Celtic & Co. in the USA
It’s not often we get an excuse to venture out of our lovely Cornwall, so when yet another email dropped through asking if we can supply Celtic products to a boutique in North America, I jumped at the chance to head over to New York and find out more about how we can make it work.
One of the perks of working in the family business, meant I could go on this exciting adventure with the best partner in crime, Kath our co-founder and Creative lead, or Mum to me. Not only is she the best brand ambassador you could ask for, she’s got the best eye for trends, details and thinking of all sorts of things I wouldn’t even take into consideration, but she also is happy to split all food (meaning we can try even more!) and doesn’t get offended if you dribble on her shoulder mid flight.
We headed straight to the trade show Coterie to see how these differ from our UK trade shows. It was amazing to see 1400 stands of fashion offerings for SS20, loads of lovely bright colours, light textures and leopard print is definitely still going to be in! We had a chat to a few British brands exhibiting and it was great to get their tips on how to attract suppliers in the states.
Combined, we’ve managed to rack up over 150,000 steps over 4 days between us. Mum taught me many years ago that in any new city, learn the public transport very quickly, but then walk as much as you can to really get a feel for the place. We went down to Brooklyn and walked back over the bridge which was lovely. Then wondered through to Soho. Soho had a really nice laid back vibe, definitely growing as a retail destination with some lovely little stores and really warm welcoming staff. We pottered through China town and walked straight into a carnival blocking the streets of Little Italy.
We covered off the Meat Packing district and up the Hudson, before heading back to Mid Manhattan, and even managed to squeeze in a nighttime trip up the Rockerfeller Center. A range of meetings offered a much needed chance to sit down, and having met with a few agents and individuals in the industry, we both returned home excited about the opportunities ahead, as well as inspired from seeing another part of the world, beauty was everywhere within the busy-ness - although the lovely weather definitely helped that! We absolutely would love to continue to grow our international offering, and get Celtic & Co. products on the rails of stores across North America, giving customers the chance to feel how amazing our natural yarns feel as well as look.
I think we can safely say we used every minute of our time in New York and will most definitely be back, but we were both more than ready for a walk on the beach with the dogs listening to the waves rather than car horns and the hustle bustle of the city, although I will miss the pizza! If you are interested to learn more about our wholesale offering or you have any feedback for us on what boutiques you’d like to see us in I’d love to hear from you [email protected].
Clare x