E-Commerce The New ?Mall? For Aeropostale, Abercrombie, American Eagle
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French shoemaker Christian Louboutin is known for its signature red-soled shoes, so when fashion house Yves Saint Laurent decided to sell some red-soled footwear, Louboutin sued (and lost).
Red-soled Louboutins have become so distinguished and sought-after that women who can't afford a pair — which sell for upwards of $600 — have gone to shoe repair stores to ask cobblers to take their less expensive footwear and resole them with vibrant red rubber.
"I have to admit that I don't own a pair of Louboutin shoes yet, despite my greatest desires," says Bianca Posterli, the digital and social media director for Tyra Banks's Bankable Enterprises. "The most expensive pair of shoes I own are Ash wedges that I'm totally obsessed with and have completely ruined from over-waring them."
Louboutin may have lost its request for an injunction agains YSL, but it might be happy to hear that it has won the top spot on our list of the most expensive shoe stores in America. Despite the imitators and fashionistas giving their shoes a "red sole upgrade," shoppers are dropping more dollars on average at the Christian Louboutin in Dallas, Texas than any other shoe store in America — an average of $1,108 per transaction.
We established our rankings by looking at average transactions at shoe stores based on millions of anonymized spending transactions from the U.S. government, Citi and other third party data providers during the second quarter of 2011. Since we focused our analysis on shoe stores, clothing stores like YSL, which also sells shoes, were eliminated from our rankings (you can check out the most expensive clothing shops here). We also filtered out shoe wholesalers and manufacturers.
Manolo Blahnik's New York store, which became a household name after popping up on the Sex and the City TV series, ranked second on our list with shoppers spending an average of $963 per transaction. Miami-based Capretto Shoes which sells designer shoes from names like Lanvin and Prada ranked third with an average transaction of $958.
Prominent shoe retailer Jimmy Choo ranked fourth with $889 per transaction with their Vegas store, and Bally on New York's Madison Avenue ranked fifth with shoppers spending an average of $741 per transaction. We should note that Christian Louboutin and Jimmy Choo stores appeared more than once based on transaction amounts, but we eliminated duplicate appearances to avoid a list that had nothing but repeated names, and so we could show a wider range of expensive shoe stores.
Although Dallas has the most expensive shoe store in the U.S. with Louboutin, New York City — the city where TV's Carrie Bradshaw once admitted she bought $40,000 worth of designer shoes — appeared nine times on our list of 20. San Francisco made two appearances on our list.
Posterli, who lives in New York City, says she would probably ruin any designer shoes she'd buy, or go completely broke taking cabs or a car service everywhere. "Once my lifestyle changes, however, I fully plan on investing in some serious shoes to up my shoe closet quota," she says.
Until then, Posterli says there are plenty of other options available for fashionable types.
"You'd be surprised how many younger designers there are out there making gorgeous heels, pumps, and wedges," Posterli says. "Said names might not incite envy immediately among your friends, but chances are the design will. If you are totally desperate fro Loubs, Choos, and Manolos, attempt to hit up sample sales, find deals on shopping websites, and scout Craigslist in big cities — but don't underestimate the up and coming designers!"
This post originally appeared at Bundle.
• City: San Francisco
• Average transaction: $492
• Website: http://www.aldenshoes.com/
• Learn more about this merchant: About 1 in 10 customers of Alden Shoe Company are Bachelors. Bachelors typically spend about 40% of their spending on Clothing, Shoes, and Accessories with Alden.
Source: Bundle.
• City: San Francisco
• Average transaction: $507
• Website: http://www.berenshoes.com/
• Learn more about this merchant: About 1 in 10 customers of Arthur Berem are Locals. Locals tend to spend around $668 per visit to Arthur Berem.
Source: Bundle.
• City: New York City
• Average transaction: $602
• Website: http://www.tods.com/
• Learn more about this merchant: About 2 in 10 customers of Tod's are Couples. At least 19% of Couples who have been to Tod's have returned.
Source: Bundle.
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Senate leaders reached an agreement Monday afternoon to prevent a government shutdown on Saturday — ending a weeks long stalemate.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency announced earlier Monday that it does not expect to require additional funding this week to replenish its disaster aid fund — making moot the argument Democrats and Republicans had been having over offsetting spending cuts.
The continuing resolution to fund the government includes $1 billion for FEMA that could be spent during fiscal year 2011, which ends on Friday — though Republicans wanted to cut clean energy funding to pay for it. Now that the money is no longer needed, the Senate will pass a "clean" bill with $2.5 billion for FEMA with no offsets.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid called the bill 'the Johnny Isakson solution,' quoting the Georgia Republican Senator as saying "It's only worth fighting when there's something to fight for."
The temporary extension for the government will expire on November 18, a point at which a budget will have to be passed, or another continuing resolution undertaken.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell criticized Democrats for holding up the House bill, but said the final agreement was "reasonable. "This entire fire drill was completely and totally unnecessary," he said.
