Two years after identifying that problem, Zieff officially opened on Sept. 5 the facility he sees as a prime solution. Zieff said Kismet Commerce's 50,000-square-foot space alongside the Massachusetts Turnpike in Newton is the first in Greater Boston to provide workspaces, storage space, and shipping and fulfillment services all in one place -- a much needed offering for businesses selling products online.
"It's performing better than my wildest expectations," Zieff said. Kismet had leased 47 percent of its first phase as of its opening, with tenants including small local businesses and large companies such as Siemens. He has plans for a national expansion.
Rooted Living, which sells granola in compostable packaging, expects that its move from its founder's apartment to Kismet will boost productivity by 30 percent, said Marisa Nieves, chief of staff and project manager. That's because Kismet eliminates many "hoops and barriers," like the time it took to hand-deliver orders to the post office. Nieves said she thinks the increased productivity will free up her time to focus on fund-raising and meeting with retailers.
The building's photo studio is another essential amenity for those selling products in the era of social media, Nieves said.
"It's very seamless and increases our ability to support our customers," she said.
Kismet, Zieff said, aims to meet two unserved demands. First, it provides a storage option other than self-storage units, which often lack electricity, or big warehouses, which can't be subdivided. Second, Kismet's fulfillment staff solves an operational problem e-commerce entrepreneurs face: If they're fulfilling all their own orders, they can never take a break from their business.
For clients who rent storage space, which ranges from 200 to 1,200 square feet, Kismet can receive packages and drop them off in clients' units, said chief operating officer Jonathan Arnone. Prices per month range from $1,500 to $9,500, depending on workspace size and services.
The fulfillment center is integrated with the online shopping platforms Shopify and WooCommerce, so Kismet staff learn of orders and can help package and ship them, Arnone said.
Another Kismet tenant, Wonderfund, is a nonprofit providing essentials like winter coats and hygiene products to kids in the state's child welfare system. Wonderfund receives thousands of packages of donations, especially during the holiday season. Before moving to Kismet last week, the team operated out of an office in Boston, the Massachusetts Department of Children and Family's mailroom, and storage space in Revere.
"It was really disjointed," said Lauren Baker, Wonderfund's founder and CEO and the wife of former governor Charlie Baker. "Kismet answers all of our needs in one building."
Rather than loading up their cars while double-parked on Boylston Street, social workers will now be able to use one of the building's loading docks to retrieve supplies to distribute to kids. Baker said Wonderfund would make good use of Kismet's amenities, from storage and video conference meeting rooms to the dumpsters and free parking.
Kismet's clients can access the building 24 hours a day, seven days a week, Arnone said. Weekend access is a godsend for Wonderfund, which will need to unload 4,000 hygiene kits on a Saturday, said Colleen Walsh, Wonderfund's director of development and communications.
Kismet's offerings will also benefit tenant Celsius Energy, a geothermal heating and cooling company and a subsidiary of the energy company Schlumberger, also called SLB, said Johnny Fry, US country manager at Celsius.
Fry said Kismet allows Celsius employees to plan a construction job in the same place where they store the equipment that they'll ship to the job site, including pumping equipment, hard hats, and safety boots. That's far more convenient than the current setup of renting storage containers across multiple states, far from the offices where planning occurs, he said.