You can buy almost anything from your couch now.
Need a new pair of shoes? They’ll be on your doorstep tomorrow. Groceries? A few taps away. A new hat? We’ve spent more than a decade building an ecommerce business around making that pretty easy, too.
So when people choose to get in their car, drive somewhere, find parking, walk into a store and spend their time there, the bar is higher than it used to be.
They need a reason to show up.
And increasingly, we don’t think shopping is enough.
The store has a new job
For a long time, the primary job of a retail store was access.
It was where the products were.
Ecommerce changed that. Today, the internet is usually the easiest place to find the largest selection, compare options and complete a transaction.
But there are things ecommerce can’t replicate very well.
Trying something new with a friend.
Getting advice from someone who really knows the product.
Celebrating a birthday.
Making something with your hands.
Meeting people.
Taking a picture.
Walking out with a story.
That’s where we think physical retail gets really interesting.
The question isn’t simply, “How do we get more people into a store?”
It’s “What can happen here that can’t happen online?”
That’s changed how we think about our own business
Gigi Pip was built largely through ecommerce. Along with Two Roads, we’ve now sold more than one million hats and built a national community around headwear.
We still believe deeply in ecommerce.
But opening physical stores taught us something different about our customers.
Give someone a wall of hats and they’ll shop.
Give them a Hat Bar and they’ll stay.
They’ll try on something they wouldn’t normally wear. They’ll ask a Hattender for help. They’ll choose bands, feathers, pins and other details. They’ll watch their hat being shaped, branded and customized in front of them.
Then they’ll call their friend over to see it.
Suddenly, the store isn’t just the place where the transaction happens.
It’s part of the product.
Retail, hospitality and entertainment are starting to overlap
That’s probably the best way we’ve found to describe what we’re building with Gigi Pip Hat Bar.
It’s retail because you leave with a premium physical product.
It’s hospitality because how you’re welcomed, guided and cared for matters.
And it’s entertainment because creating the hat is something to do.
That combination opens up possibilities that don’t exist in traditional retail.
A store can become a date night.
A birthday party.
A girls’ or guys’ night out.
A corporate event.
Something to do while visiting a new city.
We’ve even taken the same experience outside our four walls, bringing Traveling Hat Bars to corporate events, festivals, retreats and private gatherings around the country.
The common thread isn’t where the transaction happens.
It’s giving people an experience worth showing up for.
Give people a reason to leave the house
We don’t think physical retail and ecommerce are opposing forces.
They have different jobs.
Ecommerce can make shopping incredibly convenient.
Physical retail has the opportunity to make it memorable.
For brands willing to rethink what a store can be, we think that’s an exciting place to build.
Because the best reason to shop in person may not be shopping at all.
It may be everything that happens while you’re there.
Interested in bringing the Gigi Pip Hat Bar experience to your community?
We’re selectively partnering with entrepreneurs to open Gigi Pip Hat Bar locations in new markets across the country.
