M1 + Deziem: Where Market Trends Meet Merchandise Intelligence
Pairing Management One's profit-driven inventory forecasting with Deziem's world-class market coverage and trend analysis
We're proud to announce a partnership we've been building toward, pairing Management One's profit-driven inventory forecasting with Deziem's world-class market coverage and trend analysis. Our clients now enjoy an undeniable competitive edge, built for today's most innovative fashion retailers.
Join Dane Cohen and Deziem founder Kate Rowan in this live session as they roll out exactly what this partnership unlocks for the indie retail community.
5 Takeaways from this session:
You can spot a trend before it hits your floor: Kate catches category and brand shifts early enough to adjust your buy before you're stuck with the inventory.
Leverage sits with the store, not the brand, now that good brands need the specialty channel more than ever.
"If you're not knocking down walls, growth has to come from somewhere". Learn why testing into higher price points often meets less resistance than raising prices on the same old brands.
Market intelligence and your open-to-buy are far more powerful together than either is alone.
Working with the right advisor is a "stamp of sophistication" that opens doors to brands you couldn't reach on your own.
That's what our new partnership with Deziem is built to solve.
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Specialty Retail and the Art of Smart Buying: A Conversation with Kate Rowan of Desium — Webinar Transcript
Dane Cohen: Okay, hello everyone. It is good to have you all joining us for what is a very special conversation this week that I've been looking forward to for quite some time. It is such an exciting conversation. that we brought Marc Weiss on to introduce our guest. Wendy Tanner was just on with him. That's Marc Weiss. Hi, Wendy, good to see you, but we're gonna put you on, the camera off. That's okay. And, Marc, why don't we introduce our guest today? I know you wanted to say a few words.
Marc Weiss: Yeah, I mean, we have a lot of growing partnerships, and this one is, I'm particularly excited about. I've really gotten to get to know Kate, over the last couple of months as we've worked out our relationship. We were excited to bring this to our clients because The need for information on, you know, listen, you're all in the business of selling product, and having the right product, is… is what Kate does for her clients. We're about bringing it in at the right time, and how much, and all of that, but this is a great intersection, because having the right product, having somebody who's in the market, living it, talking to both vendors and retailers at the same time, totally engrossed in it, is just a huge advantage for a new retailer. So, we're excited to have this relationship. Kate is impressive as, not just, her talent and understanding the market, but the way she thinks about business, the way she thinks about brands. I think they all flow in together, and I just wanted to be here to introduce her and share that, and the energy that she'll bring to you and your clients, I think, will be just something that will more than give you a tremendous return on your investment. So, thank you, and thanks for joining us, Kate.
Kate Rowan: Thank you, Marc.
Dane Cohen: Okay, so, before we, kick off, I do want to just, remind everyone, first off. We will, of course, be sending a recording of this, so we hope you stay for the entire conversation, but if you have to jump off early, we know how retail goes. We will, of course, be sending out a link so that you can watch the recording. Additionally, we will be in the chat, so if you have any questions, put them in the chat. We love to hear from you, we love to interact. I'll try to weave them into our conversation, or we can save them for the end. We'll save some time for Q&A at the end. So, again, you could either put them right in the chat, or we do have a Q&A feature here. And so, those are some of the ground rules. Alright, let's jump in, Kate. So, I'm gonna embarrass both of us for a second.
Kate Rowan: Oh, good! Great way to jump off, let's do it!
Dane Cohen: It's a great way to start, and I think, and if I could speak for you, I think, you know, Management One and Desium have had a mutual business crush on each other for a while. And I know that, you know, we've respected what you do for so long, and then finally, a lot of our clients have said. we gotta get you two together. And so, now it's… now it's official. So, it's… it's really been a culmination of a lot of conversations, a lot of industry talk, so we're just so excited to be partnering with you and… and having you kind of chat through it with us today.
Kate Rowan: Likewise, thank you.
Dane Cohen: Okay, but let's, let's kind of start and, and, at the beginning, right? Kate, you're one of the chicest people I know in the industry.
Kate Rowan: Oh, update.
Dane Cohen: Come on, you're coming live from Paris. How did this all start? What was kind of your start in the industry? I'd love to kind of know how you got into things and how you are where you are today.
