Day 31

Home and finished with the trip. Next adventure coming soon

Day 30

Met with a few stores. I can't say there was really anything too interesting that happened visiting stores today. Today reinforced the findings I have accumulated on the trip, spent a fair amount of time with the people at Wilkes Bashford. I was referred here by the retail guy from NYC as a good place to visit. 

Also tracked down the contact at Wells Fargo for getting the charity in their matching program, maybe I could have a little luck here but not quite sure if the bank even matches any more. Going to the Tyson movie tonight.

Day 29

Last night made it also to my favorite restaurant in the country, House of Nanking in Chinatown here in San Fran.

Today I just did some tourist stuff here. Made it out to Alcatraz, had some clam chowder in a sourdough bread bowl, a chocolate sundae at Giradellis, and then a movie. Tomorrow I have quite a few trips lined up and will be the last day working. Gonna try and do some ironing tonight and do some work trying to understand how to reach the "sophisticated male market" as San Fran are experts on this demographic. I doubt there will be to many people shopping here on a Wednesday so hopefully the salespeople have some time to chat.

Day 28

Met today with a wine rep and took away a great deal.

After chatting I don't think starting with higher end wine is advisable so I am going to instead try and be as close as I can to $10 and let the cause/label/and wine take it from there. If we can get traction at the lower price point it should be quite easy to transition up to higher quality wines and prices. A good number of cases to start with is 1k. I can get all the answers I need in talking with a compliance officer at the liquer commission. Restaurants would be a good place to speak with regarding carrying the wine, I think we have a great edge for all these charity events with a charity owned wine. Our cost goes up 35% by the time it hits the retail floor and then an additional 30%. If we want to be at $10 then cases should be around $60. Cannot sell on quality alone, this is where everyone is thinking their wine is much better. I need to check up on some importers.

I have a real good idea on the wines. I found a winemaker who I want to talk with. The vinter is second generation but is 25 and won an award the other year for his Malbec. Would be an interesting fit but I am not sure what the wine is priced at.

Day 27

Spent the day going around researching bags. Every high end bag maker is in Vegas and they are all concentrated on the strip which makes doing this pretty easy. I have seen hundreds and hundreds of bags now and probably every weekend bag having been to all the stores in Vegas, and a fair amount in New York, DC, Miami, and Dallas. When all is wrapped up for the market it is the following.

-Two primary markets, one from 600-1200 and one from 1200 up

- Our quality is superior in the first and can compete very well in the second up to 2000

- Our detriment is not having a brand as this is what others are selling off and seems many forgot about their product while building an image

- Our style of bag does not currently exist for the most part in the market, aka understated, clean look, pure leather (no frills), of high quality under the 1k pricepoint

- I went into all the high end chains and asked for the following "Quality leather, looks like a mans bag (no tassles, white, etc.), and a shoulder strap" All of these stores, saks/nordstrom/bloomingdales/barneys/neimans, said they do not have a bag like this.

- Coach and Longchamp had something resembling the bag though there were lots of corners cut on the product. Leather of poorer quality (heavy grain vs soft and smooth), shoulder strap was canvas and bags still didn't look great

- John Varvatos had the closest thing but this bag was at 1700 and still the leather quality wasn't there and look couldn't carry as timeless or young classic

All in all I have a great product for a glaring hole in the market. It should go well

Day 26

Was fortunate to grab an earlier flight out of NYC to Vegas. Didn't really do much other than drop my bags off and headed to the casino till 4 in the morning. Up a little but then lost so I'll try and win it all back tomorrow, plus some (or a lot as it is Vegas).

Day 25

Some good and questionable on the same day. Had a great meeting with a guy who does a fair amount of work for Argentina here in the States. He was very impressed with what I am doing and is going to help connect the idea to the Argentine community. Also good to hear how I will line up with some groups down there, I should probably arrange for a few meetings with the Argentine government and from what I heard what I am working on will be received very well from President Kirchner who it does not sound like a great stretch to sit down with in the future.

I was also contacted by a representative for the US Ambassador in Argentina who is interested in what I am working on. Sounds like I will probably be meeting with them when I go down in the summer. Seems like a fair amount is starting to take shape and the next phase after returning will be starting the funding process but with the support of the guy I met today connecting with ex-pat argentines in america and the Ambassador on top of all the other efforts, seems like it will all come together. I need to follow up on how the first part of fundraising is going as I have a good feeling nothing has been done yet.

I made my first mistake with booking, I booked my ticket to Vegas a day after what I thought so I'm in an airport hotel. Not the most expensive mistake as it keeps me away from the tables for an extra night and by missing early I dont have to do any rebooking fees which are terrible these days. So goes life, tomorrow the trip picks back up. Good trip all in all to NYC.