The Exchange: a print-on-demand squadron store, built API-first 7fb9f03

Squadron stores are coming: hornetbay.com/store — The Exchange — is live today in preview mode with the planned catalog and target prices. The launch lineup: a navy dad cap with the embroidered insignia, all seven embroidered iron-on patches (Carrier Ops Certified plus the six reward badges — collect them all), an 11oz insignia mug, a sticker sheet with every badge, and a navy wordmark tee. Everything is printed on demand when ordered and shipped worldwide — nothing sits in a hangar; checkout, payment and sales taxes run through Fourthwall as merchant of record, so there’s no Shopify and no stockroom.

The whole store is built API-first. A new embroidery-safe variant of the insignia (five thread colors, flat grays) leads a production artwork pack; a product spec defines all eleven SKUs; and a setup script drives Fourthwall’s Platform API — artwork upload, product-template matching, mockup rendering, pricing as base cost plus margin — so the catalog is created by code, not an afternoon of clicking. The storefront page itself is custom headless: it will pull the live catalog from the Storefront API and hand buyers to hosted checkout, all without leaving hornetbay.com. The only missing piece is the shop account itself — once it’s connected, The Exchange flips from preview to open for business. Digital badges and wallpapers, as always, stay free at the quartermaster.