Sell the Story, Not Just the Bag with WIlliam Brobston | Emily Blumenthal & William Brobston

Retail isn’t dying—it’s recalibrating. We sit down with William Brobston of the Brobston Group,  to explore the shift from oversized, anonymous stores to smaller, neighborhood spaces where teams know your name and brands feel personal. Drawing from experience across luxury fashion, jewelry, beauty, and home, William explains why e-commerce owns convenience but human connection builds loyalty—and how brands that invest in people, not just product, are pulling ahead.

Key Takeaways:
 • Convenience is table stakes — Connection is the moat.
 • Invest in people, not just products — Teams translate brand into loyalty.
 • Local wins — Smaller formats and mono-brand stores are redefining retail growth.

Our Guest:
 William Brobston is a retail leader with experience spanning luxury fashion, jewelry, beauty, and home. Known for building high-performing teams and blending retail anthropology with analytics, he advises brands on how to localize assortments, elevate in-store storytelling, and create community-driven growth in an evolving market.

Host Emily Blumenthal is a handbag industry expert, author of Handbag Designer 101, and founder of The Handbag Awards. Known as the “Handbag Fairy Godmother,” Emily also teaches entrepreneurship at the Fashion Institute of Technology. She is dedicated to celebrating creativity, craftsmanship, and the art of building iconic handbag brands.

Find Handbag Designer 101 Merch, HBD101 Masterclass, one-on-one sessions, and opportunities to book Emily Blumenthal as a speaker at emilyblumenthal.com. 

Transcript

Craving Connection In A Convenient World

SPEAKER_02 0:00

I think that people are hungry for being around other people that share their interests. They're hungry for tactile things that they can touch. And so it's an interesting dynamic going back to department stores because there's a lot of cross currents here happening, right? E-commerce has been on the rise over the years. Yeah. I think mainly because it's just become so convenient. It's not because customers don't want to talk to people or go into stores. It's a matter of convenience. And so you see that when stores are able to marry customer experience and human connection with convenience, they really win.

Meet William Brobston And His Mission

SPEAKER_01 0:44

Hi, and welcome to Handbag Designer 101, the podcast with your host, Emily Blumenthal, handbag industry expert, and the handbag parry godmother. Each week we uncover the stories behind the handbags we love from the iconic brands and top designers, the creativity, craftsmanship, and culture that define the handbag world. Whether you're a designer, collector, or simply passionate about handbags, this is your front row seat to it all. Welcome, William Robston of the Brobston group to Handbag Designer 101 the podcast. Thanks for joining us today.

SPEAKER_02 1:24

Thank you, Emily. Happy to see you. Happy to be here.

SPEAKER_01 1:27

I know, I know. I love I love a LinkedIn hot mic connection here. That's my JMs.

SPEAKER_02 1:33

Yes, absolutely. We meet a lot of good people on LinkedIn.

SPEAKER_01 1:36

Listen, the the kids are starting to catch up. That's all I have to say about that. They're starting to find out that I tell my students it's where the old people hang out. And I think they're starting to catch on. It's problematic.

SPEAKER_02 1:48

Yeah, there's a there's a lot of good relationships to be found there. We I use it every day. My whole team uses it every day.

SPEAKER_01 1:54

Oh my goodness. So what exactly is the Bromston group, sir?

SPEAKER_02 1:58

Thank you. So I launched our company about nine years ago now, after spending 15 years in the fashion business myself. I spent several many years with Neiman Marcus and Brunella Cuccinelli and Prada growing and running retail stores and corporate teams, and always found that the people piece of the business was the most important piece to put together properly, to drive business, to improve culture, to connect better with clients that builds long-term business. And there I think was a major opportunity then and continues to be a really important opportunity today, and I think continuing going forward, really for all organizations, but definitely for my specialty, which is Fashion Jewelry Home Decor Beauty, to elevate teams and put together really product, client, and experienced, engaged leaders will help build great accessories, fashion, jewelry, home decor businesses in the future. And so we we now work with about 80, 90 brands to recruit for their corporate and retail leadership roles, primarily in the US, a little in Canada as well. We're based here in New York and fill a lot of roles here in New York, and

Hiring For Brand Values And Focus

SPEAKER_02 3:19

then the top 25 or so luxury markets across the United States.

SPEAKER_01 3:24

So, with your experience, what were you finding with your 15 plus years of working in the industry in terms of talent, of people coming in? And where do you think the strengths were and where do you think the deficits were?

