Last week the Cornish lifestyle brand Seasalt, opened up about it's plans for a roll out of 20 stores across the US over the next 3 years, with the first store opening in New England next summer.
Over the years the term "cracking the US" has been spoken of with some trepidation by UK retail businesses as for some, the odyssey of exploring the opportunities within the US markets hasn't always been plain sailing.
Whilst some brands such as Gymshark and Boden have done incredibly well online, with Boden over the last few years selling more womenswear than any other British brand in America, navigating American geography when it comes to expanding bricks and mortar retail can be difficult. Burberry, Charles Tyrwhitt, Reiss, Superdry and Primark are good examples of those managing to successfully expand and demand a stronger stores presence in the US and it seems to be catching.
Although the US still faces some uncertain economic challenges, the commercial real estate costs have become cheaper in recent times, which could see more opportunity for retailers to grow their footprint.
Having a physical retail existence in new territories usually demands a substantial people presence on the ground. Seasalt has appointed Jason McNary as consulting director of North America; but the balancing act of finding an extensive leadership team that both understands the story, vision and core values of a British brand as well as the retail landscape and customer needs of a complex US market can be incredibly challenging.
At Flint Hyde we have worked on many assignments for consumer brands expanding their leadership teams to explore international growth. Both our client and candidate network is truly global and we have first hand experience of navigating such complex assignments that include candidate relocation and overseas talent searches.
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