GET READY TO SWAP! BLU DOT BRINGS BACK ITS SIGNATURE SWAP MEET
Blu Dot invites creatives of all types to trade their talents, ephemera, and deeds for the modern home furnishing company’s designs
Minneapolis, July 14, 2021 – A tattoo of a Blu Dot Field Lounge Chair; a daily, handwritten letter from a new pen pal; a meat smoker in the shape of a hog – these were just a few of the accepted submissions from Blu Dot’s 2020 Swap Meet, an online celebration of creativity that is being brought back this summer. From July 16-30, Blu Dot invites anyone across the U.S. to offer a swap in exchange for a Blu Dot design. As always, the sky's the limit when it comes to swaps – and the weirder the swap, the better.
Blu Dot is constantly striving to inspire a more creative way of living through good design that is good to everyone. It was in this spirit that Blu Dot first held its own Swap Meet in 2011, which reflected the company’s scrappy beginnings over a decade earlier, when the then-nascent brand often bartered goods and services to get the business up and running.
Then, when the world found itself in lockdown last spring, Blu Dot realized there was no better time to bring back Swap Meet and tap into all the pent-up energy of their creative community.
The challenge was thus put out: offer talents, objects, artwork, collections, and beyond in exchange for any Blu Dot design – from a vase to a desk to a bed to a sofa. Over a thousand submissions – from the wacky to the heartfelt– were received, with around 70 accepted swaps, adding up to nearly $100k in Blu Dot designs awarded.
“We had such a fun time bringing back Swap Meet last year – it was a great distraction and creative outlet from the isolation that we were all feeling during quarantine. We loved activating our creative community and connecting with our customers and fans on a such a different level,” says John Christakos, co-founder and CEO of Blu Dot. “We were overwhelmed with the outpour of ideas and loved every minute of reviewing all the amazing submissions. We’re ready to bring it back this summer and can’t wait to see what people bring to the table!”
How It Works
Hopeful swappers can use an entry form on https://www.bludot.com/swapmeet and upload a quality photo of their swap with a short description of what makes it worthy of the Blu Dot design they want in exchange.
From there, swaps will be uploaded to the official Instagram account @bludotswapmeet with captions pulled directly from submission text. Likes and comments only help a swapper’s case, so shares across their own channels will help further the buzz.
Christakos and his co-founder Maurice Blanks will once again personally review all swaps live on @bludot IGTV on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday nights from July 19 - 30 and announce accepted swaps on the spot.
More information on the Swap Meet can be found at https://www.bludot.com/swapmeet.