Etsy’s Handmade Label Now Includes ‘Artisanal’ Factories

Etsy, the online marketplace for all things handmade, got its start in Brooklyn 11 years ago as a quirky alternative to anonymously and cheaply produced goods. It was personal and artisanal, a crafts fair of the obscure and mundane. Among the millions of items for sale: a taxidermied Siberian weasel, a vintage Underwood typewriter modified to work as a keyboard, and T-shirts that say “I Can’t Adult Today.” Four years ago, the New York company was certified by the nonprofit B Lab as a B Corp, which means it considers social and environmental pursuits as important as financial ones.

Now Etsy is listed on the Nasdaq stock exchange. It calls itself a tech company and its sellers “creative entrepreneurs.” And it has Silicon Valley-size ambitions. Etsy executives are no longer content to oversee a cheery outpost that stands aloof from the e-tailing mainstream. “Our mission is to reimagine commerce in ways that build a more fulfilling and lasting world,” says Chad Dickerson, who was promoted from chief technology officer to chief executive in 2011. “We don’t want what Etsy is doing to be a marginal niche effort.” What Etsy is doing, he says, is humanizing each piece of the supply chain, including manufacturing.