SPEAKER_02 3:41

Yeah, I think that hiring in in teams is so important to find leaders and associates who are really aligned with your brand mission, understand how they fit into the process, and are focused on the same goals together. And what I found both when I was in the industry and since is that it's really the responsibility of leadership to, yes, of course, identify those people, but then guide their teams in the right direction to keep brand values, set the tone, keep keep the mission in focus and keep everybody moving in the right direction. And so I think it's really a the major opportunity is is bringing in leaders who understand that that idea that you have to bring talented people together, yes, but then help point them in the right direction and keep them focused on on brand and on mission and and on clients. You know, one of the things that I find repeatedly throughout organizations and just in my own experience in the business is brands can often be singularly focused on product, which is of course the foundation. You have to be focused on what you make. But it is equally

Product Obsession Vs Client Relationships

SPEAKER_02 5:01

important that you are focused on relationships with your clients. And those relationships often happen one-on-one at a retail level. And all of the energy and focus oftentimes happens within a corporate setting where you're creating product and building brand messages and building brand partnerships and figuring out your distribution strategy. But it's really, really important that you not forget that client relationships often start with a sales associate on the floor. And all that work that happens in the corporate team has to get distilled into that sales associate that's standing in front of your client. And so we do a lot of work on the retail level because we have always felt that that's really, really important. It's my own background myself. I started on the retail floor selling lady shoes at Neiman Marcus in Boston and learned so much from that experience of working directly with clients. And it really is a big part of what inspires me every day, making sure that you have people in the in the team, in the business that are super client experience focused because those clients are what builds your business over time.

SPEAKER_01 6:12

I think you said a few good things here because I a hundred million years ago had an opportunity when I started working and I my first job was in advertising. And I so, so, so wanted to get on the sales side because that was the sexy side. They did sales trips. They, I mean, granted, this is a long time ago, but they did dinners and parties and events, and it just seemed like the fun side. Whereas the buyers were always in the office. Like they didn't get to do the fun things, they had to wait to be called on. And I really, after being an intern, was like, that's where I want to go. And someone at ESPN took me out to lunch as an intern and said, and these are sage words, and I've repeated them over and over to my students, you would never open up a clothing store if you didn't know how to shop. And if you don't know how to shop, you don't know how to buy for your customer. You don't know how to get into the mindset of what she he they are looking for and what they want and their constraints and what's already in their mindset of ethnographics of what they are woke up, what they had for breakfast, what they're driving, and all those things that you really need to get into the nitty-gritty of the customer before you can even think to go and be and want

The Art And Math Of Buying

SPEAKER_01 7:31

to be that person who opens up a fabulous store.

SPEAKER_02 7:34

So important. And we we fill a lot of buying and merchandising roles, and and as you know, these functions are really they're dual functions. It's understand the client, understand trend, understand human behavior, and also be great with numbers, be great with analytics, be great at forecasting and planning. And what I've really found is that the great buyers in our business are the ones that put these two paths together really, really effectively. They spend a lot of time on the sales floor, talking to customers, talking to managers, talking to sellers, touching product, watching customers.

SPEAKER_01 8:19

Retail anthropology.

SPEAKER_02 8:21

Yeah, it's so important. And because what's happening on the floor is the business and seeing all that work. Listen, buyers and merchandisers spend sleepless nights throughout the night, all the time, figuring out their collections and picking colors and picking styles and shapes and and choosing uh details and working on costing. And and that is that's the foundation of the business. But what is also so important is to see then how does a customer react to all of those decisions? And those secrets are often contained in those little conversations with sellers that are sometimes difficult to uncover, and you really got to work at it. And and the best buyers and and merchandiser to really engage with those things.

SPEAKER_01 9:07

You know, speaking

Department Stores Losing Cultural Touch

SPEAKER_01 9:08

about that, uh Sachs recently had an interesting situation.

SPEAKER_02 9:12

Yeah. That's an understatement.

SPEAKER_01 9:15

Yeah. But from a and I know it was so much corporate it is so many corporate issues that compounded that turned one thing into a bigger thing that turned into almost like a a back-end virus that they almost couldn't even see their way out of. If you were to have given a retailer, like you as your expert self, what would you have said? Okay, here are your pitfalls coming, not speaking about sacks, but just in general, what were some things that you're like from a client standpoint, from uh people out boots on the ground, people front facing, what would you have said? Like what are some things you should be looking after?

