KC luxury watch startup, Niall lands in Tivol stores
June 10, 2015 | Bobby Burch
Luxury timepiece-maker Niall will soon be selling its watches with one of Kansas City’s most prestigious jewelers.
The Kansas City-based watchmaker will start selling its timepieces at two Kansas City Tivol stores on June 18, offering it both exposure and validation, Niall CEO Mike Wilson said. Tivol is the company’s first major retailer, Wilson said.
“It’s huge for us,” Wilson said. “This was a very important step for us because it’s huge validation that someone like Tivol — who’s been around 100 years and only deals with the best brands — has chosen to work with us, a young company.”
Wilson said that Niall’s partner, Salva O’Renick, has been invaluable in helping the company gain traction. Also CEO of marketing and sales tech firm Chemistry, Wilson said that Salva O’Renick has been particularly helpful with getting its products into the hands of consumers.
“One complication was building market validation,” he said. “We had the marketing piece of it, but really the piece that was missing was sales and distribution. People that like Niall would like to see it in a case next to a Rolex or Panerai.”
Founded in 2014, Niall watches start at $3,950. Niall is manufactured in Kansas City, and nearly all of its parts derive from within the United States, Wilson said.
Featured Business
2015 Startups to Watch
stats here
Related Posts on Startland News
KC inventor’s untimely death leaves legacy of fearlessness, unfinished vision
Paul Francis pioneered fitness tech for NASA, commercialized it with Bowflex, then raised $4 million on Kickstarter: How the OYO founder’s unexpected death this month cut his storied entrepreneurial journey short — but left a lasting impression on the people who worked alongside him. Former colleagues are remembering the late Paul Francis as a uniquely…
Pitches and peaches: Hy-Vee awards $30K piece of the $50K prize pie to family-run cobbler company
Denisha Jones sweetened Hy-Vee’s OpportUNITY Inclusive Business Summit and pitch competition this week with her ready-to-bake cobblers. Her pitch (and peaches) secured the $30,000 grand prize. “Every time Thanksgiving comes around, I always crave my grandmother’s cobbler. During the pandemic, I was unsuccessful in finding a cobbler as good as my grandmother’s, so I went…
Meet six newly funded startups Digital Sandbox KC is making more fundable tomorrow
Newly awarded funds are expected to help six more companies scale their fledgling startups past the proof-of-concept stage, said Jill Meyer, touting Digital Sandbox KC’s track record of making startups and their products more fundable once they’re built. “Digital Sandbox KC is one of the Kansas City metro’s rare early-stage funds and provides vital support…
Coming soon: 8 new tech startups set for ‘lucky No. 7’ Pure Pitch Rally spot-cash event
From nutrition to logistics, local entrepreneurs continue innovating solutions that could result in Kansas City’s next unicorn, said Karen Fenaroli. Eight such potentially game-changing tech startups are expected to showcase their ideas next month, she announced Tuesday. The seventh annual Pure Pitch Rally is set to return Oct. 17 at the Burns & McDonnell Global…