That blog header is the theme music to leaving New York. I can't get it out of my head at the moment. I'm sitting at JFK airport and I'm about to write up my learnings from my two weeks in America but, before I do, I want to quickly do one last USA blog.
What have I learnt since I touched down in San Francisco? The potential here, the way we are doing business, our collection, my ability to eat snack food, and how far I can stretch my wife’s patience?
Well, first of all, we have an amazing potential in America. We seem to be the only brand opening accounts at the moment. We are also doing a fantastic sell through in the accounts we are in.
I also learnt that the brands here are the same as in Europe, the issues are the same and the opportunities are the same. It is quite amazing really, when you think about how many brands there are in the market, to really see the same ones in Europe, Asia and America.
There are trend differences, but not as much as you would think. The differences are subtle in terms of style and the way Opticians select from the product offer, but the big differences are to do with fitting, which is where we come in! In America (vs Europe) the length to bend is longer, the PDs are narrower and, in some areas, the heads are wider. This will certainly affect the way I design the collection but it is our real opportunity over the other Euro brands which pleases me. Our product can be re-made to fit perfectly... and this is more important in America than our home markets (obviously Asia is next on the list for us!).
I’ve also spoken a lot with Opticians about our Platinum service. A proposed method for Opticians to create their own collections and stock from our range. My current thinking is that this is not the best way to use this fantastic opportunity but rather to offer a “collaboration” to the Optician, the chance to work in collaboration with Tom Davies to create specific pieces to sell to their customers, to re-design the line to fit their customer base.
This means I am likely to offer a collaboration opportunity from September for our accounts, not Platinum brand as expected. I will see what everyone says in Europe over the next few weeks...
Finally, I want to thank our Catherine, Nathan and Steve for hosting me on the trip. I had a great time with you guys and I hope you had a good time as well. Roll on Vegas!
posted on
Saturday, July 04, 2009 12:09 AM |
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