Pursehooked

There goes our idea...

The venture represents an unexpected turn for the 51-year-old New Jersey native and general contractor, who spent much of his life building restaurants in Southern California and houses in Montana.

Shamlian has exchanged dusty work sites and meetings with subcontractors for glitzy retail trade shows and sales trips to frilly boutiques.

“I'm used to dealing with dirty guys all the time, and here I'm dealing with beautiful women,” he said. “It's amazing. It's fun. I'm truly loving it.”

The business is particularly baffling to some of his buddies in the construction industry. “I say that I'm dealing with purse hooks, and they think I've fallen off the deep end,” Shamlian said.

He estimates that he has sold more than 10,000 hooks, and says the business will generate $1 million in revenue in its first year. The hooks are priced from $21.95 to $39.95.

Anita got one of these a while back as a gift from Yurp and we thought it'd be interesting to consider starting a business making and selling them in the US where they seem virtually unknown. Apparently it wasn't such a bad idea.

I'd recommend one of these to anyone.