January 29, 2019

The day Kmart stole my design

Back in 2012, I designed a stool I called the HS650. It was a tribute to the old workshop stool found on curbsides around Australia during hard rubbish collection. I wanted 4 stools all the same and proportionally more generous, so I set out to design all the details I desired

Through this design process, I created a stool that was inspired but still unique and this stool was coined the Hunt stool by many. I didn’t realise my desire for a stool like this would be shared among so many and I quickly found a market or rather the market found me. Retailers contacted me to see if they could sell them nationwide which was beyond my expectations yet amazing.

HS650 - 2015 by Hunt Furniture

This went on for a few years and sales of the HS stool range went well. Very well, in fact, I was selling over 100 per month and over 10,000 stools were out in the design ecosystem. Then came the first of the bloodsuckers, Alibaba. There were numerous Ali shops selling My stools using my pictures and my name. At first, I was a little flattered but tried to get them removed.

2015 the first Denfair a great design fair in Melbourne and Hunt’s first design fair. I was approached by a lot of companies but one I remember was Space to Create and 9 months later (via another long story) they release their copy they called Spice stool.

Spice stool Space to Create

I was red with rage! This was a copy. They even copied things I did which were personal, but design wise a little ill-advised. I approached them and they told me they could do as they wish as I wasn’t protected. They were right

Then came Kmart Australia. Their design team approached me at another design fair where I quickly realised and moved them along. Then came what I can only imagine is their bestselling furniture product of all time. Their $25 knockoff of my stool I mean $25!!! What is a boy to do?

HS650 stool by Hunt Furniture

Kmart $25 stool above

I started receiving calls from my suppliers saying customers are claiming they can get these from Kmart for $25. It was at that point that I lost ALL my retailers. I went from selling 100+ per month to maybe 5. I took legal action. When after several legal discussions Kmart’s legal team and my lawyer told me I had no case as my design wasn’t protected so no protection, no case and Kmart would just crush me if I decided to go further. Now I get to see something that I spent years refining and thinking about become a huge hit for someone else.

Now they are pushing ads of my design to me in my insta feed. Kmart is truly the destroyer of Australian businesses. Thanks for reading all this. I’m still designing a little wiser but forever damaged by this experience. This happens to so many designers here in Australia and when it comes to furniture that course of action doesn't usually end well for the little guy.

47 comments

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