HELPING BRANDS CONQUER RETAIL

I am here to help you open retail stores or expand into wholesale.

RETAIL IS ALIVE AND THRIVING.

E-commerce has brought explosive growth and change to product commerce, but physical retail experience in 2024 is as important as ever to the health and growth of premium consumer brands.

MY WORK

NOTABLE PROJECTS

CHALLENGE: Define YETI’s first retail store that represents their unique product and brand with a bar, stage, and custom shop.

RESULTS: Significantly outperformed every Sales, Traffic, and Marketing forecast in first year; Led to the strategic transformation of YETI as a DTC-first brand and a blueprint to over 10 stores in 2023.

FLAGSHIP STORE

CHALLENGE: Create a global destination for runners marrying the iconic history of the Boston Marathon with the best of adidas running product.

RESULTS: Opened on a very accelerated timeline on budget and on schedule. Achieved 4x sales projection opening weekend and far outpaced traffic expectations, operating at traffic capacity most days in first month of opening.

Boston Marathon Adidas Concept Store

CHALLENGE: Define KEEN’s retail identity, infused with the brand’s unique persona, in a comprehensive Retail Concept.

RESULTS: Successfully developed, launched, and deployed a comprehensive collection of retail merchandising solutions, using a variety of reusable elements as core raw materials.

RETAIL CONCEPT

wholesale merchandising

CHALLENGE: Create an in-store storytelling and merchandising fixture for Rumpl’s newer wholesale channel.

RESULTS: Led creation of a unique a-frame gondola that merchandised free flow blankets and educated on the newer blanket category. This high capacity fixture initially rolled out at REI and led to take down version to all customers.

TESTIMONIALS

  • "In a large, global organization with intricate structures, Tony developed and implemented a comprehensive new U.S. retail concept at adidas, from fixtures, to mannequins, to visual merchandising standards and beyond. He combines strategic vision with operational excellence, and has a keen ability to build strong partnerships across departments."

    Britt Jorgenson, VP Brand Planning & GTM, adidas

  • "Tony’s expertise and leadership in defining YETI’s retail identity across wholesale and first retail store was invaluable."

    Corey Maynard, Marketing Executive (ex-YETI VP Marketing)

  • "As part of our long-term strategic plan development, Tony partnered with our marketing, product and sales teams to outline a potential approach to Hydro Flask branded retail stores. His hands-on experience developing and executing branded retail store plans was invaluable and he knew all the questions to ask to help generate a strong plan for discussion. His guidance on thinking about the role of branded retail, store layout and merchandising, retail locations, systems and personnel requirements and more was invaluable."

    Phyllis Grove, Marketing Executive (ex- Helen of Troy SVP Marketing)

  • “Tony brought critical insight and expertise as we made our first in-store merchandising investment to scale our wholesale business.”

    Wylie Robinson, Founder & CEO, Rumpl

  • “Having collaborated with Tony on many brands, he brings a unique mix of high expectations, motivation, and challenges that push our team to produce exciting work.”

    Todd Jacobson, Owner, Lotus Fixtures

  • “Tony’s expertise and leadership in merchandising, operations, and space planning have been instrumental in helping Bouldering Project create a thriving retail business with significant upside."

    Katie Schultz, GM, Bouldering Project

ABOUT ME

I’ve spent my career working in Product, Retail, Sales, and Marketing for premium consumer brands including YETI, adidas, KEEN, and Gerber. I found my passion at the intersection of Product + Consumer, bringing stories alive at Retail.

I’ve led and managed the successful inaugural foray into owned retail for YETI, adidas running, and KEEN, and advised many brands on how to successfully enter physical retail.  I have learned best practices and how to navigate the pitfalls. I am ready to set other great brands on a successful retail path.

On the wholesale side, I’ve created and managed 100’s of shop-in-shop build-outs, bespoke specialty retail presentations, and driven sell-through efforts in all major Sporting Goods, Mall, Outdoor, Hardware, and Independent retailers.  

After two decades working on the “inside” steeped in wholesale and owned retail, I went on my own to help premium brands enter and conquer retail.  I dig in with talented teams and passionate entrepreneurs to develop a just right strategy and drive it through execution.

Thinking about LAUNCHING retail storeS?

HERE’S HOW I CAN HELP.

  • You’ve talked about opening a store(s) and don’t know where to start?  I help assess organizational readiness, how to budget, build a timeline, evaluate how other channels can inform and impact a successful launch, and other consideration factors.

  • Hire an architect?  General contractor? There are many options and many variables for any brand or budget.

  • Through data and discussion, we will evaluate pros and cons of cities, neighborhoods, and streets on the short list and we won’t settle.

  • We will discuss CAPEX scenarios and identify the best path to meet the needs of the brief that could range from a lean bootstrap or any combo of a larger team of architect, general contractor, project manager, and fixture builder.

  • POS, staffing, training, replenishment, back of house.   Lots of details.  All important.

  • We will meticulously space plan and optimize every inch of the space through storytelling and assortment planning and a system to keep it fresh.

  • Traffic is the name of the game and we will ensure an ‘aways on’ plan is in place through a  robust integrated marketing campaign (in partnership with your brand team!)

  • We will build quantitative, actionable metrics  driven by traffic, conversion, and customer acquisition. 

Thinking about LAUNCHING INTO WHOLESALE?

HERE’S HOW I CAN HELP.

  • We will deep dive into packaging, margin, inventory, brand strength, and retail presentation to devise the best path for launch.

  • We will build a presentation around the why, brand positioning, bespoke assortments, retail financial analysis, and space requirements.

  • We will build a channel plan involving all avenues to reach the buyers, using internal and external resources.

  • Identify and leverage all marketing channels, both digital and physical, that will drive conversion at buyer and consumer level.

  • Identify all opportunities to build custom fixtures or shop in shops to leverage story telling, assortment presentation, and be vendor compliant.

  • Space optimization, telling the product story, leverage ALL retailer channels and opportunities.

  • Create product education tools, leverage customer edu-platforms, and build staff incentive programs (as appropriate)

  • Build quantitative, actionable metrics for a profitable wholesale channel,  driven by core retail performance metrics and aligned with retailer evaluation methods.

Let’s TALK

Interested in talking retail? Fill out some info and I will be in touch shortly! Or you can email me directly at tonyk@hey.com