands is the result of many months working closely with my manufacturer on the materials and the colors, upgrading the battery capacity and the LED light panel, and making sure the manufacturing process was top notch and ethical. To put it briefly, it comes down to 1) great design, 2) high-quality feel, and 3) cordless portability so you can take it anywhere. And it’s much more affordable than the Pina Pro, so you could use the money left over to do something kind for someone in need.
Love the story. Love the lamp. And love the idea of using your savings to light a dark corner of the world.