Kate Rowan: Yeah, you know, it's funny, I kind of recently realized that a lot of times I talk about the beginning of my career as being when I started working in fashion in New York, which was in merchandising, and it was super organic. Like, my first merchandising job was at J.Crew in the heyday era. Sat right in front of Mickey Drexler's office, and he would come out and asking questions until you couldn't answer another one, and that was, like, my foundational merchandising training, and I didn't even know that merchandising and buying was a job until I landed in it. Like, now I hire women who go to college for that, and that was never the case for me, I just was super lucky to land there, but going back so much farther, like, I worked retail all through high school. I worked in specialty boutiques in my hometown. And then I helped my mom open her own specialty boutique as well, and, you know, went to market as a 15 through 18 year old, and set up a stock room, and, like, learned what it meant to work with vendors, and did all these things that, like. I never thought would touch my, kind of, long-term career. I went to school for journalism, so did this whole fashion career, went to school for journalism, and then, you know, after 13, 14 years working in corporate. my last job, you know, I'd been very much on the buying and merchandising side, mostly in retail, but certainly as I got higher up, and I was leading divisions, I was interacting with the wholesale team a lot, and, you know, driving product decisions and talking through buys, and I was seeing the difference in the buys between a department store and a specialty retailer, and being like, my god, the volume that these specialty stores are doing is incredible. And then would see the people who were coming in who were the buyers, and the buyer is… the store owner. She doesn't have a big team. You know, I'm sitting there with my team of, like, 12 direct report merchants, 6 planners, a couple buyers, a full design team, and so I kind of connected the dots of this disconnect that, of course, I knew, having seen my mom do it, of like, you are a one-woman show. But seeing these women coming in, and… The vast majority of my clients are women, who have started their own business, and really doing it all themselves, and obviously needing support in certain places, but maybe not having the resources, time, or even, like, knowing that it's available to them. to bring someone on to support in the buying, merchandising, brand strategy, planning piece. So, I recognize that disconnect, and, you know. when I left my world of corporate, got into it pretty quickly, and approached… it was very much like outreach for me, and approached stores that I knew and liked, and many of which I'm still working with 5 years later. But the biggest thing for me was feeling like leaving the corporate world, where I really felt like a body in a chair, and I was working 14-hour days and, you know, for a singular brand, and knew I was working as hard as I possibly could, but didn't necessarily feel the results of it, and… Being able to work with these stores on an individual basis, not only is it never a dull moment, because of course, every business is completely their own beast, but it's so rewarding to be able to interact with these founders and business owners, and feel like you're really able to support them in a meaningful way, and see the results through to the sales. So…
Dane Cohen: Yeah, by the way, I was a journalism, I went to journalism school as well, so obviously there's… there's something…
Kate Rowan: You know, friends.
Dane Cohen: into the fashion world. Okay, so there's something that you said there that really kind of hit me, and that's the difference between the way a specialty store buys and the way a, you know, department store buyer is executing a market. And for so much, I think a lot of brands, right, they emerge through specialty stores, right? Their businesses are built on the backs of specialty retailers. So, you know…
Kate Rowan: Now more so than ever.
Dane Cohen: More so than ever now.
Kate Rowan: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Dane Cohen: Of course. So, you know, what does it mean for a specialty retailer to be out in front, right? Because it's all about freshness, it's all about. You know, being ahead, what is that… what is that competitive difference that a specialty retailer that's taking risks and bringing in new brands, what could that do for a business?
Kate Rowan: Yeah, I think that, you know, on the buy side, it certainly takes some guts to be willing to step out and work with a new brand and trying things that are untested, but there are a lot of boutiques that come to mind who have, like, gained notoriety in doing so. there's a lot to be said, too, for just being a strong partner to brands, which I know I have a couple of my clients on the call right now, that we've really worked to build those relationships with, and, like. As we know, everyone talks in the industry, so when we're working with brands and building business. if a store is coming in to a new potential brand, they're going to have a conversation with someone who's already working with them. How are they as a partner? You know, what is their buy cadence like? Do they have the kind of, like, knowledge and team behind them to really grow the business together? I think one of the things that I talk about with brands a lot when we go in and have conversations on behalf of our stores is, like. there's a lot to be said for the fact that a store is serious enough about their business that they invest in us to bring them in and help them grow and get to that next level. And that's something that they really care about, knowing that they're not going to be someone who comes in, dips in for a season, and then doesn't care about continuing it. So there's definitely the sort of reputational piece. And then spending time with the numbers to understand not only what's working, but what's maybe missing, and that goes… for both the brand and category front. So, you know, the M1 data, what we're seeing at the market, So spending time with both of those pieces, I think, is super important.
Dane Cohen: Yeah, and I think touching on, you know, the brand. You know, vendor-retailer relationship right now. How has that evolved, right? Because what we're seeing now is, you know. in a post-COVID, post-kind of tariff, you know, the landscape has changed a lot between that relationship. You know, a lot of vendors are going into, you know, their own D2C channels and really trying to deepen there. How has that kind of impact distribution, the relationship, you know. That must be an intricate, you know, web to weave in those relationships.
Kate Rowan: Yeah, it's a conversation that I have with my stores a lot, There's a few brands that come to mind in particular who are big volume drivers, who… you know… again, there's… I think there's a lot to be said for when I'm in the showroom having conversations with the team versus what the team maybe is willing to say directly to the store owner, where I'm like, hey, I saw that you guys opened a store XYZ, are you continuing that? What does that look like for the next year? Do you have… where are your, you know, future retail locations? Because that does impact the store, and I actually… I did a, like, a poll on my Desium Instagram recently about that, just kind of like, you know, we have a big following of store owners, ones that work with us and don't, and there was… so much feedback around, like, the second a brand opens a store in my district, county, whatever, without letting me know, it's a non-starter, we're done with them. And unfortunately, we've seen such a disconnect between the retail and wholesale teams, that that often happens, and, like, the wholesale team, maybe it's not their fault, like, maybe they weren't informed of it, but it is the brand, it is… the onus is on the brand. And so, you know, I think that… leverage sits with the store. There are so many good brands out there who, by the way, because of the mess that is department store land, really are leaning more so on the specialty store business, so they… they need that volume. So… if a brand is not being a good partner, like, we look to other resources, we pull back on the buy, we're strategic about how we actually grow that, because if they're not willing to partner with us, we're not going to continue to invest our dollars. Like, I always say, it's not monopoly money, like, it's an investment, and so… I think that's… that's a huge piece. We talk about it every season, too, like, the importance of the brands. Knowing who we are, interacting with us appropriately in a showroom, like, having a basic understanding of the business is just so basic, but it's so critical.