The Senate also voted on a four-day-long continuing resolution to allow the House to hold a formal vote on the 7-week measure when the return to Washington from a week-long recess.. The House is expected to pass the bill which will fund the government through October 4 by unanimous consent on Thursday.
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Annette Frey's Biscuits by Lambchop is ubiquitous across Manhattan. This entrepreneur came up with the concept of all-natural, gluten-free dog biscuits, and now they're served in open bowls in pet-friendly stores, coffee shops, restaurants and bars across the city. The establishments that carry her product either purchase the product, or offer free samples. These are people and businesses Frey chooses to invest a batch of her treats in for an introductory period in order to bring in new customers. Many of her new business opportunities develop from that initial free offering.
“Giveaways have helped introduce more people to our brand and learn what our products are all about,” says Frey, whose company is also online and distributes nationally. “Once a dog has tasted our biscuits and their owners can experience their reactions, the biscuits sell themselves.”
Frey is constantly reevaluating how to keep that balance as she continues to grow her business. Given the current instability of the economy, Frey has grown more prudent with her giveaways so as to do more than sustain, but actually profit.
Here are her tips for navigating that balance.
Don’t give away the farm
A sample is a sample, not a lifetime commitment of free product. Those samples are coming from a PR and marketing budget, so they aren’t technically free. Frey bakes those batches of biscuits herself, so her time and energy are added costs as well. She says for stores, it may cost her a few dollars for full-sized product samples, brochures and marketing materials, but that it’s more money when shipping around the country. Samples for events and sponsorships range anywhere from $20 to $100 and up.
“We always want to let people try our product,” says Frey. “But we’ve had to set up some guidelines when considering giveaways, to make sure they ultimately reach our target market.”
Stick with those giveaway guidelines (on a case-by-case basis)
Opportunity comes in different flavors just like Frey’s biscuits—banana with coconut and vanilla, and apple with honey and cinnamon—so she created a system that looks at real numbers within her demographics.
“If it’s a blogger making the request, we’ll look at their Alexa rating, their demographic, how they communicate on social media sites and their general message. I look to see how in line they are with our mission,” says Frey. “If it’s a store, we look at their customer demographic and if their company values are in line with ours. Do they carry health products? Are there similar price points in the store? I wouldn't align myself with a company that does animal testing, or whose CEO hunts for sport, etc. If it’s a donation or a sponsorship, the guidelines may loosen up a bit.”
Biscuits by Lambchop maintains the following samples categories: media, veterinarians, retailers and causes. Frey allows some flexibility if the person or organization is something she sees a future with and wants to align with.
“We try and stick to a one per request policy,” says Frey. “But we’re flexible if it makes sense. For instance, we might send a veterinarian’s office many small take-home packets for their clients. It makes more sense, from a marketing standpoint.”
See beyond dollars
Even in this economy, it’s not just about the numbers for Biscuits by Lambchop. Frey is always looking for long-term partnerships and understands the sacrifice in the beginning to secure those.
“As an entrepreneur in a challenging economy, you have to be flexible and embrace opportunities as they present themselves,” says Frey. “Shelters and rescues ask me for samples all the time. I’ve made it a policy to give locally only because the shipping gets too expensive. I have relationships with local shipping places too.”
There are always exceptions
K9 Kahunas and Surf Dog Ricochet, who Frey connected to through her Facebook page, asked her to sponsor and send biscuits for a cool event and she agreed to the partnering.
“I decided to because of the good things they do as an organization,” says Frey. “It was also good for me exposure wise. It’s a long-term investment for future partnerships.”
Be honest
People can conveniently forget that what they’ve gotten free comes at a price—especially when it’s related to something both Frey and the lucky client love: dogs. It’s great that there are people that love a product and want more and more of it, but it’s a good idea to make sure they kindly understand just how lucky they’ve been.
“Once you set up your guidelines, it’s easy to refer to them for your reasoning,” says Frey. “Occasionally, you just have to tell someone you have given them the max that you have budgeted for and stick to your guns. That’s not easy, but then [again], business is not easy!”
Be comfortable with your policy
If you lose a client for cutting off their free supply, the client is merely illustrating how much he or she wasn’t really a customer.
“It’s only hurt us when we didn’t draw clear lines on free product because we weren’t sure how or just weren’t comfortable doing so,” says Frey. “Now we can draw clear lines.”
Do your own homework and legwork
Maybe right now isn’t the time to hire out a fancy PR firm to get the word out on our business. Especially when you and your small business are part of a world that is (or should be) well-connected with social media sites. Online networking savvy and creativity can keep costs down. Frey is a big proponent of doing her own footwork to get results.
“Coveted media outlets are bombarded with products,” says Frey. “We do our homework when reaching out to the media and then personalize our outreach in a way that helps us stand out in a packed crowd. Showing a genuine interest by personalizing our pitch and trying to anticipate what a reporter needs to get their jobs done goes a long way, especially when you don’t have that big PR budget.”
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