Agents are there for one purpose, to show you their range, get you to agree to buy it and walk away with a signed order. Not all agents will want to sell to you. Your store may not be cool enough, your brand mix may not be good enough, your shop fit is not good enough, their brand may be on the up and they can then pick and choose who they sell to. You may have no history with this agent and they sell to your competitor because they go way back. You are to slow to spot this winner and are a season to late unlike the guy next door, ‘we are trying to keep the distribution tight’, which is fair enough except when you find it in another competitor months later.
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The agent can take many forms, take the Stussy guy, 1 shop per town with no exception, and you need to be the right shop and they don’t care if you are a great customer and want open up in the next town where a Stussy account exists its no go, 1 shop per town.
Addict have their way of working, it’s 2 per town. 1 is a higher end retailer like Hip, Manifesto, Bond International and the other is a skate or sports account, think of Maverick, Focus or the now dephunct High Jinks.
Bench will sell to any multiple, does it matter if they are all next door to each other. No, what about the independents that built up the brand and take the risk 10 years ago on this unknown quantity, nurtured it built up the following. You could argue they have been well and truly shafted, but most independents will be pragmatic and agree they made hay while the going was good, that’s life, times change and are not overly bothered as they have now picked up Fenchurch.
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I can see it from both sides; I own a few retail stores and also own a fashion agency, so I can be poacher & gamekeeper. When the guy from Dickies phones me to say he has had an enquiry from a potential stockist in my city, I spout of about how Glasgow has a small shopping area and 2 accounts will not work, that I am a great customer and been doing good business for years and should be protected, and if that doesn’t work there is always the threat of dropping the brand or cancelling future orders (I won’t of course but it’s a bit like the Mexican stand off, first to blink loses).
I change hats and then phone an account out of courtesy in Dundee to tell him that we have opened another account in his city, I listen to all the things I said above, agree with him sincerely then tell him about growing the brand, Dundee being a big city and well able to support another retailer, anyway this other retailer is miles away and on a different level of the triangle and should not affect his sales and it will give the brand more exposure and ultimately increase sales for all concerned. If all that fails the fair thing to do is agree if the other retailer affects sell through then they have the option of canceling next seasons order, knowing fine well that it wont and next seasons order will be shipped. The important thing is to remember the retailer is his own boss, doesn’t like being backed into a corner and likes to have the option of canceling if he thinks he’s been messed around, he’s the big man and needs to be treated as such.
Being an agent in Scotland can be hard, you only get to shaft people once; unless you pick up the next hot brand then they will come to you.
I know from experience and it is a bitter pill to swallow, I was well and truly done over by an agent from a big brand, I done all the usual stuff, huffed & puffed, spit my dummy out of the pram and vowed never ever to do business with this charlatan again, even if my life depends on it. Then what happens, a few years down the line, you find the next cool brand that will help save you, phone up only to find out Mr X is their new agent. You hang up and do nothing for a few days, a few more people in your store ask you where they can find this brand and the final straw is excited members of staff are raving about how they cant wait till the brand arrives in store (this happens because you asked them, the coolios their opinion on this brand for your own piece of mind).
You take a deep breath and dial his number, get through the usual greeting of ‘long time no speak’, ‘that business is still tough’, and agree ‘that there is no hard feelings and anyway it was years ago’. You hang up with dented pride; your sense of morality is taken over by your instinct for self preservation and an appointment to view the range and an agreement that he won’t supply the guy next door to you.
I own a cool lil store in Glasgow called Fat Buddha, trading online as
This shop sells streetwear from Carhartt Clothing, The Hundreds, Zoo York, Nike & Vans. -Toys from Kid Robot, Medicom, Amos, Gloomy Bear, To-Fu, Play Imaginative, Bearbricks & Toy2r.
-Books on Graphic Design, Art, Photography, Fashion, Illustration & Architecture.
-Spray paint we sell by the van load, Scotlands biggest retailer of Spray Paint Supplies, From paint pens to cans of Spray paint.
-Brands include, Krink, Grog, Montana Black, Montana Gold, Monstercolors, POSCA, Artline, Subism, Belton, On The Run, Montana Hardcore.
-Fat Buddha is a curious mixture of Clothing, Toys, Books, Spray Paint Supplies, Gifts, Accessories and Homewares.
