This is my dream.
I would love for every department store to have a small but special area for new brands. Brands that bring interest and “chatter” to the stores are very valuable in these days of social media and the delicate and exciting area where retail and e-tail cross. We all like to find special and new things that feel like we have discovered them, just for a while. Sharing these exciting new finds is fun, and the Instagram journey that can follow is sometimes magical.
So why are we at Sheridan&Co always hearing how difficult it is to either meet the buyers, and to be “bought”, or when this has happened and the excitement is on for the launch date, why is it then such a bumpy and scary entrance into store? Why when these small brands are in store after the launch date, does the system forget to re-order, and re-plenish these products? The owners of which have thrown every penny on line, and sometimes more, to realise their dreams.
We are always reading in the press that the Millennials are entitled and lazy, but not the one’s that we work with, or whom work for us. A harder working and more determined tribe we have never met. These are people who are investing their own money into brands, and for a long way down the path to success, all of their own money. They are for the most part dedicated, educated, and learning more every day. Always happy to share and collaborate, to encourage each other, and to hold each others hands when needed, they are an impressive bunch.
So often we hear that for the sales to happen within the store that has chosen to sell their goods, that they have to stand in store all for every opening hour, or risk sales not happening, or they have to pay for an agency member of staff, who are sometimes brilliant, but sometimes indifferent. This often puts the day to day running of these often one “man” brands at risk. How are they meant to get their on-line orders out if they are standing in a store? If only there could be a dedicated new brand section so that each brand owner within the Special Care Brand unit could help each other, and maybe even this could be an Apprentice Retail Sales training scheme, so everyone benefits. This is what I would like to see for these “baby brands”.
We spend a lot of time talking to them, and are always over-whelmed by their determination, and innovation. Sometimes we meet them a little late upon their path to world domination, when they have already set off at top speed without any directions, and we then are privileged to be entrusted to help them with their retail strategy, the point when they often say that they wish that they had come to see us earlier. Other times, they come to us when their dream is a tiny seed – and then we can give them some gestational guidelines. Always fun.
We have lots of friends that we like them to meet – maybe someone who has done something similar years before. Perhaps, if it is an embryonic food brand, an expert such as Monique Borst, or a brand that it interested in retail activism and buying ingredients directly from the farmers, wherever they are in the world, we would tell them to get in touch with Barb Stegemann who buys her perfume oils straight from whoever she wants to support with her next fragrance (the last country Rwanda for their Patchouli Oils) http://www.the7virtues.com for ideas.
We share a lot, and we have great friends and contacts that share a lot too. Collaboration and learning is an essential part of a new brands learning, and we have loved seeing people further up the brand chain help the fledgling brands, either with time or advice. When we had our own retail space The Study on Blandford Street for five years to share with other brands, either for a product launch or a pop up shop, we had so much fun and learnt so very much about being on the street, with the shop door open, always with something different on offer from one week to the next. Our Little Shop of Health twelve participating brands are all still flourishing, Dana Elemara of Arganic Oil (now stocked, amongst other independent stores, in Marks and Spencers top 140 stores), Ella Woodward of Deliciously Ella, Alexandra Dudley of Punch Foods Super Seeds, and Rahi Daneshmand of Virtue Drinks are all thriving, and are all still in touch supporting each other on their journey. We also showcased brands such as Asceno (formerly Beautiful Bottoms) run by Lauren Skerritt and Poppy Sexton- Wainwright who we have since seen stocked in Selfridges, Liberty London, Fenwiks of Bond Street, Saks Fifth Avenue and some of the greatest boutiques and department stores around the word.
Image, Ella Woodward of Deliciously Ella
Image, Dana Elemara of Arganics
Image, Lauren Skerritt & Poppy Sexton-Wainwright of Asceno
Our wonderful stores have their own big picture to draw, and their margins to meet. Just maybe they could save a few square feet somewhere visible for these smaller brands. To give them what they need before they can survive on their own. Special care.
Julien Sheridan, CEO & Founder
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