LOS ANGELES — Whether a company is thinking about entering licensing agreements or trying to find the perfect location for a flagship, experts such as these seem to have figured out the right formula for growth. Here, presentations from Izzy Ezrailson, president of Up Against The Wall; Stephen Schachtel, senior vice president of Yak Pak; Jonah Disend, president of Redscout; Tina Kourasis, partner, Gardner Carton & Douglas LLC; Matthew Jacobson, co-founder and vice president of Quiksilver Entertainment, and Benjamin Fox, executive vice president and principal, and Jeffrey D. Roseman, executive vice president and principal, Newmark New Spectrum.
Izzy Ezrailson, Up Against The Wall
Up Against The Wall president Izzy Ezrailson challenged the idea of just what exactly is an urban retailer.
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“Maybe there isn’t such a thing,” Ezrailson said. “Maybe it should be called metro — wider in influence than urban but not suburban.”
The veteran executive who oversees 22 stores from the chain’s headquarters in Washington, D.C., acknowledged that Up Against The Wall is based on a city lifestyle, but said it has more relevance now than ever in Middle America, even if price points are high.
“We’re like the Barneys of Long Beach,” he said. But Ezrailson stopped short of announcing expansion plans in suburbia, commenting, “The missing link is distribution. America is a broad place and very hard to reach customers through distribution channels.”
Ezrailson touted customer and employee feedback, saying both were integral to his success. Aside from answering e-mails personally, stores have systems in place to record and chart customer comments and when and where they occurred.
Feedback has put the issue of larger sizes on the front burner. While urban brands tend to accommodate larger men, they favor thin women.
“We haven’t properly addressed it yet,” Ezrailson conceded. “The size element is a huge thing. We have no rules at all. The only rule we have is being current with our customer.”
— Kristin Young
Stephen Schachtel, Yak Pak
The New York-based Yak Pak is a manufacturer of bags and accessories for such brands as Dickies, Levi’s and MTV. Schachtel, senior vice president of the firm, shared some pointers on how to successfully grow a brand.
- Never change your philosophy.
- Innovation creates opportunity. For example: Dickies new guitar bags with special pickpockets.
- Do not rely on private label business.
- Be open to new business challenges.
— Julee Greenberg
Jonah Disend, Redscout
Tapping into the psyche of the fickle, mercurial teen is the Holy Grail in marketing. Disend, president of Redscout, a strategic consulting firm, outlined “8 Simple Rules to Connect with Teen Tribes (in Their Own Words)”:
- Their world is different from your world.
- You can’t catch them, so create rather than follow.
- Don’t think you’re the only brand in their lives.
- Teens make their own style — what doesn’t make sense to you makes perfect sense to them.
- Don’t try to define them.
- Don’t try to be their friends.
- Over-embrace diversity — they want to see all types of people in ads.
- Don’t try too hard.
— Nola Sarkisian-Miller
Tina Kourasis, Gardner Carton & Douglas
As an attorney in the intellectual property department of Gardner Carton & Douglas LLC, Tina Kourasis is the founder of the firm’s fashion law practice. Representing a wide range of clients, she has negotiated deals with distributors and manufacturers, and has successfully challenged counterfeiters and infringers in courts around the U.S. Here, Kourasis highlights the right ways to consider a licensing partner.
Why Is a License Worth It?
For the Licensor:
- Exploit the brand.
- Test new territories.
- Develop new product lines.
- Revitalize a stale brand.
For the Licensee:
- Optimize capital assets.
- Manufacturing facilities.
- Distribution networks.
- Shelf space.
- Reach new customers.
Overall aspects of a strong licensing program include: keeping control through consistency in brand image, developing appropriate distribution channels and having an exit strategy. Each party should also have goals: For the licensor, it’s to maintain brand integrity; for the licensee, it’s to recoup investment. In addition, each side needs to agree on timing and anticipate public relations problems with celebrities.
— J.G.
Matthew Jacobson, Quiksilver
Jacobson, co-founder and vice president of Quiksilver Entertainment, said multimedia collaborations ensure “the legacy” of Quiksilver.
The Huntington Beach, Calif.-based surfwear brand has partnered with MTV for a Surf Girls series reaching 55 million viewers worldwide; Boost Mobile and Nextel for a Roxy phone and an upcoming Quiksilver phone; Sony for an underwater camera, and artists to produce limited-edition T-shirts for high-end stores like Fred Segal in Los Angeles.
The company even considered a mattress company that recently approached the brand for a tie-in.
“Sure we could have made money, but it wasn’t on our list of top five corporate partners,” he said. “We’ve been around for 30 years and we’re a really big fish in a medium-size pond. Short-term growth is pretty easy. But we’re trying to be really smart about our highly fickle and critical customer, and remain relevant and fashionable for the long term.”
But Quiksilver’s goal goes beyond the customer and the company, said Jacobson. Quiksilver sees itself as a “benevolent market leader,” responsible for growing the surf lifestyle and the action sports industry.
— N.S.M.
Jeffrey D. Roseman and Benjamin Fox, Newmark New Spectrum
Retail is alive and well in New York City, according to real estate firm Newmark New Spectrum.
When deciding on location, the key is to learn the subtleties of a neighborhood, take the subway and learn pedestrian traffic flow.
“Having a retail showroom [in New York] sends a message with so much more value. It gets you worldwide attention and moves you beyond the confines of a department store,” said Jeffrey D. Roseman, executive vice president and principal, who, along with Benjamin Fox, executive vice president and principal, listed these top neighborhoods and streets to watch:
- SoHo/NoHo/NoLIta
- Times Square
- Fifth Avenue/Midtown
- 14th Street
- Union Square/Flatiron District
- 34th Street/Herald Square
- Greenwich Village
- Columbus Avenue/Upper West Side
- Harlem/125th Street
- Bloomingdale’s area
— K.Y.