Base on tour: NYC
BASE has done a couple of exciting trips in recent times, but a visit to New York City in January 2019 has been the frosting on the cake. Literally, frosty. It was below zero degrees every day. Coming from tropical Singapore, the freeze and snow was a bit f-kd. We soldiered on in our activewear.
The first 3 days, we attended the National Retail Federation ‘Big Show’ which was all things retail and branding. With big players Amazon, Facebook, Apple and Google soon to rule the world, Base wants to know where retail is heading and make every attempt to keep up the pace! A massive conference with over 40,000 delegates attending, the challenge was to get to all the best seminars without getting stuck outside.. Not only did we see some great and informative speakers but some celebs too! With the likes of Nikki Hilton, the couple from Fixer Upper and our absolute favourite, Scooter Braun (agent to Kanye West, Justin Beiber et al). Bizarrely, his fireside chat provided us with valuable life lessons and it’s no wonder Bieber went back to him.
Days 4-6 were back-to-back store tours. On Day 4, our leather boots had a blow so conveniently (maybe a little cheeky too) we also stopped at the Nike Innovation Lab for a pair of brand new Nike kicks. Knitted, with no tongue. They weigh nothing. They are nothing short of perfection.
The highlight was a personal tour of innovative department store Nordstrom, early in the morning before it opened. Nordstrom is doing EVERYTHING it seems possible to surprise and delight customers. We learned the most from these guys and were converted into firm Nordstrom fans.
Day 7 was a whirlwind meet and greet with the NYC reps of Onzie, ANDI, Year of Ours, and Free People. Quickly placed our fitness apparel orders for up to Q2 and then we were away back to SG! Meeting activewear and accessory suppliers and reps is the most fun part of the job. Mainly we love getting to view new season active collections and knowing how excited our BASE fam will be to nab these pieces!!
These styles will be dropping soon!
