Etsy Acquires Grand St.

Etsy is acquiring Grand St., a curated marketplace that connects independent hardware makers with buyers. It's a sort of Quirky-Kickstarter-Etsy mashup that according to Etsy CEO Chad Dickerson shares Etsy's vision "the way making is changing." Co-founders Amanda Peyton, Joe Lallouz and Aaron Henshaw will join Etsy, but will continue to operate the Grand St. marketplace in the near term. Visitors to Grand St. have three options for getting their hands on the hardware under development by indie designer/sellers: preorder an item under development; beta test an item; or purchase goods that have made it to market.