Dane Cohen: Yeah, and so, you know, I want to roll back for just one second and really get a full, like, a full understanding of how you're supporting your clients, because I think that there is kind of this traditional view of what a buying office was, right? That in the kind of aughts and the 90s was such a big and specific thing, and I think people probably still carry over some of that, you know, they still apply it to maybe when they're thinking of something like Desium, but how has that evolved? How is… how is there a different. Relationship that you have with your clients that kind of sits outside of what that traditional view of a buying office is.
Kate Rowan: Yeah, I think we still, you know, we refer to ourselves as a buying advisory, so that that term sort of, like, rings true or resonates with people, but you're right in that what we do is very much beyond that, and it goes back to… what I mentioned of, sort of, why I concepted it in the first place, of the resources that I had in a corporate environment, and realizing that there was absolutely none of that for that specialty store customer. So… what we always say is that our business is a la carte. We know that one size does not fit all. Every single business is different. Some people want us to come in, and we do weekly, you know, weekly calls, weekly reporting, we're in the business, full market coverage for them. Others are like, we actually just want to have a call once a month to talk about the business, talk about trends, do brand outreach. so I'm super, you know, that's super important for me, for our clients to know that we will come in and fill in the gaps wherever you feel like you need them. It's not like. pick package A or package B. We want to make sure that we're filling in the gaps in a way that is useful and beneficial to that particular store owner. And kind of the sky's the limit, you know, I have a team of super talented buyers and planners, and their backgrounds are everything from specialty stores to, you know, the Neimans and Bergdorfs and Adaporte of the world. I was in largely singular brands, so, like. We have all of the tools and resources, but it's not something that we're gonna… force on any particular store. It's really what they need. So, on the, sort of. market and product side. Yes, we can absolutely do the market scheduling piece that is, you know, I think usually connected with the traditional buying office, if you will. Do that in our sleep, no problem. But we also, you know, we're at international and domestic markets, so we are… not only doing brand scouting, looking at the evolution of the collection season over season, but we're having conversations on behalf of our stores. Like, if we have a distro issue that needs to be addressed, again, going back to what I'm saying before, like. my being in the room versus the store on their behalf. We hear… we receive so much more, like, real talk.
Dane Cohen: than if it was…
Kate Rowan: you know, I'm sort of the middle woman, and I think that's super helpful, because then it allows us to action better on getting to the results we need, so… Having conversations on behalf of her.
Dane Cohen: in a way that kind of does bridge the gap between that, you know, kind of traditional buying office, you have leverage, right? You speak for a lot of retailers, and you have collective power, you have collective buying power, so when you're having that conversation. With a brand, with a vendor, there's different context around it.
Kate Rowan: Yeah, you know, and I think the other piece of that is we're not just coming to them and saying, hey, XYZ stores carry you, it's like. hey, you know, I do a million at retail with you annually in X number of stores, and here is how we're helping you in building out your budgets in an efficient way, and picking product that's gonna sell through so that the stores aren't coming back and asking for RTVs, and like. really getting in the weeds of the product. So, we built a lot of great partnerships that way. I mean, there's always gonna be… you know, bumps in the road, but that's been really great. And then just, like, what we were talking about before of introducing newness. By virtue of being at markets, and our stores are everything from contemporary to advanced contemporary to designers, so we're seeing You know, sometimes up to, like. 200 brands a season, depending on what season it is. So, always following market, our stores are not only saying, like, hey, did you see XYZ, one of our top 5 brands, and what did you think about it? They're also, like. I need a handbag resource. What did you see? I need new day dresses. Send me some thoughts. Like, what was this one thing you put up a picture of? So, we're constantly bringing in newness and ways to kind of inject some excitement into our stores.
Dane Cohen: And when you…
Kate Rowan: Sorry, go ahead.
Dane Cohen: when you talk about, you know, you're talking a lot about the markets you're going to, could you just give us kind of, like, a brief, you know, kind of… I know you're going into Paris next week, Paris Market next week, which is supposed to be a heat wave, so good luck.
Kate Rowan: Insight, yeah.
Dane Cohen: Good luck. What markets are you covering, right? You know, give us kind of the breadth. Of, you know, where your eyes are across the globe, really.
Kate Rowan: Yeah, we're at New York every season. Paris every season. Milan at least twice a year. London usually once a year. I did Bogota last year, Copenhagen, I'll do Copenhagen again this year. And what's interesting is, like, there's so many fashion weeks happening across the world, so, like, we had Athens Fashion Week reach out to us, there's one in South Africa, and… because I love that exploratory element, I'm always open to that, like, if they're willing to partner and kind of, you know, meet us halfway, as far as the trip itself, like, that's such huge upside for our stores, to have early access to interesting brands, and I like that. I like supporting new and emerging brands, not just, like, the big ones who are already driving all the volume and everyone's seen before. So, yeah.
