I am excited to announce that Knives and Stones is launching the US operations. It has been a lot of hard work at the background to pull it off, but it is finally a reality. Our website www.knivesandstones.us is now live and you can place your orders now (but please do read the next sections).
Reason of launching US
From the very beginning of K&S, I am supported by my fellow KKF members who mostly are from the US. From then, reputation starts to build up, and orders are streaming in. However, given Australia is not necessary a place that ships things easily, the overhead for K&S is astonishingly high.
That is only the small part, where it matters most is the lack of serviceability. Things do sometimes go wrong, and when an order is lost, damaged, defective, or even as simple as the customer doesn’t like it, the cost of shipping it back to us is prohibitively expensive. Along with customs issues, potential damages. In short, being on the other side of the world from the States, it gives the core customers of K&S a sub-optimal buying experience which is not how I want K&S to be.
As a result, I started to work on the possibility of setting up the US operation, at least have someone that ships the knife locally, be able to handle returns and repairs smoothly. Being physically in Australia, it is not an easy task and has taken much longer than I expected, but hey it is finally here
What happens next
Our small operation is based in Brooklyn, New York, and at this stage it is only a online business. Simply because online is our model of business, and we currently have no plans to expand into retail. The US offerings will be slightly different from K&S AU as the stock is adjusted based on my understanding of the US market, as well as the current capacity of our US office.
The initial offering will be somewhat limited however it will expand as we build up our local stock. While some rare, expensive items may still be shipped from Sydney, we aim to stock the absolute majority of our products locally. Returns will be handled locally as well, while repairs will be either be done locally or shipped back to Japan from our US office.
How to order
As of today, the new website www.knivesandstones.us is now live and taking orders. Given the site is not extensively tested, and stock level may not be as accurate as I hope for, please excuse us if your order runs into problems. Please do email or PM me here if things went wrong.
At the moment this is pretty much a soft opening, I am on my way to New York to facilitate the launch, and get things organized. In order to say thank you for your continuous support, and to celebrate the launching of our US operation, we have prepared a batch of special K&S octagonal handle: snake wood with blonde buffalo horn. During the soft opening period, your knife will be upgraded to this special handle absolutely FREE, please see the photo attached. The quantity is strictly limited, therefore I apologize in advance if the handle runs out. (Disclaimer: as much as want the wood to be highly figured, we order them in bulk and the wood figure may not be as “snake” as I would like. In saying they, they still cost a fortune to make and is truly something special).
(Special handle prepared for the launch!)
Handle upgrade will be applied automatically, however if you don’t like it, please let me a know.
As for overseas buyers, unfortunately we are not set up to handle overseas orders yet, since we don’t have access to any good shipping rates. For the first few months we will not be able to process overseas orders, but will definitely look into this when our operations become more smooth.
Again, thanks for your unequivocal support, we look forward to serving you from the vibrant New York City.
For now, please enjoy!