Susan Feldman ('83) and Alison Pincus "02) attended UCLA Anderson nearly 20 years apart. That they met at all is mere happenstance. But together they've created One King's Lane, "the world's top home decor brands and designers at up to 70% off retail."
R.A. Feld has written a new feature about Feldman and Pincus, the article posted today on the UCLA Anderson web page. Here is an excerpt:
"I had been working in the apparel industry my entire career and was becoming increasingly interested in the home space," recalled Feldman, who had held senior sales positions at various luxury and fashion brands such as Polo Jeans and Lauren Ralph Lauren Sleepwear. "I felt there was a void, with no place to shop online for unique items at great prices. Then I became aware of the flash-sale model and thought it could definitely work for the home market."
As it happened, her husband met the founder of BlogHer.com, Lisa Stone, who loved the idea for the business and introduced Feldman via email to Pincus, who had a web and media background, and held digital marketing and business development positions at The Walt Disney Company, NBC and Hachette Filipacchi. With Feldman based in Los Angeles and Pincus in San Francisco, extended conversations over email and telephone began, outlining a business idea to bring together the definable market for specialty home items with brands looking for new channels to market and sell their item.
Feldman finally said, "Ali, I think you should come to Los Angeles, because if we are going to do this, it would be a good idea if we actually met!"
It was the height of the recession and a difficult time to start a business, but they decided to ignore that fact, and Pincus hopped on a plane. They spent the day together and discovered a natural chemistry that has allowed them to build a company, though they are almost never in the same city.
In the piece, Feld goes on to detail how the business evolved.
"The original idea was to start as a tasteful, discreet, and innovative liquidation platform, and to help brands move their excess inventory," said Pincus. "But in talking to Susie, I said, 'Once we gain market share, we're going to become a marketing platform, and brands will feel comfortable actually promoting sales with us and will value us. This idea might have seemed crazy at the time because of the strict lines between sales channels - full retail and seasonal discounts and sales, and then end-of-life liquidators. We thought that a curated environment would create a unique experience that could not be easily pigeonholed. Fast forward, and today, brands see One Kings Lane as part of their distribution and marketing plans. We have over two million members, and growing, who are passionate about lifestyle and home, and enjoy learning about new brands, designers and products. In fact, our partners find that having a sale on One Kings Lane results in new customers for them - so we are now part of the marketing mix."
You can read the rest of the One King's Lane story here.
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