SPEAKER_02 9:58

Really great question. Honestly, I've been talking and thinking about this for many, many years because the bigger box department store environment over the last 15 years has slowly gotten a little disconnected from culture, from client culture and shopping culture. And and what we have seen over time is that customers prefer smaller, more intimate experiences.

SPEAKER_01 10:29

Do you think that's why bookstores have made such a comeback?

SPEAKER_02 10:32

I think that I mean it's a really interesting thought. I think that yes, in some ways, uh, you know, we as people uh we have we there's a pendulum, right? And as technology permeates our lives and AI replaces human connection in some pieces of our lives, and we go into offices less and interact with our coworkers less, and customer service is more and more chat instead of phone. You know, we're losing connection with people around us. And I believe very deeply that humans, but in our context, customers, really yearn for human connection and meaning in what they buy, in what they interact with in their day. And so certainly I think that's one of the drivers. And as in the example you give about bookstores, I think that people are hungry for being around other people that share their interests. They're hungry for tactile things that they can touch. And so it's an interesting dynamic

Intimacy Wins: Smaller Formats Rise

SPEAKER_02 11:45

going back to department stores because there's a lot of cross currents here happening, right? E-commerce has been on the rise over the years. Yeah. I think mainly because it's just become so convenient. It's not because customers don't want to talk to people or go into stores, it's a matter of convenience. And so you see that when stores are able to marry customer experience and human connection with convenience, they really win. I also think that going back to your question about department stores, my instinct is that the long-term trend is going to be department store footprints shrinking, that where where you might have an average department store, a Neiman's, a Saks, a Bloomingdale's, a Macy's at 100,000 square feet right now throughout the United States. That I would bet you that the average luxury department store square footage that's built over the next 10 years is going to be 30,000, 40,000 square feet. We're already seeing that as a Bloomies has a really interesting new concept that is starting to be tested in some local markets. Fascinating. They're at like 20 or 30,000 square feet, very neighborhood oriented, closer to the customer, closer to the local market, really interesting tests that they're doing. It kind of feels like the old Barneys that were in the secondary markets, the Barney's that were in Chicago and those other the other uh smaller markets. And so I think that you will see a shrinking of the footprint. And part of the reason why I think that will work is that it will feel more intimate. Customers will feel more connected to sellers, more connected to product just because it's a smaller building. And I think that that's the that's kind of the future. And and you've seen customers gravitate towards mono brand boutiques. They're smaller, they're more connected to the brand, they get a more rich experience with the brand. And and so uh I think over time you're going to be you're gonna see a trend towards towards uh that more close connection to the customer.

SPEAKER_01 13:48

I think you raise so many good points with that. And if you look generationally, right, the boomers still go out, you know, they go. I can speak about this, like my grandma did this, you know. We would drop her off at a mall and she would walk.

Generational Habits And Tactile Retail

SPEAKER_01 14:05

And, you know, and that was for human connection, that was for experience, it was to see, it was to have some sort of like connection of some description. And then you go all the way down to Gen Alpha that was raised on where would they have that opportunity to be front facing with people, their sports games, if anything, and maybe the supermarket with their parents. So those opportunities.

SPEAKER_02 14:31

But even that's happening less. Now they're doing now, even buying groceries is happening online.

SPEAKER_01 14:37

Right. But I I still think like seeing through the lens of a parent, there's still a need to go in person to buy food. You can't, yeah, you can't bypass that. So, you know, the opportunities for these experiences, immersive experiences. I think, in my professional opinion, that I see that on the rise, and then people utilizing that to kind of cross-pollinate with shopping. You know, there's VR, but I feel like VR is almost the AI of experiences. You put something on, and then, you know, again, you're still not see-field touch. You miss that whole experience. And I know part of buyers programs and even part of retail is part of shopping, is that you pick up, you see, feel touch. You have that experience with the product. And interestingly enough, when dot com started, it was a by the way, it was let's think about it. It was, okay, you know, you're lucky if we put you in the store, we'll just throw you online. Now it's, you know, we'll put you online, but if if I put you on the store.

SPEAKER_02 15:42

Maybe we'll get you in the store.

SPEAKER_01 15:43

If what if I put you in the store, like you better be brands with fans, like you better be ready to move that merchandise, or else those chargebacks, like, we're gonna punish you if you don't live up to what you said. If you ever wanted to start a handbag brand and didn't know where to start, this is for you. If you had dreams of becoming a handbag designer but aren't trained in design, this is for you. If you have a handbag brand and need strategy and direction, this is for you.