Dane Cohen: Yeah. So, okay, I'm gonna… I'm gonna potentially let you have your Cerulean blue moment right now, but, you know, if I'm a contemporary women's retailer, you know, based in, the States, and I'm listening right now, and… I don't buy in Paris markets. That's way kind of outside of what I do, right? I'm going to maybe Coterie, that's my… my buying show, I work directly with vendors. how is all this impacting me? Paris market, Milan, like, I sit a little outside of that. Why do I need to be involved in this?
Kate Rowan: We have those conversations a lot, especially some of my stores who are, like, thinking they're ready to dip their toe into European markets, but aren't quite sure. You know, when I'm in New York, I'm largely there going to market appointments with my stores, I make it a point to always join them for a couple. It's so good to see, like, how are they using the market tools that we provided? How do they buy? How do they think about the product and their customers? So that's in New York. And then… for European markets, you know, my sort of, like, Paris pitch is that I just find it to be way more exploratory and aspirational. There are always going to be brands who show here who don't show in the US. and for better or for worse, like, I don't really think that it's right, but a lot of brands will say, sort of like, if that store doesn't travel to Europe, like. are they even serious? Kind of a thing, which, you know, I'm saying, are you guys serious? If you're not going to New York, that's where all of my stores who do crazy volume are actually going, so it's a two-way street for sure, but there's kind of, like, early access to newer and interesting brands. And then, for something like a smaller Milan market, like, I might have a brand, I don't know, like the Double J, for instance, that only shows in Milan, and I have a store who either already carries them or wants to see them. You can't… Brands like that, and a lot of brands in general, you can't just, like… reach out, send an email, and hope that you can start carrying them. Like, you need someone to show up in the flesh, have the conversation about the business, especially with Italians, like, you gotta have a coffee, sit down, like, talk about what they're doing for the summer, and… and have someone there on the ground. So we do a lot of market coverage, like. if someone doesn't want to travel to Milan for just that one appointment. But the Paris piece, I think there's just, again, a lot of upside for seeing newness, and frankly, like. a lot of my clients didn't travel to New York for June Market, and when we looked at, sort of, the crossover of who they could see when they came to Paris, like, most of their brands also show in Paris, so it's kind of an opportunity to do it in place of, as well.
Dane Cohen: Yeah, and then what about a store where it's, like, a European market is just really not right for them, right? That it's just outside of the types of brands they are carrying. How could they learn from what's coming out of Paris and Milan market. Like, how could that make a difference for their bottom line by understanding, kind of, where the market is shifting to, or what's happening in the market, you know, outside of, kind of, maybe their even ecosystem?
Kate Rowan: Yeah, I think it still informs trends, but… you know, the bulk of what's happening, I think, is really an advanced contemporary, and there's always conversation about, sort of, like. how designer trickles down into that, but the amount of volume that we are doing in the advanced contemporary market, like, New York… New York covers everything, as far as what most of my stores need to see in that vein, so I think the Paris Milan thing is, like, it's value-add, you know? I can share insights from that, it's not, like, it's a nice-to-have. But… the New York piece and coverage there is… Is sufficient for people who aren't, like, reaching for that.
Dane Cohen: Well, and then there's the benefit of just being ahead of knowing, right? It's very hard for someone who's not involved in that to really understand what's emerging from these markets, and, you know, that's the trickle-down effect, and I think people, like, miss that. I remember there's a lot of stores And when you sometimes go to, you know, are speaking with retailers that maybe aren't in the most progressive markets, you're like, tell me about the trend that I'll start carrying in a year, right? Because they feel like they're a little… but, you know, for coastal stores, for, you know, more trend-forward stores anywhere in, you know, the States. you have to be aware of what's coming, right? You have to be there riding that wave. And I think, you know, that's… you know, I'm now a subscriber to the Desium Digest, right? It is wildly informative, and even just being connected into that gives me that, like. That, like, you know, the tsunami warning before it's, like, on the shore, and everyone else is doing it.
Kate Rowan: fully. And that's something that I say all the time. My clients who are on the call have heard me say this a million times, but I also say this whenever I'm talking to any store owners, like, what is… like, I'm a… I love product, of course, like, I'm a data nerd, so when I start seeing a trend happening in one or two of our stores. no matter where they are, like, at the stores we work with, all over the country, huge range in volume, product mix, customer, when I start seeing a trend. Whether it's a category uptick or a brand that's starting to drop off, I can be 97% sure that that's going to trickle down to the balance of the portfolio. And so I can use that to inform everyone else, to kind of get ahead of it, like, let's not continue buying this brand the same way that we've been charging into the past two years, because I think it's on a downslide, and rather than, like. finding out after the fact, when you've already bought into it and have it on the floor, I think that's a massive advantage. And I think the missing piece, too, of having, like. that store network that we work with is all of these, again, one-woman show business owners are operating in a silo, so a lot of the conversations we're having is like. who… is it… are other people having a tough June? What are people doing for events? Like, what's the marketing program? Is everyone traveling for June Market? Like, there's just a lot of ways that we can… share information that's mutually beneficial without it, you know, negatively impacting anyone. So I think that's a huge upside, too, to having access to our network.
