67 days ago
Jonny Sport luggage is making its retail debut at a beautiful new clothing and accessories shop on N. Mississippi Ave. named Jet.
I walked into Jet a few weeks ago carrying the Everything Bag, and there I met Jennifer Thomas, clothing designer and one of the Jet owners. Not only are Jennifer’s designs fun, stylish, comfortable, and bicycle friendly, like Jonny Sport, they are designed and manufactured right here in beautiful Portland, Oregon.
The other wonderfully convenient factor in having Jonny Sport luggage retail at Jet is its close proximity to the Rexall Building and Lot 13, home to the Fresh Pot, Mississippi Records, Stereo Reclaim, Moxie Rx, and the small and ever evolving stage and garden where the third annual Puppetstock will take place this summer in 2010.
To all of our friends, family, neighbors and cyber-community, we wish you all a happy and healthy new year.
Sincerely,
Rachel Elizabeth and Dan Revel
Jonny Sport
— Rachel Elizabeth
news, marketing
307 days ago
I am recently back from my ladycation. It was my first trip ever away from my baby. He is 5 now so it was about time. My 3 pieces of Jonny Sport luggage and I headed south to Santa Barbara to meet my friend, the ornamental horticulturist and beverage professional extraordinaire, Peggy Boston. For three days we wandered around the Santa Barbara area and toured amazing gardens (and a house and a building too) by day and in the evenings we enjoyed a fabulous selection of wines, spirits, lovely food, great company and even 3 nights of tranquil sleep in a clean reasonably priced, unscented, and very comfortable hotel, the Avania Inn.
The highlight of our garden tour was Lotusland. This is an incredible 37 acre botanical wonderland. Reservations are required so check out their website and read the brief bio of Ganna Walska, the polish Opera singer and socialite who purchased the estate in Montecito, CA that is now Lotusland. Now I think I’d like to read her autobiography, There’s Always Room at the Top.
To keep my entry brief I am compiling a list of places we visited and posting photos at the end.
As a vegan/pescatarian eating on the road can be a bit tricky but I did some research at Powell’s Books in Portland before I left town and found a great travel guide, California Healthy: The Adventurer’s Guide to Local Delicacies, Fine Wine, Great Walks and the Good Life. This book made my vacation even better as we ate exclusively at small, local places like the Chamomile Cafe, in Carpinteria, and the Sojourner Cafe in Santa Barbara, . Being from Portland and having access to great coffee, I find it important to seek out a good coffee shop when traveling. I had my daily espresso and local people watching fix at the Coffee Cat, 1201 Anacapa St.
On our last day in Santa Barbara, Peggy and I had the good fortune to have a mini-spa experience at the Biltmore 4 Seasons Hotel. We enjoyed swimming in the heated saltwater pool and walking around the grounds of the Spanish Colonial hotel built in 1927 and hanging out with 2 other lovely lady friends of Peggy’s from San Francisco who just happened to be in Santa Barbara hosting a small conference at the Four Seasons hotel.
Then it was off to Berkeley CA for one night (Peggy and I made it back in time for tapas at Cesar) and San Francisco for one day before hopping on the airplane to Portland.
While in San Francisco I finally got to eat at the Slanted Door at the Ferry Building. I had been to the original Slanted Door in the Mission District years before, in 1995, with Jon (of Jonny Sport fame) and my mom and her friend Ellen and her daughter Mimi. Back then the food was good but on this trip it was amazing; and next time I go I will eat at the bar because it is a little more intimate than the huge but tastefully appointed modern dining room.
I was so full from lunch that even after walking around the mission dropping Jonny Sport postcards at coffee shops, and second hand-mid-century furniture stores, a few boutiques, and a vegan restaurant called Herbivore that I have to try next time I am in the Bay Area, that all I had room for by the time we reached Coco 500, in the late afternoon, was one of Peggy’s Special Margaritas made with organic 4 Copas Tequila and organic agave syrup and lemons and limes. Simply delicious. Peggy works at the bar at Coco 500 as well as at the Moss Room, at the Academy of Sciences. She is as I said, a true beverage professional.
One last story before I leave you with pictures of plants. On my walk (with my luggage) to the Bart Station to take the train to the plane, I was stopped by a couple who were loaded up with grocery bags from a nearby Whole Foods. They stopped me because they were gluing their eyes on my bags. (The Everything Bag and the Weekend Bag) Luckily, I had a postcard to give them and a brief explanation of the still pretty new company, Jonny Sport.
Goodbye for now,
Rachel Elizabeth
1. The term “ladycation” was invented by my friend Nancye Benson of Moxie Rx. Definition: a vacation taken with lady friends.
— Rachel Elizabeth
, travel
323 days ago
Hello friends,
On Sunday, March 29th 2009, Dan and I launched Jonny Sport with a fabulous party at the Cleaners at the Ace Hotel in beautiful downtown Portland, Oregon.