SPEAKER_00 16:09

I'm Emily Blumenthal, handbag designer expert and handbag fairy godmother, and this is the handbag designer 101 masterclass.

SPEAKER_01 16:18

Over the next 10

Retail Reality: Chargebacks And Drop Ship

SPEAKER_01 16:19

classes, I will break down everything you need to know to make, manufacture, and market a handbag brand, broken down to ensure that you will not only skip steps in the handbag building process, but also to save money to avoid the learning curve of costly mistakes. For the past 20 years, I've been teaching at the top fashion universities in New York City, wrote the handbag designer Bible, founded the handbag awards, and created the only handbag designer podcast. I'm going to show you like I have countless brands to create in this in-depth course from sketch to sample to sale.

SPEAKER_00 16:52

Whether you're just starting out and don't even know where to start or begin, or if you had a brand and need some strategic direction, the handbag designer 101 Masterclass is just for you.

SPEAKER_01 17:02

So let's get started, and you'll be the creator of the next it bag. Join me, Emily Blumenthal, in the Handbag Designer 101 Masterclass. So be sure to sign up at Emily Blumenthal.com slash masterclass and type in the code INCAST to get 10% off your masterclass today.

SPEAKER_02 17:27

Yep. And they now have to participate in the online advertising plans that are really a prerequisite for that kind of entry into the into their ecosystem.

SPEAKER_01 17:37

Or you're you're saying you get to be available on these retail platforms, but it's drop ship only. Like they're not investing in your product, and you're bringing it in and via condios, hope for the best, hope that it sells. So they're really putting the burden on the creator, the designer, the brand to make sure that the merchandise can move. And you know, as someone who deals with designers on the regular, that's almost an unfair burden to say, like, you know, I know models won't get picked up unless they have a strong enough following. There's so many things that tie into people want to move, move, move. So where should that burden fall?

Brands Shift To DTC And Specialty

SPEAKER_02 18:16

There's really interesting dynamics that are happening today as the department store world and what we just kind of generally think of as the majors are unsettled. I do hope that in the future we have a little more settling within the majors world. I think that I think there's going to be a future for them. It's not that that that segment is not going away. It's just going to change. But in this moment, it's very unsettled. And what's interesting to see is how brands are responding to that. First, I think important to acknowledge that a lot of small brands are really hurting because of it. They have for many years really relied on the major department stores as their partners. And unfortunately, in this moment, they are really finding that challenging. But the results, the response by many of the brands is saying, okay, well, we clearly cannot rely on these partners anymore. And now we're going to start focusing much more on D2C, and we're going to start focusing on smaller specialty accounts. And this is what's happening throughout the market. And what's really interesting, I have a lot of relationships within the retail real estate world. And what I can tell you is that there is very small inventory available in retail real estate right now because everybody is moving out of department stores and opening their own stores. And it's wild. It's really wild what's happening. It's very busy in that market. I am experiencing it myself as emerging brands are reaching out to us to help them open stores in the U.S. market. It is remarkably busy considering the economic news that we get up and read every day is very uncertain. Meanwhile, small and mid-sized brands are investing, are growing. And a lot of it is a result and a response to the uncertainty in the department store world where they're really shifting their strategy and saying, okay, well, we're going all in in D2C. And then they're also redirecting their wholesale teams to be very specialty account focused. And so I think there's a great opportunity for the specialty independence in this market. It's kind of aligned with our what we talked about a minute ago for smaller doors. And then interestingly, as all these brands now go and work to open up their own retail, they're all going to have to really build this customer experience competency in in-house where they didn't really need it before as much. You know, they were relying on their mate, on their wholesale accounts to do the selling for them. Now they're going to have to do it themselves. And that means building new teams. It means building new new strengths internally. And so there's a lot of change happening in the market right now. I mean, I think change is a theme throughout our world in all aspects right now. But, you know, the uncertainty in the department store world is really changing a lot of

Boutiques As PR And Community

SPEAKER_02 21:04

things.

SPEAKER_01 21:04

Do you think, well, number one, we have this incredible footprint that's happening at New York now, uh, February 1st through 3rd. I would love to have you come by to see our select hand picked, curated, all those key specialized terms, just because since the handbag awards, there really hasn't been a place for designers to be discovered, to be shopped, to be really discovered. So that's what I do. That's my specialty. So we have this incredible group of talent. And I just had a Substack that went out to my lovely 15,000 followers. I'm grateful for all of them. But number one, once this comes out, I know that will have already passed, but I love to have you come. But also Yeah, I'd love to love to see you there. Yeah, just because I always talk like boutiques, like don't sleep on boutiques. They're the bread and butter of new designers, and they'll pay you on time nine times out of ten. So, you know, if that's what we want.

