I’ve been a bit remiss on my blog postings on the retail industry but when summer time is full of fashion news and events can you blame a girl. So I wanted to finally share my thoughts on one of the biggest retail news to hit the web within the past two weeks – Amazon.com buying Zappos.com.

The joining of these companies has come as a surprise to all and never have I seen so many positive reactions from analysts and news media concerning this union. It is being touted as “A match made in heaven” (Marshal Cohen, chief industry analyst at Port Washington) using the financial strengths and inventiveness of Amazon combined with the unique business culture and superior customer service of Zappos.

For retailers, those online and those who are not, Amazon’s acquisition of Zappos signifies three things:

1. Online retail creates more opportunities for growth and invention
2. Long term goals are important to planning for success
3. Excellent customer service is the core of creating success and loyalty

You’ll see in the accompanying YouTube video Jeff Bezos, founder and chief executive officer of Amazon.com talks about the Things I Know sharing his lessons leaned and the shared excitement of coming together with Zappos.

I hope this merger also opens new doors for online shopping for Canadians such as the access to more international products and the removal of shipping restrictions across the border. The day I can get a subscription of L’Officiel delivered to my door will be an extremely good one (le sigh).

N.B.: additional reading on this topic can be found on PCWorld.com, Mashable.com or Reuters.

(Video from YouTube)

             

Wednesday was a busy day for me but one of the highlights was meeting Scott Schuman, The Sartorialist at Holt Renfrew.

Days leading up to the event Toronto’s fashion literati were tweeting and blogging about Schuman’s appearance; how big the crowd would be, the long line ups to meet him, and the type of outfits (and attitudes) to be seen. Nathalie Atkinson, the National Post’s resident style columnist wrote an amusing article about this called Sartorializing Toronto.

Surprisingly on the day of the event there was a mid-size crowd with approximately 50 to 70 people gathered in the menswear section of Holt’s. Most attendees were able to have a brief word and take a picture with Schuman – yours truly included. He’s a very personable gentleman, a great conversationalist, and managed to put his admirers at ease. You could tell he is passionate about his work and was genuinely interested in meeting his faithful readers and learning a little bit about their lives. In addition, he carried a copy of his upcoming book The Sartorialist which will be released on August 18, 2009. You can pre-order it through Chapters.Indigo.ca or Amazon.com.

I would love to hear your thoughts on the event especially if you saw Scott Schuman at The Drake after party – I heard it was quite a scene with all the people!

N.B: I had two meetings on Wednesday and therefore went with the business look; grey pants from H&M, shirt from Club Monaco, Longchamp tote, and shoes from Japan – simple and clean.

(Images from Kimberly’s camera)