Two Stanford graduates launched a probiotic-rich yogurt start-up and use a social-media-driven 'drug-dealer method' to generate interest and deliver online orders at street corners and businesses across Manhattan and Brooklyn. Without a storefront they rely on pop-up sales and direct deliveries, despite the labor intensity and low per-serving price. They expanded to the Hamptons through a SoulCycle Bridgehampton multi-vendor pop-up, generating sold-out on-the-fly events, attracting multiple South Fork retailers, and landing a fall city retail partner. Established brands also ran Hamptons pop-ups for exposure, placing products beside high-profile retailers to build visibility.
Kiki Couchman and Elan Halpern have mostly relied on what they call "the drug-dealer method" to move product for Sourmilk, their probiotic-rich yogurt start-up they launched in January after quitting their jobs in private equity and tech. Without a brick-and-mortar base, they use social media to generate interest and then deliver online orders directly to their customers, making the drop at street corners or businesses throughout Manhattan and Brooklyn.
They found a landing spot at SoulCycle's Bridgehampton location, which invited them to be a part of a multi-vendor pop-up in early July. The brief stint seems to have paid off already; one pop-up led to a week of sold-out on-the-fly pop-ups around the Hamptons, and they have since landed a retail partner for the fall in the city. Several retailers on the South Fork now want to partner too.
Austin-based lifestyle brand Katie Kime, which launched a pop-up at the Goop in Sag Harbor this summer with bags, pajamas, and ice buckets customized with Hamptons motifs like the Parrish Art Museum and the Sag Harbor Cinema. For founder and CEO, Katie Kime, it's less about the extra revenue than the exposure. "You are so closely concentrated within and beside the top brands in the world. I just haven't seen anything else like it," she said.
Collection
[
|
...
]