Dane Cohen: Yeah, and I also think… I'm curious about your take on this, but I also think that a lot of… and let's say we're looking at retailers in that contemporary and better contemporary space, I think that there's a lot of hesitation to really step into higher price points, and not really realizing that their customer Would follow them into… higher price points, and maybe some brands that are starting to push that and testing that. And when you think of some of the iconic American retailers who have really kind of pushed designer forward, like, if you look at, like, a Lori Hirschleifer in Long Island, if you look at a Tootsie's, like, there is so many examples of real great, like, American stores in local communities that are able to really push fashion forward. It's a real… so, like, what would you say to a retailer that's scared of, kind of, making that jump into a higher price point, or bringing in that, you know, kind of, higher-end brand that they feel is out of reach for their customer?
Kate Rowan: another conversation I have all the time, and frankly, like, I've had a couple of my stores, largely some of my older clients, that, like, when they came to me initially, that was their task for me, of, like, I want to get to that designer level, how do we get there? So, a few things. The first being. you have to test and learn. If you are not willing to see what your customer responds to and understand how high is high, you're not going to know if there is a pushback or not. I also think there's a huge amount of… you know, variation by category. They're maybe not willing to pay as much for a basic cashmere sweater as they are for a, you know, event dress, but it is store-specific, and the timing and the brand value and all that has to be right. So I'm a big, big proponent of test and learn. If you don't, you won't know. So we do that with a lot of our stores, and I think many of them have been pleasantly surprised by, like, wow, we've had no pushback on this price point, and of course, unless you're… if you're not, like, knocking down walls, growth has to come from somewhere, and, you know. Turn and inventory profitability, all that good stuff is important, but if one unit can work harder, then great.
Dane Cohen: Wait, Kate, I'm going to stop you for a minute, because that was so quotable. If you're not… if you're not knocking down walls, growth has to come from somewhere. I love that. That is… that is a great, takeaway to walk away from this… this with. And right, like, increasing price points, moving in new directions, trying, testing, it is so central to the retail experience, and I think especially coming off of times where, right, right now, I think we're kind of in, like, an uptick moment. of the market. Like, it just feels really good out there in the industry. Numbers are looking strong. You know, despite some. some issues around gas prices and price increases, the economy is feeling fairly stable. I know that people are going to jump at me for saying that, and I think.
Kate Rowan: That's my husband today.
Dane Cohen: And I know that, you know, when we have those, like in 2024, when there was… and then, you know, bleeding into the tariffs, and when there becomes those really uncertain moments, it's like, I have to freeze, I can't try anything new, I… you know, retailers kind of get frozen. And so this feels like such an opportune time to kind of really start… Pushing and challenging yourself.
Kate Rowan: I think you kind of have to, too, because, Guinness. many of my store friends listening know, we're seeing our, you know, brands that we've been working with, yes, they are a top 5 volume driver for the past 3 years, whatever, but, like, raising product, or raising prices on the same product we've been selling for the past few years, so… a customer is going to come in and know what a certain style that she's been buying the past couple years from a known brand should be, and is going to feel way more price resistance to that than if we bring something in that's new, interesting, she hasn't seen before, and she understands the quality and the value in it. So, yeah, I think there's a lot of opportunity to kind of push off the nonsense.
Dane Cohen: Okay, I'm gonna go into some rapid-fire questions, but before I do…
Kate Rowan: Were those not rapid-fire already?
Dane Cohen: Before I do, you know, we have a lot of mutual clients, right? And there are a lot of mutual clients on this call, I'm sure. By the way, I'd love to hear from anyone in the chat. If you have questions for Kate, myself. Or even if you just want to say hi, if you're a mutual client, we'd love to hear from you. If you're a designated client management one, say hello. And so, we have a lot of mutual clients, and before… You know, kind of became official, and we're going to be finding ways to work together. How do you view this all in the context of financial budgets? Obviously, you are looking at within your own advisory, but how do you put that together with the open-to-buy, the planning, the forecasting that's coming out of us here at Management One? Like, what's your view of kind of making that a 360 Process for your retailers.
Kate Rowan: Yeah, I think that… obviously, just from what I've been talking about, like, the brand piece is so important for me. So the… one of the components that we layer on is the budgets by brand, in addition to by category. But also, from a market prep perspective, so budgeting each season, we're really digging into the… category selling by brand, the SKU targets, you know, the good, better, best, all the things that you need to understand, like, when you walk into the showroom with a certain brand, here are my five best sellers for this time last year, here was the margin to sell through, here are the categories I need to focus on, here's what I don't need to buy from them, like, everything you need to go in and feel comfortable with the buy, which I think has been I think our cheat sheets have been the most valuable tool for our clients who, before, would kind of walk into a showroom and be like. we know we like this brand, or we know it's good, but, like, I guess we'll just pick the product that we like, and it really gives them the direction to kind of go and feel more confident with that, and then have your numbers to go back and tie into what does that look like from a category perspective, a total spend. Which again, you know, we do, but I think working together is going to be super beneficial for having both sides of that. I think, too… you know, the in-season piece, the way that you guys have the open buy numbers refreshed so frequently, it's like, that's equipping them with the numbers that they need on the category front, top line, but for us to be able to go in on a monthly basis and say, like, hey, it's actually the… you know, Tanya Taylor skirts that are driving, and it's this particular style, which we know is blowing out everywhere else, so can we go out on ATS? And, like, getting a little bit more into the weeds of the in-season piece, I think, is super complimentary. And then also the brand side of that, of prepping them for market, of introducing… filling the gaps. Like, one of the biggest things we do with new stores is looking at their current brand matrix and being like, hey, why do you not have these other 5 brands based on what we know sells adjacent to them, typically? So, yeah, all super complimentary, I think.
