By Lauren Reskin, Sweat Records

Years ago while flipping through an issue of indie/chick magazine Bust, I noticed an ad for a site called BuyOlympia.com.  It looked cute so I logged on and found a great online store filled with items all originating from Olympia, Washington.  It immediately clicked a gear in my head that said “Miami could totally use a site like this.” Happily, that site is now a reality. SweatShopMiami.com launched on March 10, 2011, nearly six years to the day that Sweat originally opened.  Our Knight grant enabled us to hire my brilliant friend Emile Milgrim as our online sales director.  No programmers or outside developers were utilized-–we built the site ourselves using Enstore, a new software that syncs directly with the Checkout point-of-sale application that we use in our retail location.

The site launched with over 400 unique items – locally made or released music on LP, CD, and even cassette, books, t-shirts, accessories and so much more. We’re also the exclusive online store for Miami-based musician Otto Von Schirach (his real name!), who’s been a cult figure in the international bass/noise scene for years.  Plus, we carry the full line of Miami t-shirt company Shady Teez who primarily parody iconic images with a local twist (think “Best Bass” on the yellow ticket instead of “Best Buy”), and artist Claudia Calle’s impressive line of men’s and women’s wallets emblazoned with images from her series of Indian- and Chinese-influenced art.

Our main goal for the site is to create revenue for local creatives, relieve them of the tedious chores of invoicing, packing, and trudging to the post office, thereby freeing them up to be able to do what they do best: create.

Anyone interested in having their music/art/items sold on SweatShopMiami.com can email [email protected] to get started with the very simple process.