SPEAKER_02 22:02

For the most part. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 22:03

Most of the time.

unknown 22:04

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 22:05

But I wanted to ask you, do you think, and what I always tell designers, because I'm typically dealing with ones on an independent level, like the best way to connect with customers is to offer yourself out to these boutiques and say, listen, let's work together. You can invite your customers, your best-selling customers. I will host a meet to the designer. I will bring the wine, cheese, crackers, niblies, I'll have a shopping event. And then if you can get your version of a hometown hero influencer, have her bring her friends, her tier one, two, three people. And it's a way that checks all the boxes. Do you think and I think so many brands and so many retailers, and I think maybe because it's a security issue, they still they you know things got bigger, bigger, bigger, bigger that they've overextended themselves to the point where they stopped. They missed the opportunity to get that human connection.

Beyond Instagram Walls: Authenticity

SPEAKER_01 23:06

Right. And people get so obsessed with D2C that they forget you need to get that 20%, that's gonna be your 80% of your business. So how do you find that 20? How do you reward them for staying loyal?

SPEAKER_02 23:20

Yeah, I think that investing in your specialty accounts is so important. And I think that if you look around at the most successful emerging and you know, growing premium and luxury brands, you'll find that they spend lots of time in stores. They spend lots of time in doing personal appearances in stores, doing trunk shows in stores, really connecting with these local pockets of clients that are really loyal to these specialty accounts. The unique thing about uh a rich or a Mitchell's or a Bendels, they have a very loyal core customer that really prioritizes that store in their shopping life. And so when you can become a part of that relationship by being there physically, it really introduces you to a whole new customer. And so what most brands are doing these days is definitely a hybrid of the two strategies, D2C and wholesale. And most brands look at the wholesale channel as driving brand awareness, finding a new customer, introducing themselves to a whole new market, discovering new customer segments that they didn't really know about before, because the kind of client that shops in the local specialty store is often somewhat different from the client that shops on their website or is finding them on Instagram. I have a client the other day that was telling me that they had a really interesting story in Los Angeles, and they were analyzing their

Train Storytellers Not Just Sellers

SPEAKER_02 25:04

LA e-com business very carefully with relation to a retail store that they had there. And so they had a store in LA that was not in a prime location, that was not a top-performing location. And while that store was open, their LA business was X dollars. But when they closed the store, their business cut in was reduced by 75%, really because their local presence was removed. And so when you are present, whether it's your own retail store or through a wholesale account, you're driving brand awareness, you're getting customers to think about you, you're building new relationships, and it benefits the brand as a whole.

SPEAKER_01 25:44

So that's what I tell designers. Like the boutiques are your PR. So whether or not you're getting, you know, your sales are bumping up for it, your existence that people know that you're there, it remains consistent and it's that's money you're not having to spend for marketing, period.

SPEAKER_02 26:02

Yep, yep, a hundred percent. And just to by the way, that brand decided to reopen that store in another smaller market, and the business came right back. It's so interesting to see.

SPEAKER_01 26:12

Yeah, yeah. What do you think of immersive experiences? What do you think? Do you think that retail needs to integrate an element of, you know, museum of ice cream? Here's some spots where you can take some Instagram pictures, change it up, and then by the way, shop at the same time. Do you think that's an opportunity? Do you think it's too much work? Do you think that's something that should be considered? I'm just curious.

SPEAKER_02 26:38

My perspective is that brands have invested in the last 10 years or so in a lot of Instagram moments, right? And where they've made these special walls where you can stand in front and take your Instagram shot. And now it's important to note that I am a uh an old millennial saying this. So I'm, you know, I'm not maybe the core customer and target for that. But my sense of from

Keep Focus On Customer Over Hype

SPEAKER_02 27:06

what I'm hearing is that it's kind of feeling old of these just experiences purely built for Instagram. What is feeling relevant is opportunities for them to authentically connect with the brand, to authentically connect with the quality of their product, not just for experience sake, but for the sake of discovering what that brand is really all about. And so I think as brands continue to develop experience, which is a buzzword that we've been talking about now for a decade, what I tend to suggest to them is focus on the foundational basics of what retail and shopping has always been supposed to be about, which is meet your client, connect with your client, understand your client, and share all of the great things that you as a brand have created for them. And do that effectively. And the best way you do that effectively is by having teams in the store that are effective interpersonal communicators, who are effective brand representatives, who are effective storytellers. And today, in as we already mentioned, in a moment where we're so technology driven and doing less interpersonal communication, sometimes those skills are not as strong as they used to be. And so I try to promote these ideas. I do seminars in uh you know college classes for students who are about to about to graduate. And a lot of what I'm talking about is stressing the importance of human connection, stressing the importance of relationships, becoming great at meeting, talking, discussing, engaging, connecting, uh, maintaining long-term connection, because relationships are what makes business happen in your larger kind of career setting, but also

