I know, I know. I didn’t know what a Gocco was either until our founder sent me this NYT Magazine article (thanks, Mike!). Well, it turns out that a Gocco is a Japanese-made screen-printing device that makes it easy for crafters to make things like greeting cards and such. Still confused? Here’s the low-down:

The Gocco is a quick and easy household color printing system. cleverly combining the basic priciples of screenprinting and rubber-stamping, “print gocco” is a clean, easy, and fully self-contained compact system that exposes and prints all in one unit. using flash bulbs similar to those found in old cameras, an original image is thermally imprinted on a master screen. next, colorful prints are made by pressing the ink-applied master screen against a sheet of paper placed on a sponge pad.

The article goes on to say that the makers of the product decided its day had come back in 2005 – much to the dismay of its fans…one of which started SaveGocco.com. And people joined the cause. Thousands of them. They hosted events like Gocco art shows and kept tabs on retailers who had some in stock.

The result? Specialty retailers are sourcing the product direct from Japan (and promptly selling out). And now, even the North and South American divisions of the manufacturer are reevaluating their move to pronounce the Gocco “dead.”

I do love these stories. People can get passionate about the most niched and amazing things. And it’s even better when a company actually listens and responds. It’s been said a ba-gillion times by now, but the people have the power. The great news is that more and more companies are beginning to realize it.

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