Wall Street Journal: Deal Décor's New Site Helps Designers Make Bank

Social influence is now measurable, and visible in many forms online, including followers on Twitter, Pinterest "pins," or the classic Facebook friends. But social-media influencers can't always make money from the following they've cultivated, and work to maintain online.

One e-commerce startup, Deal Décor, seed funded by Signia Venture Partners, is launching a new site called Joy & Revelry, to help interior decorators make bank on their social-media influence - and their good taste.

The company sells high-end furniture and home goods with a curatorial approach. It allows designers and decorators, by invitation only, to curate collections from a virtual warehouse of goods amassed by Deal Décor.

"[Designers] don't have access to infrastructure for buying overseas. We have decades of experience for direct sourcing," notes Chief Executive Greg Lok ['04].

Dubbed "style mavens," designers on Joy & Revelry can sell their selections to their followers, without having to run a whole brick-and-mortar store, and without having to create their own e-commerce site.

The startup takes a cut for sourcing all the goods, running all the back-end transactional systems, and helping designers and decorators with SEO and marketing. ...

Gregory Lok '04 graduated from Swarthmore with a B.A. in Economics and Sociology & Anthropology. He is the founder of Joy & Revelry, a "social commerce platform that enables style influencers to introduce their audiences to unique products based on their signature design perspectives."