COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Our new Downtown Pittsburgh headquarters will come with a retail component, as well, and we're off to a soaring start on the recruiting front: We've already landed photographer Dave DiCello, artist Cody Sabol and, of course, our own staff cartoonist, Rob Ullman.
And we're still searching for more.
What we're hoping to offer visitors to our HQ is a world-class collection of Pittsburgh sports memorabilia and other merchandise from the region's premier talents. A one-stop shop. A little bit of everything and a ton of quality within it. And we're wide open to suggestions as to what, specifically, that might entail.
It'll be a retail collective, as the terminology goes. And for anyone unfamiliar with that, it means we function as the storefront, and a set number of independent merchants manage their own space within the place, ensuring the greatest understanding and awareness of the products that might be of peak interest. They avoid rent and overhead, and we avoid the procurement/production of goods while keeping a percentage of sales, so it's super-low on risk.
We were inspired by our now-next-door-neighbors, the new Ensemble On Fifth retail collective that's home to roughly 15 independent vendors -- from an initial list of applications topping 200! -- and that's already doing quite well in their first couple months of operation.
We'll likely wind up with a smaller number, at least at the outset, to try to keep things simple and to help ensure the success of those who launch along with us. But that said, we have zero clue how this will grow and how we'll react to that. If, for example, a vendor offers only one product -- we already have one such possibility -- they obviously wouldn't consume as much space.
If you feel you're qualified to be part of this, and you share our passion for this project, reach out to Dali directly: Dali@DKPittsburghSports.com
(Warning: She's a much tougher sell than I am! I'd say yes to everyone!)
Eager to really get this component rolling!
