Insta-retail in NEW YORK & LA 🛍

The line between a companies in-store, in studio or in-office experience and their social media strategies should be seen as a seamless circle. We are really proud to be working alongside Sheridan&Co who, in the year deemed ‘the death of retail’ have worked with brands like FENTY BEAUTY, KAT VON D & Morphe Brushes to create more queues outside stand-alone stores & department stores than ever before. Sheridan&Co are a global retail design agency with offices in Market Harborough, London, New York & Shanghai. Araminta Marketing work with Sheridan&Co on their blog content, email marketing & social media marketing. Last week, we visited their New York office and visited Los Angeles to gain some pretty epic insight from the best in retail into how stores, brands & companies are behaving in these trend-setting states.

Sheridan&Co is a family business started by my parents Michael & Julien Sheridan over 35 years ago. Both of my brothers Freddie & Bertie work in different areas of the business. These 4 people are a big part of the ATEAM support system and are serious #boss inspiration for me.

Anyway.. on the first day in New York Freddie took me on a retail walk to share some key stores where retail design, customer service and Instagrammable moments come together to create a seamless brand experience. It was immediately clear that these elements come together to result in an experience that leaves you feeling connected to a brand beyond enticing that ‘quick purchase’, the following stores are aiming for long term loyalty from their customers. I was really lucky to have this time and perspective from Freddie who has a unique and pretty outstanding understanding of brands so I’d like to share a few of these moments with you alongside insights from discussions we had about each experience.

I remember around 10 years ago doing a similar walk around London with my Dad, Michael Sheridan. We walked into a few stores in Mayfair and when walking out of one particular store I told him I found one or two of the the shops intimidating, mostly because I found the assistants unfriendly. I was a young-un and I almost felt like I shouldn't be there. Michaels immediate response was “it’s a shame for the brand because you’ll remember that and you are their future customer.” He was completely right. Brands have caught up with Michael’s way of thinking (he's like the oracle of retail 😊). This is why companies like Chimera Recruitment are vital as they place friendly, well trained shop assistants onto the shop floor.

Over the coming weeks, I’ll take the time to share each experience with you. I'll be starting with the Dolce & Gabanna New York flagship. Here's why.. 😆