MAPIC 2015: To break into the US retail market successfully you need to be prepared, have local advice and choose your debut location very carefully.
The first decision retailers need to make is whether they choose an urban or a suburban market, delegates at MAPIC 2015 heard at the US retail session: The Big Picture – the US – the world’s most
influential retail market.
Alan Shaw, vice-president, Sears Holdings, said: “There is New York, and then there is everything else. What is important to know is that the majority of sales come from outside of urban areas.”
Although many retailers think of New York for a first choice to enter the US, the NYC market has its challenges.
New entrants such as Primark are setting a new trend for debuting outside the big apple. The UK budget fashion chain opened its first American store in a mall in Boston.
Choosing where you open should depend on who your buyer is, the panel agreed.
“Every brand needs to know their customer well enough to know where their product will be best off,” said Christopher Coughlin, executive vice-president, Acadia Realty Trust.
He added: “There is a level of complexity and leverage that needs to be completed. If it is not thought through carefully, then there can be tremendous failures. That is the nature of our business – it is a very Darwinian process.”
