"This Spring I really enjoyed meeting a whole host of interesting people and audiences from the USA, NZ, Australia and South Africa - here are just few observations from my travels..."
Food Trucks of NYC ....and the world next:
Paraphrasing a British politician who once famously said, "if you're looking for work, you'd best get on yer bike!" NYC is now proudly boasting Food Trucks - the brain child of out of work food and restaurant employees, as well as foodies, they are in effect the next step up the evolutionary ladder from the ubiquitous sidewalk food cart. But these Food Trucks have taken street food to a whole new level. From Mexican to Austrian, and from special pork sisig tacos to King Falafel and Shawarma middle eastern delights, these exquisite food offerings announce there intentions and locations on Twitter. Which, when you think about it, is an interesting confection - street food, the oldest form of restaurant, announced on the newest form of communication.
Eataly simply took my breath away:
Positioned appropriately on 5th Avenue and 23rd Street, where most of NYC's streets seemingly meet in a tangled spaghetti, I was encouraged to explore one of the city's latest food phenomena:
WE’RE IN LOVE WITH FOOD....We love high quality in food and drink. We love the stories about it, the people who produce it, the places it comes from.
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| one fixture of eight featuring pasta |
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| wonderful cheese presentation |
Restaurants and unbelievable selections of the very finest produce, if you're passionate about food, retailing or eating or better still, all three, let me encourage you to visit Eataly and allow me to end with the websites own words: Eataly is more than a supermarket with restaurants. It is an energetic marketplace, an opportunity to taste and take home the products of artisans who till, knead and press to bring you the highest quality products at fair price. We have assembled the absolute best Italian producers from every region under one roof and the absolute best chefs to cook their wares; Eataly is the heartbeat of Italy. We want to challenge the idea that quality products are accessible only to a select few. We’ve done it in Italy: Torino, Bologna, Milano, Pinerolo, Asti and Japan: Tokyo, Daikanyama, Mitsukoshi & Gransta, now it’s time to take New York. Our new New York address does not mean we are only about importing. Our bread is made with New York flour, our gelato is whipped up with local dairy and our meat, produce and fish are almost always American. Grazie, America.
Tell them I sent you:
Certainly not the only New York steak house in town, Gallagher's is my favourite. Positioned on 228 W 52nd street, just of Broadway in the heart of the theatre district, it was originally a speakeasy established during the prohibition era. Nick Mckeown and Shane Finnegan are two fantastic waiters who are as knowledgeable about the NYC retail scene as they are about steak. Mention my name, (remind them I'm the English chap writing a book on world retail) you won't get a discount but you will be made to feel very welcome by these Irish gents and if they're not too busy, you're guaranteed to learn what's happening in this most fascinating of world cities.The influence of the railway:
It is hard to imagine just how much people's lives were changed by the arrival of the 'iron horse' to their villages, towns and cities. We listen, in open mouthed amazement, about the the digital revolution and how it affects our lives....but in truth I'd never really given enough thought to being able, for the first time, to transport people, animals and goods in unbelievably short periods of time - it must have seemed like an impossibly convenient dream come true - more akin to a modern day "beam-me-up" Scotty of Star Trek fantasy! I'd never deeply thought about the grand impact of the railways until I saw, this April, the manifestation of its arrival in America's capital city, Washington's Union Station. A stunning piece of architectural grandeur speaking quietly and eloquently to the railways importance in society. Indeed when you think about it, I was born into a steam train age (in the 50's) and now enjoy the information super highway with communication tools including Facebook. A truly extraordinary compression of time - so easy to take innovation for granted ....when you don't think about it!Homogenised shopping!
Probably the biggest complaint I hear on my global travels is how the high streets and shopping malls have become so similar. It was therefore really refreshing to see, in Westfield's newly opened cathedral to shopping in central Sydney, a special area specifically set aside as a fashion retail incubator. Called '100 Squared' (check-out the link) it is a very real attempt to bring true innovation to a shopping centre. I applaud this initiative from Westfield - a highly successful global shopping centre operator - and it's certainly taking head-on a quip I read whilst at Gibs Business School in Johannesburg which read: when you've seen one shopping centre you've seen them mall! Audacious leadership
Gently sandwiched, on a speaking engagement in Australia, between Professors, Doctors and intellectuals on the subject of 'leadership' at Melbourne's Deakin University Business School, I was particularly taken by a presentation from an extremely talented academic, Marc Jones. Entitled Global Mega Trends - future leadership challenges, Marc eloquently reasoned why the trends he was talking about will, or more accurately are, shaping our world and therefore need to shape leadership. This was very 'BIG' picture stuff: price of oil, environment, societal dynamics etc but what struck me was how all the great retailers of the world were already fully engaged and embracing the issues he was talking about - as commercial entities I suspect retailers are not only thought leaders in these areas but initiators. Proof positive to me of the grand role retail plays in our lives - something that hit me to profound effect when conducting my last interview for my latest book in Khayelitsha, an infamous South African Township on the outskirts of Cape Town.
