· Ronnie Fieg, David Senra
[00:00:00] S1: Yeah, it was pretty insane. And that has become a really special place, especially for me. And when thinking about the space, I really built it first for me, like I do with anything else. Whether it's a product or a space, I'm doing it for myself first because I know that my eye for the brand and the lens has been a consistent lens for 15 years. That expanded what the brand can do through a hospitality lens. I love that portion of the business now. And that idea then started to trickle into what I'm doing now with Ronnie's. So Ronnie's is a fine dining restaurant in London, and Ronnie's Pronto is a gourmet sandwich shop with a window and a patio in West Hollywood. And now I have plans on what I'm going to do to bring that to New York, which I'm working on now, which will end up happening the end of this month. As I have a book here that speaks to 1,800 designs, because I spend a lot of time on footwear. Footwear has always been the anchor, but now serves as a much smaller piece of the business because the Kith product has surpassed anything that we've done categorically in the brand. But as we get into hospitality and I see the opportunity of growth outside of product, that's what I think the future of the brand will look like. There'll be multiple categories that sit outside of product. [00:00:00] S0: What's the better business? I know you're not doing this for money. Obviously, you're very successful, but to me, wouldn't product be a better... It's a better financially performing business than hospitality? Am I wrong on that?
· David Senra, Ronnie Fieg
[00:00:00] S0: What's the better business? I know you're not doing this for money. Obviously, you're very successful, but to me, wouldn't product be a better... It's a better financially performing business than hospitality? Am I wrong on that? [00:00:00] S1: No, you're right on that. [00:00:00] S0: Okay. [00:00:00] S1: You're right. You're right today. You're right today for my business. [00:00:00] S0: Got it. [00:00:00] S1: So, like I gave the brand the opportunity to grow organically and maximize its potential, I'm planting larger seeds in other categories of business that I plan on growing organically and authentically. I won't force the growth, but if I feel like there is demand above and beyond what it is that I'm doing, I'm going to try to expand that. And I think that we've provided this experience for people who live in that area near Tribeca. I think that Kith Ivy has changed. I know that I have. I don't think, because people have told me that that space has literally changed their lives living there. Because for that kind of experience, you used to have to travel outside the city, outside New York maybe. So, I think that being disruptive in the way that that is and being polarizing in the way that we show up is a part of the DNA of what we do, as we try to disrupt other categories of business. But it's hard for me to describe and get into stories that sit two or three layers under the surface if you don't first understand what it is that I do.
· Ronnie Fieg, David Senra
[00:00:00] S1: So, like I gave the brand the opportunity to grow organically and maximize its potential, I'm planting larger seeds in other categories of business that I plan on growing organically and authentically. I won't force the growth, but if I feel like there is demand above and beyond what it is that I'm doing, I'm going to try to expand that. And I think that we've provided this experience for people who live in that area near Tribeca. I think that Kith Ivy has changed. I know that I have. I don't think, because people have told me that that space has literally changed their lives living there. Because for that kind of experience, you used to have to travel outside the city, outside New York maybe. So, I think that being disruptive in the way that that is and being polarizing in the way that we show up is a part of the DNA of what we do, as we try to disrupt other categories of business. But it's hard for me to describe and get into stories that sit two or three layers under the surface if you don't first understand what it is that I do. [00:00:00] S0: One thing I am curious about is this very unique decision. Why put in Kith Treats? Where did that idea come from? You did it early. But where did that idea come from? Why even do that?
· David Senra, Ronnie Fieg
[00:00:00] S0: One thing I am curious about is this very unique decision. Why put in Kith Treats? Where did that idea come from? You did it early. But where did that idea come from? Why even do that? [00:00:00] S1: When I expanded the Brooklyn space, I wanted to add an element of happiness where it would 100% undoubtedly be a happy bite of something. So you'd smile, right? And I wanted there to be another way for people to consume the brand for less than 10 bucks. That was the idea. And I knew that it would be a loss leader, or I thought it would be a loss leader. So, originally it was going to be a white chocolate bread space that I had for the first time in Club Med. [00:00:00] S0: White chocolate bread space? [00:00:00] S1: So if- [00:00:00] S0: What?
· David Senra, Ronnie Fieg
[00:00:00] S0: What? [00:00:00] S1: I traveled to Club Med for vacation a bunch, and there in the cafeteria, there's this very famous white chocolate bread. And I had it there and loved it and thought of the concept for even having some kind of F&B portion of the store. That's where I came up with the concept. I was like, "People need to smell this." Because when you walk into the cafeteria, it was like all you smelled. People need to smell it as you're walking past the store. So the venting out from the building, I wanted people to smell the white chocolate bread. So I brought the chef over to New York, and we started working on this white chocolate bread back at Caffe Bari on Spring and Broadway before it became the Nike store. It was a very famous cafe. The chef left, and we tried to make it ourselves, and we just couldn't make it right. So, as we're walking to the deli, I'm watching this guy behind the counter throw frozen fruit into this machine and pull the lever, and it was coming out soft serve. [00:00:00] S0: Mm-hmm. [00:00:00] S1: So I saw a box of cereal. I was a cereal fanatic. Saw a cereal and saw ice cream in the tub, and I paid him 20 bucks to throw it into the machine and see what happens. [00:00:00] S0: Mm-hmm.
· David Senra, Ronnie Fieg
[00:00:00] S0: Mm-hmm. [00:00:00] S1: And it came out perfect. So, I got the idea of mixing cereal with ice cream there at the deli while we were trying to figure out this white chocolate bread concept. And then from there, I decided that that's what we were going to do, so we flipped it to the concept of a cereal bar, cereal ice cream bar. And then from there, it grew to be a lot more than that, but that's where it started. And then I paid attention to people as they were eating that, and every single person that would take a bite would smile. And that's where the concept was created. [00:00:00] S0: But then you said initially you thought it was going to be a loss leader. [00:00:00] S1: Yes. [00:00:00] S0: So it's just like, "I'm just going to get more people-" More people's attention. This might be their first exposure to Kith, and then they're like, "Oh, this is nice. What's happening next door?" [00:00:00] S1: No. [00:00:00] S0: But is that the idea or no? [00:00:00] S1: No. It was like people that were coming to the shop- [00:00:00] S0: Oh, I see, a reverse. [00:00:00] S1: Correct. [00:00:00] S0: Okay.