Michael Papillo, Jason Okamato, and Courtney Von Drehle played their original blend of gypsy/ jazz music in what is still an unnamed trio.
My friends Nancye Benson and William Macklin of Moxie Rx cooked up beautiful and delicious vegan hors d’oeuvres, and Dovetail Bakery provided scrumptious vegan cupcakes. Clyde Common provided us not only with sparkling wine and other thirst quenching beverages but with the lovely bartender/local fashion designer Emily Katz.
The extended family of Beckel Canvas Products also graced us with their presence, as did the photographers Grace Weston and Jamie Francis.
The bags and postcards looked stunning on display both in the windows and in the room itself thanks to the early arrival of my friends Barbara Lamack and Jim Kalvalage who helped with the setup.
“History Table”
My only regret is that I did not have time to take photos of the bags on display in the windows, so if anyone out there who came to the launch party has photos of the bags please send them our way!
I also want to thank all of our friends and family who celebrated our son Sorin’s 5th birthday along with the real-time launch of our company.
Lastly, I want to thank Theresa, the very first person to “officially” purchase a bag from us!
“First Customer”
Please revisit our blog soon as Jonny Sport and Moxie Rx are hatching plans to present the the second season of Puppetstock as well as a new, ongoing, live music and fashion event in the garden behind Moxie Rx on Sundays…
Thank you and see you soon,
— Rachel Elizabeth
rachel, news
334 days ago
Use this HTML code in your website or blog:
<a href="http://jonnysport.com"><img
src="http://jonnysport.com/images/js_120x60.jpg"/></a>
to add a link to Jonny Sport’s web site, like this:
Thanks!
— Dan Revel
marketing, dan
358 days ago
or Why we decided to start a Portland-based, exclusively online, luggage and accessories-company.
Some ideas come to you in a flash, others evolve slowly over time. The story of Jonny Sport is a little bit of both.
In 1995 my father-in-law, Bob Beckel, master craftsman, world-class tent maker, and owner of Beckel Canvas Products, located in Portland, Oregon, purchased a random lot of fabrics at an auction. In that lot there was a roll of vinyl “basketball material.” Being a frugal and creative maker of things he set to work making bags and luggage from the material.
I vividly recall walking into Bob’s shop and seeing these bright orange “basketball” tote and duffel bags. Jon, (my future-ex-husband) and I were immediately smitten by the bags and purchased several of them as gifts for our family and friends and for ourselves. Although they were only advertised by word of mouth, the limited production run of “basketball bags” sold out quickly.
My original “basketball bags” have been used almost everyday for fourteen years and counting. Every time I go to the grocery store, the farmers market, the airport, the beach, the bookstore, wherever, the bags solicit attention and questions from everyone who encounters them. After years of apologetic explanations about how the bags are one-of-a-kind-originals, “but please do go visit Beckel Canvas Products, because they make amazing canvas bags and tents”, the idea of resurrecting the “basketball bags” has slowly grown into a full-blown enterprise. It started with a search for the materials and has blossomed into a vision of how we would like to do business.
Our mission at Jonny Sport is to design and manufacture high-quality luggage and accessories that are locally made in Portland, Oregon. All of our products are 100% vegan meaning that no animal products are used in our products.
The other guiding principle of our company is to create a transparent web of relationships with our customers, our manufacturers, material suppliers, graphic designers, photographers, caterer, and the growing list of artists, musicians, professionals, neighbors, family and friends who are involved in our lives and in helping us hatch Jonny Sport LLC.
The last part of my first “official” blog is an introduction to the first three pieces of the Jonny Sport collection: The Everything Bag, The Weekend Bag, and the Kit Bag.
I have worked closely with Kathy Darnielle, sister of Jon Beckel and daughter of Bob Beckel, who now runs Beckel Canvas Products, to produce this series of bags. Jon (who has since passed) would love that the bags are now available to everyone.
Jonny Sport bags are built for the long haul, the short trip, and everything in between. Our close relationship with Beckel Canvas allows us to ensure the quality of our products. Each bag comes with a lifetime guarantee on the stitching.
Last but not least is a word about our “basketball” material. The first series of “basketball bags” was a random and delightful surprise. In the second round, my partner, Dan Revel and I, searched exhaustively to find the perfect material for our bags. I believe we found it. We are an online-only store and you will have to use your imagination when you see pictures of our bags on your computer screen, but my hope is that when you take the plunge and buy one or all of our bags you will be equally as delighted as I was when I received my first sample of this material in the mail. It is the “real deal” basketball material and will be around for a good long time.
If you still need convincing, drop us an e-mail, and we will mail you a swatch.
Thank you and please do revisit our blog to get the latest information and stories about our upcoming products.
Sincerely,
Rachel Elizabeth
President, Jonny Sport LLC
— Rachel Elizabeth
history, rachel