No naked ambition
As a young child I can remember scraping the ice off the inside of my bedroom window in the early winter mornings. Waking up to this ritual was normal to me and I guess millions of other baby boomers in the depth of wintertime. If nothing else it was testament to the need for warm pyjamas, heavy blankets (the world hadn't woken up to the Scandinavian habit of 'duvets') and the need, sometime-soon, for central heating. And when that sometime-soon arrived I found I, along with most others, were progressively wearing less and less to bed in the depth of winter. Strange then that a retailing phenomenon has swept Australia - the land of warm sun, warm nights and a famed free 'n easy dress code - celebrating nighttime attire and all things associated. Peter Alexander has become hugely successful by wrapping-up his adoring customers snugly at bedtime...and as if acknowledging the irony of everything, his recent award winning VM scheme put a cosy bedtime scene on the ceiling of his stores - turning the market upside down, down-under, no doubt - I love it!I've checked-out the future
It's always struck me the expression self 'check-in' was something of a misnomer. I guess airports and airlines were keen to get rid of one of the things the travelling public hated ....so they simply got us to print our own tickets on-line and then go to a line at the airport called 'bag-drop' - presumably reasoning that if it's not called 'check-in' we'd be happy! Of course I understand there's more to it than that and I applaud the intention....but putting some obvious semantics to one side, Sydney airport and Quantas airlines have certainly embraced the issue. Having printed your boarding pass you can now actually print luggage tags at the airport from a host of automatic machines and not only check yourself in but your luggage too, directly onto a mini conveyor belt...all without having to stand in any line and amazingly quickly. I loved it. All I had to do was promise I wasn't a terrorist to a machine rather than a check-in agent, promise no-one had given me anything untoward and there I was, peeling back my luggage tag like a pro'....lets just hope there won't be any queues at the machines in the future. A true win-win customer service initiative. We don't have to stand in line...and the airlines don't need to have so many check-in staff . And if the machines do get too busy they can easily produce more with the money they've saved on staffing costs....oh and if there's any money left-over after that, they can obviously reduce the price of our airline tickets!I'm confused:
I'm certainly no great respecter of the world's stock markets. They gamble and panic in equal measure. Seemingly discounting prices on the one hand, then over reacting when their predictions are confirmed. They don't understand retail, measure all the wrong things and manage to make a skittish Impala look laid back. I believe in retail you must give a little of today for a lot of tomorrow - but who am I, I can hardly add up and I don't understand the attraction of gambling! But I truly don't understand the success of JB HiFi in Australia and I'm talking success with the customers and success with the stock market. Please don't get me wrong, I love the success this store group is enjoying - it's just that selling discounted electricals, DVDs and CD's just doesn't seem to be cutting it with customers anywhere else in the world. And with the dire predictions of increased downloading and ever present threat from supermarkets stealing sales, I don't get why the institutional researchers working for investors, love JB HiFi too. BUT EVERYONE DOES AND THAT'S JUST TRULY FANTASTIC!
We need more anomalies in retail to keep the gene pool fresh and indeed, I celebrated this myself by buying something there recently. But I can't leave this wonderful success story without mentioning another thing that confuses me.
Surprisingly one of the world's most admired brands and now revered retail operations is supporting JB HiFi too. I was literally gob-smacked to see the ubiquitous chunky light-wood fixture boasting merchandise from Apple in one of Perth's city centre stores in Western Australia. Like an alter to impeccable taste amongst frenetic cut-price activity that defines JB HiFi, Apple's presence was as surprising as it was incongruous. If you look hard at my picture you can just make-out the iconic Apple logo. For my part, I know which brand is benefiting most from this surprising marriage.
And talking about Apple:
Again another sub-standard picture from my blackberry - or maybe from its operator - but whilst waiting to board an internal flight from Johannesburg to Cape Town, I saw what was for me, another 'first' from Apple. Here this brand was being presented to the travelling public in a 'pop-up' format alongside one of the domestic departure gates. They just seemed to have pushed the seats back and erected some cardboard VM display units. Again nothing overly distasteful about what was happening, but for me not what I expect from an iconic premium brand like Apple - but this is Africa and they do break many of the normal rules of branding to remarkable effect. I realise one of Apple's marketing models is to get as much product into as many hands as possible. But as someone who lectures on the importance of brand, this sight still haunts me - rather like expensive perfume being sold alongside bars of soap in supermarkets........or maybe after seven weeks on the road, I've been away for too long!
Do please let me know your thoughts on anything I've said anywhere on my website - that's how I learn and stay in touch. And once again, to everyone who kindly engaged me around the world to talk about best practice retailing, leadership and customer service... a BIG thank you....maybe see you next time - I love sharing my findings.
