Retail
If you’ve ever thought about starting a business with your best friend, you’ll love the story of Hudson Grace. Hudson Grace had its humble beginning as the brainchild of best friends Monelle Totah and Gary McNatton in San Francisco in 2012. A fusion of their distinctive design sensibilities and extensive retail experience made for fertile soil to grow their brand, eventually selling Hudson Grace to Crate & Barrel in 2019.
The patchiness of the market’s attendance highlighted that what the big box buyers want and what the new class of interior designers want is diverging in a major way, forcing some brands to pick a lane
Macy’s smaller stores feature elevated fitting rooms with larger spaces, lounge areas, full-length mirrors, and selfie moments, creating an inviting atmosphere. The rooms also offer “styling carts” that help customers explore the latest trends from head to toe and provide a seamless and personalized experience.
“In Style and On The Money – Start with Art” featuring Lola Sanchez and Courtney Porter will take place Saturday, October 14, 2023 at 2:00pm at The Point, on Commerce Avenue, one block from the Transportation Terminal, High Point, NC.
Consumers who wanted to shop in-store sometimes and online at other times forced retailers to become omnichannel, offering their wares through brick-and-mortar stores and e-commerce sites. But omnichannel is not enough. Consumers increasingly want to shop in the “phygital world,” where technology speeds and improves the in-store browsing and buying experience.
Online shopping and cheaper, faster shipping options have facilitated the rise of DTC brands, and with online shopping continuing to grow, it makes sense that DTC would grow, too.
In a survey conducted by consumer experience and insights firm WD Partners last year, more than 71% of respondents said they shop secondhand at least once a month. Some 11% do so daily. (I’m thinking most of those folks are collectors or resellers themselves; some might be people with shopping addictions.) But another 26% shop secondhand weekly and 33% do so monthly. Their reasons vary: Some like the fun of seeking out “treasures.” Others want to save money and still others like the sustainability of buying used items or, in the parlance of auto dealers, preowned products.
Wanting to create a store that draws local shoppers back again and again as they refresh their decor or pop in to find a special gift, interior designer Shaolin Low has opened Woven by Shaolin in Kailua, Hawaii.
We’re also seeing a generational shift in how people view shopping and buying. Why is this happening? Because the older generations were accumulators and the younger generations, well, not so much. we have a generation of accumulators shedding their belongings and not restocking. And we have younger generations who are less interested in shopping as sport and more worried about the environmental impact of their purchases. Oh, and they have relatively fewer financial resources than some previous generations at the same point in their lives.
Justina Blakeney posting by sofa and bookcase in first Jungalow pop up shop