Blockchain Patriots

Launched in October of 2020, usastrong.io features about 80,000 different USA retailers. Seventy percent of their shops are female-owned, and 60 percent of their partners have a charitable arm to their business. They do not charge daily fees, and 90 percent of every sale goes back to the brand owner. Usastrong.io takes 5-6 percent of sales from brands, a cut similar to Etsy and below Amazon, which averages 13 percent. The marketplace is focused on community and building something more than just a convenient website.

The blockchain piece is critical. Made in America is like the Wild West. Anyone can slap a “Made in the USA” label on a ceramic mug, a fleece hoodie or a fragrant candle. Abetting this confusion is that various components of a product could be from different countries. A shirt might have its buttons made in China, fabric sourced from Italy, pockets made in Turkey and sleeves manufactured in Tanzania, with the whole garment put together in the U.S. Is that made in America?

Usastrong.io created a process to aid verification. Sellers provide proof that they are local. Brands are encouraged to have a personified owner — no hiding behind corporate veils where ownership can be obscured. Goods must have a limited number of components in order to be better tracked by the blockchain, the verifiable digital ledger underlying cryptocurrencies.

In addition to FaceTiming owners and verifying addresses, usastrong.io has established ambassadors in each state who visit business sites to verify they are local. The system requires cooperation from participants. Usastrong.io, by definition, attracts manufacturers and other sellers who value the made-in-America certification. Alex Mashinksy says it will also license its blockchain technology to other businesses.

The platform’s product list is eclectic, from clothing to honey. Next, the Mashinskys are eyeing wine. “Part of why Amazon bought Whole Foods was for the liquor licenses,” Krissy says. “It’s the next area of disruption.”

Historically, with the possible exception of cars, Americans have approached made-in-America shopping with a degree of ennui. Same goes for buying with the environment in mind. But that is changing. Working at Urban Outfitters for 17 years, Krissy had a window into the popular fashion brand’s target demographic. “Gen Z and millennials want to know how [a good] was made,” Krissy says.

The Mashinskys believe the sustainability boom, plus stories of local heroes, including manufacturers, main-street retailers and home-based businesses, will help drive usastrong.io. Since the pandemic hit, consumers have shown a greater preference for shopping closer to home, according to Accenture. Every week Krissy hosts a “Friday Local” livestream selling show featuring businesses on the usastrong.io platform and featuring the company’s own usastrong.io casual wear.

Not everyone is excited about local and sustainable. The great green movement of the aughts didn’t have a huge impact because retailers often ignore sustainability and supply-chain issues, says Gary Wassner, CEO of the fashion financing company Hilldun. “I don’t think it’s a selling point yet,” Wassner says. “Consumers are ruled by their pocketbook. And right now, we’re focused on other things.” But Wassner did acknowledge that sustainability will be “the norm” for emerging brands.

MaryAnn Wheaton, a former fashion executive who was Krissy Mashinsky’s boss, says that, for usastrong.io to work, “They’re really going to have to build a brand around it. Because you still have the girls who look at a handbag and you say: ‘It’s $3,000! And it’s made in China.’ And they say: ‘But don’t ya just love it?’”

on The Carlos Watson Show!

Krissy was raised in New Hamburg, New York, and attended the Fashion Institute of Technology and Vassar College. She’s spent her professional life in the corporate world. Her drive was evident early on, according to MaryAnn Wheaton, Krissy’s boss when Wheaton was managing agent for the U.S. businesses of French fashion designer Christian Lacroix. “She was aggressive, she wasn’t cozying up to my assistant,” says Wheaton. “She wasn’t afraid. She didn’t care if people didn’t like her. She was going to get the job done.”

Krissy, Wheaton recalls, had a razor-sharp focus. “There was no running to the Chanel sale at Bergdorf at lunchtime, like the other girls. And she had a high energy level that was contagious. I became dependent on her. … If Krissy saw a hole, she was coming through it.”

In the startup game, that’s exactly what you need.

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