Jeremy Chen
The most common question I get asked after I tell people that I run a Branded Merchandise agency is “How did you get into that?”
It is a fairly unconventional story, but in hindsight tells me a lot about how important it is to always revitalise and mix it up in business. It goes a bit like this:
“Back in 2006 my business partner Tim and I had a Men’s Accessories & Tie business with 6 retail stores and over 100 stockists in Australia. Business was great – until around 2008 the perfect storm hit us of both people stopping wearing ties and cutting retail spending. Our sales literally dropped 92% at one of our stores. Around the same time a leading German carmaker and one of Australia’s biggest banks approach us to do their uniform ties. And then their uniforms. And then their merchandise”
That’s it.
If we had stayed as just a tie company we would be about as extinct as the neck tie. Luckily with a bit of trial and error we evolved, added products and adapted our offering.
We still make ties, but only if a logo is involved!
How are we evolving today? Constantly securing exclusive distribution of licensed products, innovative website product showrooms and a new 3 click customer re-ordering system to name a few changes.
How is your business evolving to stay ahead?
