Dive Brief:
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Actress Ashley Eckstein took matters into her own hands five years ago when she couldn’t find Star Wars swag that fit with her female sensibility.
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She launched Her Universe, a line of merchandise that caters to female fans of Star Wars, comic books, Dr. Who, and other geeknastic wares.
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The T-shirts and accessories have been a hit with so-called fan girls, with sales doubling in the past year.
Dive Insight:
The success of Her Universe is a demonstration of how money’s left on the table when a solid niche is ignored. While there have always been girls and women who have been higly active fans in the various realms in which geeks dwell, they’ve been largely ignored by the businesses that provide all the peripheral apparel, accessories, knicknacks, gadgets, and gear that go with such fandom.
Even worse, events like Comic Con have gained a reputation as being female unfriendly, to say the least. Now, as more girls attend, that's getting better. And they’ve also come to expect, not just better treatment, but also more businesses to cater to them.