Agents are there for one purpose, to show you their range, get you to agree to buy it and walk away with a signed order. Not all agents will want to sell to you. Your store may not be cool enough, your brand mix may not be good enough, your shop fit is not good enough, their brand may be on the up and they can then pick and choose who they sell to. You may have no history with this agent and they sell to your competitor because they go way back. You are to slow to spot this winner and are a season to late unlike the guy next door, ‘we are trying to keep the distribution tight’, which is fair enough except when you find it in another competitor months later.
The agent can take many forms, take the Stussy guy, 1 shop per town with no exception, and you need to be the right shop and they don’t care if you are a great customer and want open up in the next town where a Stussy account exists its no go, 1 shop per town.
Addict have their way of working, it’s 2 per town. 1 is a higher end retailer like Hip, Manifesto, Bond International and the other is a skate or sports account, think of Maverick, Focus or the now dephunct High Jinks.
Bench will sell to any multiple, does it matter if they are all next door to each other. No, what about the independents that built up the brand and take the risk 10 years ago on this unknown quantity, nurtured it built up the following. You could argue they have been well and truly shafted, but most independents will be pragmatic and agree they made hay while the going was good, that’s life, times change and are not overly bothered as they have now picked up Fenchurch.
I can see it from both sides; I own a few retail stores and also own a fashion agency, so I can be poacher & gamekeeper. When the guy from Dickies phones me to say he has had an enquiry from a potential stockist in my city, I spout of about how Glasgow has a small shopping area and 2 accounts will not work, that I am a great customer and been doing good business for years and should be protected, and if that doesn’t work there is always the threat of dropping the brand or cancelling future orders (I won’t of course but it’s a bit like the Mexican stand off, first to blink loses).
I change hats and then phone an account out of courtesy in Dundee to tell him that we have opened another account in his city, I listen to all the things I said above, agree with him sincerely then tell him about growing the brand, Dundee being a big city and well able to support another retailer, anyway this other retailer is miles away and on a different level of the triangle and should not affect his sales and it will give the brand more exposure and ultimately increase sales for all concerned. If all that fails the fair thing to do is agree if the other retailer affects sell through then they have the option of canceling next seasons order, knowing fine well that it wont and next seasons order will be shipped. The important thing is to remember the retailer is his own boss, doesn’t like being backed into a corner and likes to have the option of canceling if he thinks he’s been messed around, he’s the big man and needs to be treated as such.
Being an agent in Scotland can be hard, you only get to shaft people once; unless you pick up the next hot brand then they will come to you.
I know from experience and it is a bitter pill to swallow, I was well and truly done over by an agent from a big brand, I done all the usual stuff, huffed & puffed, spit my dummy out of the pram and vowed never ever to do business with this charlatan again, even if my life depends on it. Then what happens, a few years down the line, you find the next cool brand that will help save you, phone up only to find out Mr X is their new agent. You hang up and do nothing for a few days, a few more people in your store ask you where they can find this brand and the final straw is excited members of staff are raving about how they cant wait till the brand arrives in store (this happens because you asked them, the coolios their opinion on this brand for your own piece of mind).
You take a deep breath and dial his number, get through the usual greeting of ‘long time no speak’, ‘that business is still tough’, and agree ‘that there is no hard feelings and anyway it taguas was years ago’. You hang up with dented pride; your sense of morality is taken over by your instinct for self preservation and an appointment to view the range and an agreement that he won’t supply the guy next door to you.
I own a cool lil store in Glasgow called Fat Buddha, trading online as
This shop sells streetwear from Carhartt Clothing, The Hundreds, Zoo York, Nike & Vans. -Toys from Kid Robot, Medicom, Amos, Gloomy Bear, To-Fu, Play Imaginative, Bearbricks & Toy2r.
-Books on Graphic Design, Art, Photography, Fashion, Illustration & Architecture.
-Spray paint we sell by the van load, Scotlands biggest retailer of Spray Paint Supplies, From paint pens to cans of Spray paint.
-Brands include, Krink, Grog, Montana Black, taguas taguas Montana Gold, Monstercolors, POSCA, Artline, Subism, Belton, On The Run, Montana Hardcore.
-Fat Buddha is a curious mixture of Clothing, Toys, Books, Spray Paint Supplies, Gifts, Accessories and Homewares.