Dane Cohen: Yeah, and I love the example that you gave, and I'm gonna give a personal anecdote from my, days in retail. You know, that example that you gave of you're seeing drop-off already with some of the, you know, higher-end European stores, and you know that's gonna eventually trickle down. Like, usually that cascades, right? And on my end, and, you know, we had a brand that we would carry that they were they were one of our best brands. And by the way, I get very… I get very, skeptical when someone says, it's my best brand. Like, what does that really mean, right? There's so much nuance there. Is it your best selling? Is it your best, you know, cash ROI? Is it your best loss leader? Like, what does that mean? But there was a brand that we always did historically very well with. And… You know, one season, their collection just looked like absolute dog poop. Right? Yeah. And a buyer of mine went in. Bought the entire collection, and it landed in the store, and sales tanked, and we were like. what happened here, right? Well, I had open to buy, I just spent it there, right? And so, that's the nuance of, you know. pairing your budgets and an understanding of what level of inventory you need to be at, but not just spending that indiscriminately, right? Spending that where it should go, not to where it has always gone.
Kate Rowan: where it should go based on the numbers, but also where your gut is telling you. Like, I just got off a call before this with one of my clients who has been working with very well-known brand for a while, and she's like, I went into the… and mind you, you know, we've reviewed year-to-date numbers that are down, all that good stuff, and she's like. I went into the showroom, and I felt like I was just forcing it, and again, I used my… it's… it's not monopoly money, it's… it's your investment, so if you're feeling that way, like, we're excited about these other four brands that are up triple digits year-to-date, and like, let's shift things around. You have to be able to be flexible, and… certainly on a season-to-season basis, we know that. There are certain brands who are so strong spring, summer, and, like, try to knock out a resort moment, and it's just not working, and you know you have to be able to flex that. Like, it can't be… until you've seen the product, you can't, like, have those numbers baked, so I think Being ready to be flexible, leaving some dollars open is so important.
Dane Cohen: Yeah, and I'm gonna give… I'm gonna give a little bit of a… maybe a silly story here, but it's one that, like, saved me. I really am being genuine here, and that is the power of, like, what Kate can do for your business. And, you know, the power that someone… the time you can save with understanding, having someone understand the market so well… I… my brother is getting married in 10 days. And I have been searching… I've been asking every friend, every person, talking to AI for hours about, like, what do I get my new sister-in-law, right? Like, what's a little… within 5 minutes, Kate wrote back, and it was like. That is perfect. Like, gave me the idea. I… and then Kate, I sent it out to a few of my girlfriends. I was like, would this be something you would love?
Kate Rowan: Is that my concept? Are you kidding me?
Dane Cohen: And then…
Kate Rowan: My title was, this is it, period, the end, no question.
Dane Cohen: And they were all like… that's what they all said. They were like, who told you about this? How did you know? This is incredible. Get this right now. And again, this was, like, weeks of agony and not knowing, and I know this sounds a little bit silly, but that is, like, having someone on your side that knows, like, has your blind spot like that, that understands this, and can speak direct to you, that's a really powerful thing to have on your side. So, thank you for my trend forecast.
Kate Rowan: I love… I love that you saved that for now, too.
Dane Cohen: I know. I can't say what it was, I could, someone asked, what was it? I could only reveal it after the wedding, because then if she's watching.
Kate Rowan: Oh yeah, true, you can't spoil it. A gorgeous, a gorgeous brand, and bridal, and beautiful, and just, like, chic.
Dane Cohen: Chic. Chic, chic, chic. Okay, we have a question, in the chat. Do you recommend stores go to Europe in order to find new and unheard of brands that are not here in the U.S? and at so many… that they're not in the U.S. and not… aren't at so many, trade shows. Isn't everywhere… isn't everything everywhere now?
Kate Rowan: No, no, absolutely not. I mean, there are showrooms that my stores go to every season in New York that have brands that only show in Paris, and every season I'm like, guys, when are you coming to New York? Still not gonna do New York yet. So, like, even the more established showrooms have brand partnerships that aren't here yet, and then there is so much to see of brands that are… smaller, and just don't have the budget to do both, you know, they're European-based, so it's much more cost-effective for them to show here, and they don't understand necessarily the full impact of being in New York, too. there are a lot of questions, you know, the number… my… one of my team members is based here with me, and we're like a broken record when we're going to these showrooms and seeing new brands, and we're like, how many seasons have you been around? Are you landed? Where do you ship from? Like, we have this whole kind of series to kind of get a really baseline understanding of are these people worth the time of potentially putting in front of our stores? Because I never want to take the time to, like, pitch on behalf of these brands, or waste my store's time, but I think there's… for the ones that do have it together, there's a lot of value in, like, the exploratory side of Europe, so…
Dane Cohen: Okay, great. Alright, I'm gonna… I do want to talk a little bit about the partnership, because I think that's really important, and actually how, you know, our clients can engage with Desium, right? And from our end, right, we're going to be offering some planning services to Desium in our partnership to clients that want to opt in, and we could talk more about that, but I want to know what a Management One client can expect. And that is, first off. and I am so excited that this is going to be offered, will be the Desium Digest. And could you… for anyone that's not familiar with Substack, you know, everything's happening on Substack now, it's like the… it's where everyone is, and… Kate, it's going so viral, like, how did you find the formula of the Desium Digest, and what could someone expect when they subscribe, and that will be something that you can do now through… through Management One.
