Hiroko Masuike/The New York TimesLee Rhodes, owner of Glassybaby, a Seattle-based company that opened a store on Hudson Street in New York.
Case Study
What would you do with this business?
A case study we’ve just published details the predicament faced by Glassybaby, a creator and purveyor of small hand-blown glass cups that come in lots of colors and are used as decorations, vases and candleholders. Founded in 2001 by Lee Rhodes, the 97-employee company operates three stores and a glass-blowing studio in Seattle, as well as a store in New York.
In the fall of 2009, Glassybaby made its first retail foray beyond its rainy hometown, opening a store in Greenwich Village. Foot traffic, however, has been far lower than expected, sales haven’t been strong, and the store is not profitable. The case study assesses Ms. Rhodes’s options, including packing up for another location, investing more time in bulk sales to restaurants or finding new partnerships with charities to promote the brand.
Below, you can read what other business owners and management experts think Glassybaby should do. We hope you’ll use the comment section to chime in, too. Next week, we’ll follow up with a blog post about what Glassybaby decided and how it worked out.
Dan Levitan, a founder of Maveron, a venture capital firm based in Seattle: “Glassybaby is selling a concept, not just a physical product. The New York City store manager needs to get that concept outside of the four walls of the stores and into fashion and charity circles in New York City. The staff in the new store need to learn the company culture so they can become a mirror image of the store experience in Seattle.”
Christina Norsig, chief executive of PopUpInsider, a Manhattan group that matches companies with empty retail space for temporary leases: “I recommend moving the New York store to an area with more foot traffic. They could use temporary retail spaces to find the right geographic locations and boost brand awareness through public relations events. Glassybaby is a perfect concept that also lends itself for wholesale distribution to department and specialty shops.”
Emeric Harney, general manager of the Harney Sons SoHo store, an expansion of Harney Sons tea company, which is based in Millerton, N.Y.: “Glassybaby might also take advantage of social media platforms, expanding its business with Facebook check-ins, Foursquare deals, etc., in an effort to reach a younger demographic, which makes up a large portion of New York City. Using these platforms, they might be able to organize brand outreach events or partner with other businesses to pool their client bases together.”
Article source: http://feeds.nytimes.com/click.phdo?i=0294db209309bffda3e68e77faba1bd8
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