Website:  http://www.rickshawbags.com/

 

Year Established: 2007

 

 

Rickshaw is a San Francisco-based bag company inspired by the creative energy of our city, urban cycling and an intense desire to make great products. We started Rickshaw to satisfy our own personal passion for bags. We know how people love their bags. We think it's cool–if not kind of weird–the way people grow attached to their favorite bag as though it were a pet or loved–one.

 

We also love city living–the excitement, diversity, creativity and culture we experience in a fast-paced metropolitan environment. With access to art, theater, music and restaurants, there's an energy that pulses through the community. We design our bags for people who thrive on the urban experience and celebrate the creative spirit.

 

We have many years of experience designing and manufacturing great bags and providing unique customer experiences and every product is made to order in our own SF factory. In addition to our passion for bags, we share a strong set of humanistic, environmental and social values that guide the way we conduct every aspect of our business. The name of our company derives from three Japanese characters meaning "human powered vehicle"–delightfully apropos for a company making bags for bicycle enthusiasts, and our metaphor for the strength of the human spirit.

 

Rickshaw: Human Powered Bags.

We have many new products for the urban traveller: a new iPad bag and iPad sleeves (both iPad 1 and 2) our new Performance Tweed fabric that is made from recycled polyester thread and is woven in the US.

 

 

Naming a new company or new product is a royal pain. It seems like all the great names are taken. Some companies hire professional naming consultants, and spend wads of cash researching potential names, and inventing new words. Frankly, we got lucky. We stumbled upon the name “rickshaw”, and were amazed to discover no one had yet staked a claim to use it in our category of products.

 

Most people know what a rickshaw is, but few people know the derivation of the word. The word “rickshaw” originates from the Japanese word “jinrikishaw”, represented by three kanji characters (人 jin = human, 力 riki = strength, and 車 sha = vehicle), which together literally means “human-powered vehicle”. “Jinrikishaw” is a mouthful, especially for Westerners, so it was shortened to “rickshaw”.

 

Legend has it the rickshaw was first invented in the 1860’s by an American missionary living in Japan, to help transport his infirmed wife. The original design featured a two-wheeled cart, seating one or two passengers, drawn by a human runner – an obvious reference to Roman chariots and rural ox carts. Rickshaws quickly became very popular in Japan, and later spread to other cities throughout Asia. With the invention of the bicycle, rickshaws were outfitted with a front wheel, pedals and a saddle for the driver, and the “bicycle rickshaw”, or “pedicab”, was born. Rickshaws in various human-powered and motorized forms are still used today in many Asian cities to transport goods and passengers – and in many cities throughout the world, they serve as novel transportation for tourists.

 

So, for a brand new company, with no corporate history, we at least have a name with rich historical reference. We’re especially fond of the eco-friendly, human-powered connotation, and love the way it dovetails with our own personal values related to environmentalism, social responsibility and sustainability.