Former Sales Director Takes On Belkin
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She was once the darling sales director of Belkin now Mary Henderson (formerly Pateras) is set to compete against her former employer with a smart range of designer bags, cables and iPod accessories.

 

And to top it off some of the gear is made in the same factories as Belkin gear. The big difference is that the new range from Geek IT is smart, designed in Australia by Mary and her graphic designer husband Richard and manufactured to an extremely high standard.

Belkin who known for being “vindictive” have refused to comment on Geek IT and their new product range. Or the fact that she aims to compete against them in the USA.

Currently talking to additional distributors the Geek IT gear seen by ChannelNews and SmartHouse is among some of the smartest we have seen for a long time. The cables are custom designed with bright coloured connectors and grey white cable. The bags are stylish and well made.

“The gear we are designing is just as likely to sold, by a fashion store as it is a technology store. It is trendy and designed to appeal to people who want quality and something different. We are more like a Prada or a made in Europe offering than yet another mass produced bag from a Targus or Belkin and this is why

we are different.  Our bags ooze passion and personality” said Mary. 

And when it comes to passion, Mary Henderson, the CEO of Geek It Group has it in droves.  The former ANZ Sales Director at Belkin and Retail Business Manager at Tech Pacific before starting Geek It Group,  understands that retailing is not just about the dynamic of retailing, it’s as much about  the passion to

succeed and to strive higher than your opposition.

 

Launching her new range of laptop bags and accessories, which she co-designed with her artistic director husband, Henderson says that there has already been “strong interest from major retailers to stock the products and is in negotiations with a major tech retailer to stock the range and has aims to launch the range in the US next year”.

 

And in terms of other channels, as the one-time head channel strategist at Belkin, she says that “The online side of our business is something that I am developing as we have a very consumer focus”.

Henderson says at present she is looking for partners to distribute the laptop bags, although she is at pains to point out that she wants “the right partners”.

 

Which is just as well, as she says that, “all of our clients are marketing departments”, and adding that, the range is “a fashion accessory, designed for professionals and those who value style and functionality and those who want to compliment they way they feel”?

 

“I’m going places”, is one current phrase that comes out of the Geek IT catalogue, which says Henderson describes who preferred customer base “perfectly”.

 The initial range is currently available nationally through Myer/Grace Brothers, which includes some very stylish leather-bound all-black laptop bags designed to fit laptops of all sizes. There is also a range that is designed specifically for the MacBook Air range and a series of bags specifically designed for women,

with enhancements like a make-up compartment.  And new range will be out in early 2009.

According to Henderson, “women in IT are the ultimate orgasm”, underlining the fact that those with XX chromosones tend to be very much overlooked (or at least under-appreciated) in the male-centric IT world.