New Channels After The Majors

SPEAKER_02 29:08

in that momentary retail setting. And so, in my opinion and experience, the right way to deliver great brand experience is to really uh care about those interactions, every individual one that you have with your client when they walk in the door and value them, and you'll build long-term customer relationships.

SPEAKER_01 29:27

I think that is pretty spot on. This was like a masterclass on how to be front-facing with your customers of experience in a retail setting. This is definitely a solid experience. I absolutely want to have you back so we can continue this kind of conversation because I feel like the situation is is it's evolving in real time.

SPEAKER_02 29:51

I mean, absolutely. Absolutely. This is the story of our future.

SPEAKER_01 29:55

Yeah, I mean, Saks is not the first retailer to go through this, certainly won't be the last. I think it's really unfortunate, but we've seen this happen. I mean, Bendel's Barney's you know, we've seen this evolution of brands, Lord and Taylor. I think you really have to stay. I think I my opinion is they just lost focus of the customer. And the interesting thing is that with the independent designers I deal with and the courses I've had and all of these educational situations I've had, so many of them tend to forget about looking about the zip codes from where people are buying and then realize that if you need to be a bigger brand, it's so much more about less about you and more about the customers' interactions. So your product is less likely to be going to this carry sex in the city fabulous person. It might just be a plus-sized woman who found your product that's living in tiny dot USA that's from a town that has a Walmart, a church, a school, and a stop sign, you know, and a bar. And I think that's really the case. So I feel like there's this juxtaposition of making sure your brand your brand can survive without you having your hand on everything. It's like every designer I know starts wanting to write thank you notes to every customer, and the bigger you get, the less you can, and then you lose that personal touch. So it's like you need to stay that rock star person, like constantly going on tour, constantly doing that. But also realize that, you know, your product needs to be able to survive without you there. So, like, how can you give enough as a brand owner and a designer, but also realize you can't be the face of the brand. The product needs to still sell itself.

SPEAKER_02 31:52

Yeah, absolutely. And and I think that's the great advantage of all of the new technology and marketing channels that have been developed in the last 15, 20 years is the ability to connect with that client that you're imagining in in that more small town tertiary market. There's great opportunity there. That's true. There are so many great clients outside of the primary markets. Uh, we see that constantly. There's there's big opportunity. I just want to go back to the changing environment in the department store. It certainly is a little disappointing to see these heritage organizations that have been around for a hundred plus years uh struggling. And and yes, there's a lot of reasons for that. And I think a lot of it is just natural evolution of how customers think and behave. But to me, it also opens up great opportunity for the future. There are brands and retailers that are going to innovate from here and create new things. And to me, that is the most exciting part of all of this. When business slows in a certain area, it creates big opportunity in other areas. And today, in this month of January going into February 2026, that means that brands are opening up more stores of their own. But I guarantee you that what we're going to see in the next 12 months, 24 months is new wholesale strategies because there is this

Wrap Up And Where To Find William

SPEAKER_02 33:24

big opportunity being vacated in the major department store world that is going to migrate somewhere else. And I'm really interested to see where that's going to be. And I think it's going to create a whole new, whole new class of selling channel that I think will be really interesting.

SPEAKER_01 33:40

William Brobston, it has been a delight. How can we find you, follow you? Because you just tied this up in a bow.

SPEAKER_02 33:47

Thank you. Uh, you can reach us at bromstongroup.com. We have about 6,000 jobs posted as of today in the United States. And uh I'm on LinkedIn, William Bromston. Happy to connect with everybody uh that's interested.

SPEAKER_01 34:00

And it's B-R-O-B-S-T-O-N, Bromston. Fabulous. Okay, thanks for joining us.

SPEAKER_02 34:06

Great to see you. Thank you. Thank you.

SPEAKER_00 34:08

Thanks for listening. Don't forget to rate and review and follow us on every single platform at handbag designer. Thanks so much. See you next time.