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Originally Posted by 911Rob
Hey Shaun,
Thanks for the additional info; some great stuff there! The Russian website looks like a very high end retail place?
I'm glad the no-partner concept worked out for you, but I wouldn't shy away from the right partner either. Good story from LeeH, and I definately have similar experiences.
I'd suspect that a business like this you'd have to be careful with over stocking inventories that don't move? I certainly wish you all the Success in '08 that you're hoping for!
Sapporo Guy makes some great comments; worth looking into more. I'd be interested to learn more about the book publishing requirements of Asian educational needs. SG mentions the books that don't work, but what type of books are in demand. EFL/ESL? what's that?
Cheers!
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hey Rob, yes, that store in Russia is nicer than anything in the U.S. We were in Nieman's for a week but the casual boy's buyer's budget was pulled and given to tween girls.
That would have been something. In fact, the leather motorcycle jacket was made specifically to get into Nieman's and Saks. it's tough to get into the big stores, mostly because they like trusted brands they can depend on to produce and ship.
Overstocking is important variable, but after doing some investigation, I've found that not only do the big brands develop specifically for the discount stores like Marshall's, they overproduce their standard lines as well. this gives them a lower unit cost, higher profits, ability to react to a surge with inventory and they know they can still make a small profit on the goods selling to a discounter.
I'm doing the same thing for Spring 08...doubled our order size. Our West Coast showroom is still selling, we'll be able to fulfill reorders and come May-June I can dump all excess inventory to a local chain in NY, Century 21 at 10% over cost. But this is where cash flow has to be carefully managed!
Thank you for the well-wishes!
I'm excited about the books myself, and going international would be quite interesting. What I like about the books is that they will even out cash flow and get us into the gift markets (big!) as well as B&N, etc. Since the books and clothing will work together (share artwork), the vision is a rounder with t-shirts in boxes (size specific) that allow you to plug a book into the box. Packaging development should be fun. We're specifically developing the characters around toy/brand development, so I believe there's a lot of growth in this part of the business.
I may be able to post some mocks in a few weeks.