A Collection of Thoughts & Things
1. A visit to a few stores over the weekend had me thinking about brick-and-mortar retail at the (hopefully) tail end of the pandemic, and what good service really means. I think after shopping mostly online for the past year, we’re all craving a little human interaction and physical connection with the product being sold. As someone who designs product for a living, I can tell you that even return rate-wise, nothing beats seeing items in real life prior to making a purchase: feeling fabrics, trying things on to see how it fits, as well as evaluate proportion, or have a salesperson help you determine this. While the e-commerce user experience has gotten significantly better over the years, it also can’t substitute that sense of discovery, or the synergy you may have with said great salesperson who can tell you the how and why. None of us really need more stuff, so how do you make a customer feel important, and persuade and educate them about the products? Even for myself (who is a jaded 15 year veteran of the industry), if I leave a store with a good feeling, I will likely recommend and return to purchase something from that shop in the future.
2. New World wines. There are plenty of excellent ones from great vineyards scattered up and down the West Coast, but most of them only allow visits or have allocations if you’re a member; some even have years-long waiting lists. While I am fully supportive of small production vineyards and appreciate keeping a product “exclusive” as is the case with most luxury products, unfortunately, this also means that many folks who appreciate wine don’t get to try what I’d consider “the good stuff”, unless you’re well-versed or well-connected in the areas. It feels like those who are less familiar with Napa Valley (but are still willing to spend the money) will likely end up at a highly marketed, Disney-esque vineyard, looking at bad art and ending up with half a case of a mediocre Cab that costs $100 per bottle. A sad state of affairs.
3. Cocktail culture has a nostalgia problem. I would also say, for the record, that fashion does as well.