Springwise New business ideas

Creator of Big Brother looks to crowds for new reality shows

Several years ago we wrote about Reality TV in a Booth, which gave South African consumers a chance at instant stardom, and now Dutch media entrepreneur John de Mol is tapping the crowds to find the...

Pressed leaves transformed into disposable dishes

When it comes to entertaining and special occasions, eco-minded consumers can be torn by two apparently conflicting desires: the need to be green and the easy clean-up made possible by disposable...

Online music lessons taught by the artists

There's nothing like a great song to inspire music fans to want to learn to play it themselves, but doing it right is rarely easy. Enter Now Play It, a UK-based site that offers video instruction...

Retailer helps tweens make their own clothes

Last year we wrote about Ridemakerz, a store that lets kids create their own toys in Build-A-Bear fashion, and now there's a DIY equivalent for tweens focused on fashion. Fashionology LA is a...

Limited-edition lingerie, sold online & made to order

Planned scarcity is a well-known tactic for enhancing a product's appeal, and a German web retailer is taking that strategy to the max with its new collection of strictly limited-edition...

M&M's Faces takes gravanity to another level

Back in 2003, we wrote about M&M's personalization service, which lets customers pick colours and have texts and logos printed on M&M's. As we pointed out, it's a great example of mass customization....

New no-frills chic hotel chain opens in Amsterdam

Aiming to bring affordable luxury to modern travellers, a new hotel brand just opened its doors at Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport. citizenM (the M is for mobile) is targeting guests who view design as...

Health and wellness shop focuses on seniors

Around the world, the number of people aged 65 and over is expected to almost double in the next 22 or so years, going from just over 500 million now to just under a billion in 2030, according to the...

Wind charges phones at Glastonbury Festival

When revellers at the UK's Glastonbury Festival 2008 later this week need to recharge their mobile phones, they'll have a free and green way to do that thanks to a charging station being set up at...

(Air) bed sharing for a fee

Travellers to distant lands have long had the option of "couch surfing" for free through the likes of couchsurfing.com, but now a paid alternative from AirBed & Breakfast gives hosts an additional...