Mar.11, 2014
The Yorktown funeral director who opened a 3D printing business to bring joy to the community, has been blessed in return. Business for Mini 3D Me has been so successful that owner William La Pierre is opening his first 3D printing store.
William LaPierre, owner of Clark Funeral Home, entered the world of 3D printing last year. William La Pierre is a second generation funeral home owner who has lived and worked in Yorktown, NY his entire life.
Many people wonder why does a funeral home owner own a 3D printing business, to scan the deceased? "Mini 3D Me has NOTHING to do with his funeral home business, we enjoy making figurines of the living ONLY (lol)." said Chelsea Waller, a spokeswoman for Mini 3D ME.
"William has always had a passion for technology and computer before he ever got into the funeral business. This is where he got the idea to start a second business that brings a more positive light into the local community." said Waller.
La Pierre uses the Artec scanner and the 3D Systems ProJet 660 printer to create mini life-like figurines of people. "These tools allow us to capture unimaginable details in our figurines. For example, facial hair, tattoos, jewelry, clothing stitching, clothing wrinkles, clothing's buttons/zippers, hair, accessories, etc. are all distinctly pronounce on all of our figurines." Waller said.
Since last year, their business has expanded to making wedding cake toppers, portraits, and shadowboxes. "we have now expanded into making indoor store signs for large companies. We landed our first large gig with a well-known company, but cannot release their name until the project is finished. For this particular job we are printing three signs, totaling 24 letters, that will be on a wall display in their office lobby. Each letter is being printed individually and we are even printing attached brackets for easy installation." Waller said.
Mini 3D ME has been in business for four months and has been going to trade shows to pitch the company. "What did the public think of 3D printing and your service?" - "We have the model dress in the same outfit they chose their mini me to have and the public is fascinated on how life-like our product is." Waller said.
"They absolutely love that if there are visible buttons they not only can see them, but feel the actual bump of the button on the figurine. We also landed our first celebrity client, Aviva Drescher from The Real Housewives of NYC. She was absolutely blown away with our figurines and order a 6-person 3D family portrait, plus two figurines for her book launch party."
Mini 3D ME's new store will be open in April. "We chose our store location to be in Yorktown, NY. William, our CEO, has been a resident and business owner in Yorktown for over 40 years, it just didn't feel right to start this business anywhere else. In addition, Westchester County is a heavily populated county with a lot of foot traffic for our store." Waller said.
Posted in 3D Printing Services
Maybe you also like:
- What Berlin needs to foster innovation: First 3D printing café opens its doors
- Pinla3D makes life-size 3D printed replica of yourself for $28,500
- 3D printing bikes on Taiwan's streets turn old plastic into 3D printed objects
- ProtoCow offers instant quotes for home 3D printer owners
- ALPrint's app gets skiers bespoke 3D-printed ski boot insoles
- HEMA becomes first major Dutch retailer to sell 3D-printed jewelry
- Maplin's first airport store at Glasgow will feature 3D printers
- First 3D printing shop in Bremen aims to scan and print the whole city
- Another 3D printing intellectual property dispute
- Build & 3D print your perfect gaming mini with Hero Forge
3Ders.org provides the latest news about 3D printing technology and 3D printers. We are now seven years old and have around 1.5 million unique visitors per month.
