Retailers mull challenges of future: At SVED forum, discussion focuses on e-commerce
SQN Sport, a women’s activewear retailer, had four brick-and-mortar stores in Sun Valley and Malibu, Calif., but company founder Megan Murphy Lengyel downsized as she pursued a new business model based on trunk shows and a customer sales app.
Her company’s experience was one of several offered to an audience at Sun Valley Economic Development’s quarterly forum last week, which was devoted to e-commerce and the shifting market for retailers in the Wood River Valley. The event was held at the Limelight Hotel on Thursday evening.
At First Lite, a hunting apparel company based in Ketchum, owner Scott Robinson said he has moved away from a traditional sales model based on getting his retail items placed at trade shows to one based on direct-to-consumer engagement over the internet.