Courtesy of Glassybaby.Lee Rhodes: “Our choice is to leave New York or build a hot shop.”
Case Study
What would you do with this business?
Last week, we published a case study about the challenges facing Glassybaby, a Seattle-based business that was opening a shop in New York. The 97-employee company makes hand-blown glass votives in a variety of colors and has donated hundreds of thousands of dollars from sales to charities helping cancer patients. The founder, Lee Rhodes, a cancer survivor, says the idea originated with a glass vessel her then husband made for her, which she says gave her a soothing, peaceful feeling.
Glassybaby was operating three successful stores in Seattle, increasing online sales (Jeffrey Bezos, founder of Amazon, is an investor) and managing a glass-blowing studio when Ms. Rhodes decided to open a retail shop on Hudson Street in Greenwich Village. But not all has gone as planned. Foot traffic at the store has been lower than expected, and sales have been disappointing.
The company’s senior managers have worked to increase exposure in New York. A dozen New York restaurants now feature Glassybaby lighting, including Rouge Tomate, an Upper East Side place that recently ordered 50 red votives for its tables, and Marea on Central Park South. Glassybaby has also reached out to form partnerships with local nonprofit organizations. One partner is Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center. Money is donated to a Glassybaby fund whenever a Glassybaby item called bff is sold online or in stores. The money, $20,000 so far, is used to help Sloan-Kettering patients with care-related expenses like transportation that are not covered by insurance. When Ms. Rhodes spoke at a Gilda’s Club event where she received an award for her work supporting cancer patients, the tables featured Glassybaby centerpieces.
Many of the readers who responded to the case study said they thought the price was too high for a glass candleholder and that Ms. Rhodes should expand her product line. This is, in fact, Ms. Rhodes said, precisely what people have been telling her from the time she started the business. And yet, sales have increased every year. And while there are less expensive, mass-produced alternatives to a Glassybaby product, Ms. Rhodes said, her handmade products require four glass blowers and a 24-hour process to make one glass, which is why she maintains that the price has to stay between $40 and $44.
Courtesy of Glassybaby.In a Glassybaby glass-blowing studio.
To give New York customers a better feel for the glass votives and the company, she has decided to move the store to a location with more foot traffic and to combine it with a fully functional glass-blowing studio where artists will make the votives onsite. The location has not yet been set. “Once people see them being made, and see them lit,” Ms. Rhodes said, “they seem to understand the business better.”
Q: Isn’t it expensive to set up a glass-blowing studio in New York?
Ms. Rhodes: I feel like our choice is to leave New York or build a hot shop. People need to see the product being made. That’s what helped us succeed in Seattle. If we’re going to ask them to buy something that will be close to their heart, we need to give them the experience. It will also significantly cut down shipping costs.
Q: What other changes are you planning to address the needs of New York customers?
Ms. Rhodes: We are planning a same-day delivery service called “Fresh from the Oven,” so people don’t have to carry the product home. We are also creating a beautiful box, so when customers give them as gifts, the wrapping is lovely.
Q: What advice does Jeff Bezos give you?
Ms. Rhodes: He tells us to go for it and to go big.
Q: Looking back, what would you have done differently in New York?
Ms. Rhodes:I would have taken the risk and gone for it — we’re selling an emotional product — we needed to do more than open up a storefront. We didn’t help New York understand the culture and experience of owning our handmade product.
Q: Are New York customers different than Seattle customers?
Ms. Rhodes: When New Yorkers hear the story of the company and see a Glassybaby with a candle glowing in it, they have the same reaction — they connect with the idea and the product.
Q: Is the business growing over all?
Ms. Rhodes: Sales in the New York store continue to grow slowly, but over all we’re growing quickly both online and in retail. We just added two new ovens to our Seattle glass-blowing studio in August. Now we can make 500 Glassybaby a day instead of 300 to keep up with the demand. We’re selling more than we ever have, so we’re giving away more money too.
Q: It took four years to become profitable. Why did you stick with it?
Ms. Rhodes: I know how these little candleholders affected me when I had cancer, and we get calls all the time from people who collect Glassybaby to symbolize life events, or a cancer patient who is buying them for her friends who supported her during her illness. The experience makes it more than just a $40 item. I believe it soothes and comforts people.
Q: Have you ever regretted opening a store 2,500 miles from home?
Ms. Rhodes: Absolutely not! I have no doubt the product will resonate and touch more New Yorkers once they see it lit and understand that they are handmade. I just wish I had really gone for it the first time.
Article source: http://feeds.nytimes.com/click.phdo?i=d6d23addb86396f0b24394cf02c18604