Gen Art Shuts Down

One of the events on the calendar this month was a shopping event sponsored by the well known Gen Art group. Long known as a key promoter of small, independent designers, I was looking forward to exhibiting at the SHOP Chicago event. I guess it wasn’t meant to be. I returned from my New York events to find an email indicating that Gen Art has been another victim of the economy and has shut their doors effective immediately. Ouch! Another fashion industry loss and another loss for the small designer.

It’s been one of those kind of weeks for me. Things just not going quite right. One of the things that I’ve been thinking about as we all continue to react to/struggle with the economy, is that I am imagining the retail arena becoming one big mass merchant. As boutique owners are squeezed financially, they too move toward safe buys, known labels. I get it. They have to survive too but where does that leave the fashion consumer who doesn’t want to look like a walking ad for J Crew or a Lucky magazine spread? Does anyone else care? Or is the “malling” of America okay for most consumers? I don’t do much wholesale business (intentionally) but one does need to plan and think about what’s next. This affects the retail climate regardless of whether I choose to move my business toward wholesale, do the brick and mortar thing myself, or push harder on internet. How do I want my business to grow and evolve? What will retailing look like 2 years from now?

Don’t have any answers right now. Maybe wishing for the crystal ball. I guess I’m just feeling a little introspective business-wise today and giving thought to my own path forward. I’ll take ideas/thoughts if you have them!