Kate Rowan: Yeah, I've been really overwhelmed, like, so pleasantly surprised with feedback on it. I think, like. something I always talk about is just by being in the data with my stores all the time, but also being at market, having these conversations. seeing… seeing the evolution or lack thereof of brands, like, I have so much that's floating in my brain of what I'm seeing, and any, you know, while I may be having individual store conversations and giving it kind of ad hoc feedback, like. I needed to kind of park it all in one place, and… To the note before of, sort of, the way that a lot of these people are operating in their own individual silos, I think there's so much to be said for offering feedback on what is happening elsewhere. You know, I have a lot of things that I, like, harp on, but for example, like, dresses for all of my stores are the number one volume-driving category, period, the end. However. They are also down year over year. So, the biggest dollar driver, but also the biggest miss year over year. So, what do we do about that? What's happening under the covers? What brands are driving the miss? And then, where do I see upside in making up those dollars? So, that kind of thing is the type of topic that we're discussing there. market recap, so we'll have Paris Market Recap coming out soon. Just kind of like anything that feels of the moment and relevant. So that's the… that's the Desium Digest piece. What else? Was there another…
Dane Cohen: By the way, just imagine that, how impactful that would be when you were saying dresses are down year over year, but, you know, the biggest… imagine how impactful that is when you pair that with your open-to-buy, right? Like, that is just, some major horsepower there. For… for our shared retailers. Okay, and then there's going to be the ability to opt into advisory calls with you, that's one-on-one with you or your team, and so what can someone expect on those advisory calls?
Kate Rowan: I think, you know, for me, it can be whatever the client, going back to that a la carte piece, whatever that client feels that they need. So, I was saying this with one of our stores we meet weekly with the other day, where we might sit down to talk about reporting and prior week performance, but we get on a tangent of, how is, you know, this brand performing in the world of men's? Or, like, are other people seeing softness this month, or whatever it is? And then. I do a lot of, sort of, like, roundups. I was mentioning before, my stores will come to me and say, like, hey, I need… 5 new resources for entry price point sunglasses, or whatever it is. So, the brand scouting piece, the feedback from market, the, you know, I'm thinking about picking up this brand, A, do you like it? Do you see it performing in other places? And B, do you have a contact there? Can you make that introduction? So, a lot of what we do is being that third party of reaching out to the brand, giving a proper introduction, taking the time to be like, here are store photos, they're working with us, here's why we think they would be great, getting the real feedback as to whether or not it could be a go-forward partnership, and then making that introduction. So I think there's a lot of room for brand intros there, but… again, like, asking the questions that are really tailored to their individual businesses that they feel is maybe, like, a knowledge gap that I, you know, hopefully, again, with the network that we have, I'm able to sort of weigh in on.
Dane Cohen: Yeah, so I… it's funny, because in the same way that, like, when you… when you work with Management One and you go and you're buying from a vendor, there… there's, like, almost like a stamp of financial savvy on your business. When you are working with Desium and you're going to a vendor, there's almost, like, a stamp of sophistication to the business, and that is a really, big thing, and I know this, you know, I used to… run men's sales at Helmut Lang, and there would be stores that would come to us and we would just say no, and they wouldn't understand why we were rejecting their business, and that is because I can't tell my story as a brand through your point of view as a retailer. They're just not matching, so… We're gonna go into rapid fire a little bit. This is the first rapid-fire question. What could a store do to stand out to a retailer, or show… what could a store do, a retailer do, to show a brand that they kind of fit in their… In their store.
Kate Rowan: Well, that's something that we would definitely do with them, so I don't want to give away all the secrets there, but there's so much to be said for how your Instagram looks, what is your brand matrix on your website, like, there's a lot of really basic cleanup type stuff. We put together press kits so that we kind of can control the narrative. Like, if the website isn't up to snuff, or we're, you know, working on things, like, we can kind of control the way that they're seeing it, as opposed to just letting it free fall. So that… I'm gonna say that will come from working with us.
Dane Cohen: Okay, great. So, chic or not.
Kate Rowan: That's my thoughts. Chic!
Dane Cohen: Chic! Okay. Trunk shows are not a thing of the past?
