fashion startups
How to make a single mall kiosk in a multinational company
By: Geoff Ficke
One of the biggest mistakes we see new entrepreneurs and new businesses make is to try to hit a home run right out of the box. My experience in the days when he played baseball, and the construction of a strong business base, is that when deliberately trying to hit home runs, which usually strike out. The homer usually comes when you just try to do contact with the ball and put it in play.
My consumption of marketing consulting firm advises dozens of entrepreneurs every year. Often these admirable and ambitious go-getters are forced to be as large as can be, as fast as possible. Our advice to lay a solid foundation, test market, market test-again, changing marketing strategies to ensure the viability and secure a rock solid "proof of life of the product" is often in vain. These boots hard you want to see products in big box retailers as quickly as possible. There are many other, more sensible ways to achieve lofty goals.
One of the more mundane sales channels that can be taken to achieve success is based mall kiosk. The kiosk provides a wonderful platform to introduce consumers to new products and services. These stores are cheap outdoor rent, the market easily and located in the main traffic corridors of the mall. Customers do not have to walk to stores for shopping, simply must pass kiosk to navigate the site. The opportunity to have the product may show that a steady stream of shoppers makes the instrument beautifully kiosk logical to test new concepts.
They are not considered sexy. However, the kiosks are efficient and can be extremely profitable. They are also among the best routes to follow to foster a product from local and regional levels, national, and possibly distribution international sales. The experience of 1971, a Miami optometrist provides an illustrative example of the possibilities of sales kiosk can offer companies new.
Ziff Samuel was a practice of optometry in 1971. In his view, the product of sunglasses, which was very strong in practice based in South Florida, was not marketed well enough retailers currently available. Dr. Ziff decided to highlight the category, add a wider selection, style and services, and specializes in the sale of sunglasses only. He chose a mall in Miami and rented one of the kiosks on the first Mall to offer their wares. The kiosk is marked "the Sunglass Hut."
Sales immediately exploded and surpassed expectations. Dr. Ziff and family decided to expand and began to open additional kiosks throughout the state of Florida. Gradually, as sales and profits grew, Sunglass Hut began to move from different points of the kiosk to the fixed storage space.
In 1986, after opening at No. 100, Ziff family sold 75% of the business Sunglass Hut to a private investor group. The investment partner allowed the Sunglass Hut's expansion across the United States, Europe and finally in the Indian market and the store tax-free.
In 2001, Sunglass Hut was sold to the frame design eye Luxottica Italian luxury house. The new owners recently bought artisans Cincinnati behind the lens, the largest eyewear retailer in the world. The combination of Luxottica, Sunglass Hut and craftsmen of the target created a fashion and retail power dominates the world of fashion frames.
Today the retail giant that includes Sunglass Hut sells frames Chanel, Ralph Lauren, Burberry, Oakley, Ray Ban, Gucci, Bulgari and many other fashion houses. Sunglass Hut is one of the most recognized brands in the retail universe. This classic American success story emerged from a car a single mall. Samuel Ziff started small, it demonstrated its sales model, reinvested in the expansion and built the first dedicated fashion retailer exclusively the sale of sunglasses. This is a very viable marketing strategy that many other entrepreneurs should consider.
About the Author
Geoff Ficke has been a serial entrepreneur for almost 50 years. As a small boy, earning his spending money doing odd jobs in the neighborhood, he learned the value of selling himself, offering service and value for money.
After putting himself through the University of Kentucky (B.A. Broadcast Journalism, 1969) and serving in the United States Marine Corp, Mr. Ficke commenced a career in the cosmetic industry. After rising to National Sales Manager for Vidal Sassoon Hair Care at age 28, he then launched a number of ventures, including Rubigo Cosmetics, Parfums Pierre Wulff Paris, Le Bain Couture and Fashion Fragrance.
Geoff Ficke and his consulting firm, Duquesa Marketing, Inc. (www.duquesamarketing.com) has assisted businesses large and small, domestic and international, entrepreneurs, inventors and students in new product development, capital formation, licensing, marketing, sales and business plans and successful implementation of his customized strategies. He is a Senior Fellow at the Page Center for Entrepreneurial Studies, Business School, Miami University, Oxford, Ohio.
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