Marketplace®

Daily business news and economic stories

E-commerce and running a business 24/7

In a world connected via the internet, small businesses are taking advantage of social media to promote their brand.

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Remark Glass recycles used bottles and glass to create unique molten products like rock glasses and vases.
Remark Glass recycles used bottles and glass to create unique molten products like rock glasses and vases.
Stevie Chris

My Economy” tells the story of the new economic normal through the eyes of people trying to make it, because we know the only numbers that really matter are the ones in your economy.

Even when a storefront closes, social media can still run full steam ahead, and keeping up with the demands of e-commerce is a nonstop job for small businesses. Danielle Ruttenberg of Remark Glass in South Philadelphia says the 24/7 nature of the internet makes balancing life and work a challenge.

“I try to make us be sane about it. We have some automated messages to say, hey, we’re a small team, like, let’s be real, we will get back to you in some human amount of time,” Ruttenberg said.

Even with the difficulties of running a business in person and online, that constancy has allowed Remark Glass to grow. It’s been able to reach more people, and as a result, keep more glass out of the waste system.

“Remark Glass started as a creative enterprise looking at bottle glass as a source, rather than trash,” Ruttenberg said. “And with the shift in COVID, we took the opportunity to redo our website and see if we could strengthen the online sales. We saw an immediate uptick. Everything about it was working for us right away.”

To hear Ruttenberg’s full story, click the audio player above.

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