Kate Rowan: Trunk shows, and I think, you know, I think more so than trunk shows, it's sort of, like, special event, which this, again, this is another thing that I've been talking about, like, trunk show in the traditional sense of having a rep come and maybe bring an extra 30 pieces, and that's the end of it, that's what you're calling a trunk show, not as exciting as, like. Are we having, you know, it's around Father's Day, so we're having a local bartender come in who's, you know, doing things for mom so that she can shop and gift rec… whatever it is, like, some… an extra touch that makes it feel, like, worthwhile to come in. I had a store do a big Mahjong event that was a huge hit. Book signings that tie to fashion, or brands that we're selling in the store. So, like, making it a little bit more community-based and holistic, not, like, just fashion.
Dane Cohen: Right, and I think, by the way, I think experiences like that also allow you to start you know, I want to say this in the right way, allow you to start pushing that price point up in your store, because you're becoming more than just a commodity-based business, right? You're an experience-based business, and it all kind of layers into that, and starts to build, that overall image. Okay, in-person buying appointments versus virtual buying appointments.
Kate Rowan: We had a lot of conversations about this this past June, because, like I said. a lot of my stores skipped in person. The biggest piece for me is what percentage of your business comes out of Q4? So, Q4 is your biggest quarter, go to New York and see this product in person. You're going to be buying a lot. It's important to see and touch and feel it, like. If you have a teeny tiny budget, and you're buying from 3 brands, and they're ones you feel comfortable with over virtual, then do it that way. But to me, it really does tie to how important is this time period for your business?
Dane Cohen: Okay. Pasta in Milan, or a baguette in Paris?
Kate Rowan: Oh my god, that's actually so hard, because I.
Dane Cohen: Good.
Kate Rowan: I'm, like, not a pasta person, I eat it every day and come on. But, like, baguette in Paris, come on.
Dane Cohen: Done. Alright, well, we want to open it up to questions. If there's any questions from our, audience today, please, you have Kate and I for the next… next few minutes. And so, Kate, is the thing, that you want to leave us in anything that you're excited about right now? In the industry, and we could, you know, you could take that anywhere. Is there anything that, you know, is kind of really getting you going these days? Anything that you see as a big challenge on the horizon? What would be some words of wisdom you would have to the audience today?
Kate Rowan: Yeah, I don't want to talk about challenges, because I think that… I'm so excited for the state of where specialty retail is right now. Like, it's what I built my business on 5 years ago, like, seeing this upside, and I've been lucky enough to, like, ride the wave of the falloff of department stores and the importance of these businesses and brands recognizing that. So I've been, like, so lucky to grow alongside these specialty stores who have gained, you know, buying power and respect and all these things that come with the way they've grown their own businesses, and I think for me, I want my clients and everyone who is an independent boutique owner to capitalize on and recognize that. Just because you are not Shopbop, Neiman Marcus, whatever it is, like. you, in fact, might be placing more than they do, and you certainly are more reliable from a buying perspective, and I think that store owners need to Kind of, like, recognize and stand in their power in that sense, because it's not going to stop, like, that is just going to gain momentum.
Dane Cohen: Preach. Amen. And by the way, I think you see that in a lot of different places, and I'm gonna give you, like, the Nike example. It's probably the biggest, kind of, obviously a different market, but probably the biggest lesson learned, and look where Nike sits right now, they are not the hottest footwear brand, they are not the hottest, athletic brand right now, and that is because they turned their backs on specialty retail. And they said, we're too big, we have our own distribution channel. we're in every… we're in Dick's Sporting Goods. Whoop-de-doo, Nike. And you know what they lost? They lost the trust of the customer through the power of that specialty store network. And it is the same thing in the designer world, in the contemporary world, in the advanced contemporary world. You know, and I say this at every conference I speak at. Retailers are the original influencer. Specialty retail stores are the original influencers, right? Towns, you're in communities, and you're editing and curating your assortments, and showing that customer what's new now and next.
Kate Rowan: Yeah, it's been fascinating. I think the designer market has been the biggest canary in the coal mine of that, of, like, me being in showrooms with luxury brands who I know 3 years ago would not have even entertained a conversation, and now are actually coming to us for some of these stores, because they see… well, first of all, they've obviously lost business with a lot of those major retailers, but they see the value in the the growth potential and consistency that comes from these specialty retailers, and the ability to control the storytelling, the brand narrative, that, like, they know that when a store associate in a specialty store is excited about a brand, and we've done a product knowledge training, they're gonna sell it appropriately. It's not a department store that gets, like. shoved in a corner, and it's broken in sizes, and the sales associate doesn't know anything about it, like, it's a totally different selling experience.
Dane Cohen: 100%. Alright, well, Kate, it was such a pleasure having you today. I've been looking forward to this conversation for a long time now, and it did not disappoint. I hope that everyone feels the same. Kate, it is such a pleasure, and we have right here in the chat, if you want to learn more about the partnership, how Management One clients can work with Desium and really tap into this just incredible powerhouse of market intelligence. We have the link there, reach out to us here at Management One, reach out to your retail coach, and we will put you in touch and show you how these two powerhouses of merchandise and financial intelligence, with Kate's market intelligence, and how those two things could come together. So, we thank everyone for being here. It was a pleasure, thank you so much.
Kate Rowan: Thank you, Dane. Thank you, everyone.
Dane Cohen: And thank you for all my personal trend advice, as well. Anytime. Send me the bill. Okay, thanks, everyone. We'll see you next week for our next Management One Live. Thanks so much, everyone.
Kate Rowan: Thank you.