When Retailers Get It Right

I love it when retailers get it right. I love to see the “little guy,” the proverbial “underdog,” succeed. I guess I relate, and that’s a story I would like to tell today.

“Caravan,” a now successful store (actually two stores with a third opening shortly), was founded in 2005. Without a farthing to her name, let alone a down payment for a NY City store rental, and simply no capitol to stock a store, enterprising owner Claudine Gumbel simply operated her business out of a RV. That's right, a recreational vehicle. Her RV was loaded up will all sorts of designer goodies, and parked randomly throughout the city. In short, the store came to you. It promised exclusivity, a valuable commodity in New York, elsewhere too I imagine. The Caravan attracted young women who wanted to shop for a sweet little dress, or silky blouse on their lunch hours with the other girls in the office, but didn’t know where to go, let alone have time to shop during lunch. Shopping is, after all, practically a form of dieting these days. The Caravan became a cause celeb; a social destination; a special “girl’s only” treat during the grueling work week.

Owner Gumbel learned quickly what her customers wanted, and with her already sharp fashion sense, collected site-specific garments based on her customer’s demographics. Gumbel is a hard working, astute businessperson--a waif of a girl, petite, soft-spoken, charming and delectably delicious to look at. She could be Carrie Bradshaw’s doppelganger. Office parties were organized around the caravan’s arrival, sizes were called in advance with specific requests to the innovative Gumbel, who loaded up the truck accordingly. The Caravan was a success--often available for shopping parties, fundraising events and showers. Think of the brag factor around the water cooler, “Mercy, no I don’t have time to schlep to (you fill in the blank), my stylist is bringing me a few things to look at during my next coffee break. Do you want me to ask them to bring a few things for you?” Each week, Caravan’s Web site lists the neighborhoods the RV will be located, making each destination a special event, something special to share with your co-workers, something special to look forward to. It was an immediate and resounding success.

In the time it takes to parallel park in the city, Gumbel opened a store for those of us who aren’t accustomed to mobility. The store has a laid-back lounge feel, DJ booth and ample seating so that window shoppers and boyfriends in tow can rest and socialize. The store is available for private events. Why not hold your 27th birthday in a way cool store rather than your 5th floor studio walkup with rickety old folding chairs? Who knows, maybe your guests sans gift, can all chip in for something super special for you, and you can pick it out, change in the dressing room, and model it for them right there. You’ll be the belle of the ball. Not content with hiring commonly dull salespeople, the staff are really stylists in training, and are well versed in styling for the fashion challenged. It’s a brilliant strategic personnel maneuver! They enjoy dressing customers, and are happy to offer a second opinion. If you don’t see what you want, you need only to ask, the staff will do their best to get it. Gumbel applied her retail savvy and introduced men’s clothing into the mix. Now dreamy-eyed couples can shop together, or smart young women can help redress their sloppy, albeit cute, boyfriends in designer jeans and sexy knot tops to adorn their arms. Gumbel’s equally adorable husband Brian, no relation to the pompous newscaster, is a public relations entrepreneur and one of NY’s best dressed ones at that, thanks to his clever wife. It pays to advertise.

Caravan has some of the hottest, trendiest clothes in all of Manhattan. It’s mostly designer, and provides one of the most complimentary and eclectic mixes of clothing in the city. In this global economy, where fashion immigrates from all over the world, it’s not unusual to find key pieces of clothing from England, Sweden, France, Canada, Thailand, Spain, Denmark, Africa, Brazil, Norway, and even the good old USA. After all, NY is the nation’s melting pot. The store celebrates the world of fashion, and the world is larger than most retailers let on. If Caravan has it, it's smart.

Recently Caravan hosted a standing-room-only fashion show presentation at The Manhattan Pavilion for those of us not invited to the tent shows in Bryant Park (and there are many) for Fashion Week. A stroke of brilliance, as we could all boast to our colleagues that we were off to a fashion show. Love it! Customers were lined up half way down 19th Street. The complicated show went off without a hitch. Most interesting to note was that none of the clothing was over-priced, pretentious, phony-baloney couture. It was all ready-to-wear, aka street fashion. The collections held together seamlessly, demonstrating that everyone can be fashionable, and stay on budget. Models were not of the severe, pouty, constipated types one is accustomed to—many, in fact, proffering smiles that belied their enjoyment. Smiling at a fashion show? How scandalous. The audience ate it up! It was absolutely entrancing. Furthermore, love was in the air, as several ensembles were sent down the catwalk on models strolling hand in hand, just like real life. How cute is that? The vibe was perfect! Best of all, guests could place their orders right after the show. No need to bother with setting up appointments, fittings, the months-long wait for the couturier to produce or waiting for it to finally make its way to a major department store. It’s all available. Versatile designers like Vivienne Westwood, J. Lindeberg, H. Fredriksson and Fred Perry with their distinctive fashion vocabulary were well integrated into the show with designers like Social Atelier, Keep A Child Alive and Moods, who are comparatively slang designers, providing a hip, urbane and harmonious mix of well established, and the avant garde.

If you are not in the Metropolitan area and still want to shop, the caravan may not be traveling to your municipality, but you can shop from their Web site www.shopcaravan.com. For you other retailers who complain about the state of the economy, boo-hoo-hoo, and how the “big guys” are squeezing them out, boo-hoo-hoo, who wait for customers to come to them, or who seldom offer an event to lure customers in, take note. Shopping is fun, shopping is a form of entertainment. Caravan gets it!

--Ron Knoth, Guest Blogger

Photo: By Kim Wiseley

Comments

[Evandro]

Very Nice Site!