eShave New York

After creating and marketing a collection of sophisticated shaving essentials, Danielle Malka decided it was time to give her line of wet-shaving tools and accessories a place to call home in New York City. She spent months searching for the best location in which to open eShave New York before finally finding the perfect space in midtown Manhattan. Knowing it wouldn't stay available on the market for long, she quickly signed the rental agreement and took possession ofthe keys on July 1, 2007.

The challenge was that eShave New York would be opening in August, one of the slowest months in the retail business. With the holiday season still months away, the eShave team needed to come up with creative solutions to draw in customers.

They decided to have a soft opening during August in which they invited select media to the store to get a “preview” before the official September 10 Grand Opening.

“This way we could start to create buzz early on while still giving us time to quietly introduce ourselves to the neighborhood,” said Malka.

Also during August, they sampled their products to those who came in to visit the store and offered complimentary shaving consultation as a way to educate their new customers. They also reached out to all of their existing clients in New York City, along with local businesses, hotel concierges and general managers, to announce their new store opening and invite them to stop in for a complimentary shaving consultation.

Postcards were mailed to the neighboring apartment buildings offering residents special promotions during the month of August. They also partnered with the local neighborhood association; members of the sales team took the time to formally introduce themselves to the other businesses along the street.

“This grassroots effort helped drive traffic during an otherwise slow period and gave us access to an entirely new segment of customers that we would not have necessarily had access to before opening our store,” said Malka.

The result of all this outreach was sales above projections for the first two months the business was open. This gave eShave New York a strong kick-off just before the holiday season. Malka credits opening the store at a slow time of year with forcing her team to get creative in their marketing efforts.

“Looking back, had we opened at any other time of the year, I don't know if we would have been as successful during the first few months as we had been,” she said. “…Since we experienced the 'retail cycle' in reverse, we've grown accustomed to seeking out unique ways to promote our store with the community and our customers.”