Q & A with Co-Founder and Chief Innovations Officer of SHOWFIELDS, Katie Hunt

After years in Warby Parker and Hinge, what inspired you to co-found Showfields?

I saw how challenging it was for brands that were digitally native to open physical locations, and, through my time at Warby Parker, I also saw how beneficial physical locations were for acquiring high value customers, sales, and brand penetration. The first time I walked into a Warby Parker store it was still a transformative experience for me, even though I had been with the brand for over two years at that point. There is something truly magical about stepping into a physical space for a formally digital only brand and getting to walk around in that story.

When Tal Zvi Nathanel and Amir Zwickel approached me about investing in SHOWFIELDS over three years ago through The Fund, a fund that I had co-founded with Matt Brimer, Jenny Fielding, Scott Hartley and Adam Carver, I became obsessed with what they were looking to achieve. I saw that they were out to democratize the high street by making prime real estate accessible to these digitally native, mission-driven, creative, and well made brands that were being founded every day and that they were doing it by creating an entirely new technology platform and business model that would allow these brands to open and understand a physical location in the same way they would open and understand a website. If that wasn’t compelling enough, they were also looking to disrupt the entire retail industry by creating a shopping experience that married art and retail in a 14,000 square foot historic building that included a private event space, community events and classes, and a slide from the third floor to the second floor. Talk about go big or go home!

Having seen the power of physical locations earlier in my career, and also seeing how much time, money and effort went into creating a truly exceptional shopping experience as a young brand, I understood that there was room in the market for something very different. SHOWFIELDS was primed to not only be a way to make physical retail accessible and exciting for young brands, but also positioned to be a technology platform that could reinvent retail and allow any brand to scale through physical touchpoints. I began working with Tal and Amir a few days after I heard their pitch, and I joined as their co-founder shortly after that.

Tell us a little bit about Showfields and why it’s a must-visit shopping destination.

There is nothing else like SHOWFIELDS in the world. We call ourselves The Most Interesting Store In The World, but it is not because we are interesting, it is actually because the business model allows us to always have something new for people to discover or experience every time they visit. We have showcased over 400 brands in the last two years as well as 1000s of artists. Being a guest at a SHOWFIELDS flagship, or visiting SHOWFIELDS.com, is about being on the cutting edge and meeting the most interesting, well-made, mission driven brands in the world, all while in a world of immersive storytelling, art and theater. There is something truly magical in the air when you have so many creative brands and artists. I find it inspiring to see how many amazing things are really being built.

Describe Showfields in 3 words.

Mission-Driven, Innovative, Magic.

At Showfields, you sell an experience. With limited in-person contact and stores closing in 2020 due to the global pandemic, how did you overcome these challenges?

A mentor of mine once described the team that you hire as the people in your lifeboat. When things get hard, and they always will, these are the only people that will be able to save the ship. I am lucky to have the people that I have on our team. They saved the ship.

Two weeks after we closed our doors at 11 Bond Street in NYC the team had launched SHOWFIELDS.com and live video shopping. We previously didn’t have an e-commerce presence. Two months later we were able to reopen our doors and our team did it with a new piece of technology called the MagicWand, which allowed people to explore and shop SHOWFIELDS completely contactlessly on their own phones. We also launched virtual shopping tours, store appointments to space out groups and same day delivery for some of our brands. We were able to create a menu of options for our customers that kept the magic of SHOWFIELDS alive all while keeping our customers and our team safe.

What is the brand selection process at Showfields? Has your theater background influenced you at all?

We have a curation committee and three rules. Brands must be mission driven, well made and innovative. We don’t showcase anything that does not meet those three criteria. Our team is constantly searching to the farthest ends of the internet to uncover brands that will be adored by our audience, and it is fascinating to see all the incredible companies being started around the world.

When it comes to artist curation, we are lucky to have Tam Gryn as our head curator. She brings in the most interesting artists from all over the world to bring our stores, and stories, to life. We have had live theater performances in the store, and recently have partnered with TodayTix to bring back broadway performances to NYC on our rooftop through a socially distanced outdoor concert series. These are things I am passionate about because of my love of theater, but I believe my team has exponentially expanded my understanding and love of art and performance through their curation.

What drives Showfields’ involvement in broader social movements?

Who we are at our core. We wanted to challenge the status quo for many reasons, and part of that was about giving space to diverse brands, founders and voices, and part of that was just that we believed in our heart of hearts that there were better ways to do business. From leaning into doing sustainable builds in our stores whenever possible, to supporting larger initiatives and causes, the future of retail is about using your platform and voice to tell, and support, a bigger story. The world is in need of something better, across the board, and I don’t see the point of creating a business for this next generation of creatives that does not meet them where they are.

We are lucky to have our mission driven initiatives lit from within, with voices such as that of Samar Younes, our Creative Director, leading the charge for us to always be doing more. We are also heeding the demands of our customers and building for them at all times. 89% of our customers said they would stop shopping their favorite brand if they found out they had bad business practices. 89%! We are all craving something more from the places we spend time, to the brands we shop, to the jobs we take. This is the new business normal. The status quo of building a business just for profit is no longer justifiable or reasonable.

2021 is a big year for a resurgence. What does this year have in store for Showfields?

We are ready for the “Roaring 20s!” With over 35% of New Yorkers vaccinated we are getting excited to welcome back larger in-store events, ways for our customers to reconnect and heal, and just some good old fashion fun. This year has been beyond challenging for absolutely everyone. It is time to get together again and to rediscover the magic of human connection.

What are some bucket list items you’d like to complete before the year’s end?

I am currently checking off the biggest one on my list. My parents have both been vaccinated so I am spending the week with them after five months apart. It feels so joyous to be able to hug them both again, to cook together, laugh and just be in the same room. I feel very lucky to understand how much the little things really mean and look forward to getting back to all the small joys that I have missed so much during COVID.

ABOUT KATIE HUNT

Katie Hunt is the Co-Founder and Chief Innovations Officer of SHOWFIELDS, The Most Interesting Store in The World. She began her career as the third employee of Warby Parker, served as Chief Brand Officer for Hinge, where she led the charge for their relaunch and rebrand, and has worked extensively with startups in branding, product development, marketing, operations and fundraising. Additionally, Katie is the Co-Founder of The Fund, which is a VC fund made up of a community of founders and operators that invests and mentors early stage companies in NYC, LA and London.

Katie has also been a guest speaker at Harvard Business School, MIT, Live Nation, Viacom, Summit Series, Commerce 2020, Wired Smarter, American Express, and is featured in the book “D2C DNA”.

ABOUT SHOWFIELDS

SHOWFIELDS is the most interesting store in the world. Founded as a place for customers to discover and shop the most interesting, mission driven, well made and innovative brands and artists, SHOWFIELDS has two 14,000 square foot flagship locations, 11 Bond Street in NYC and 530 Lincoln Road in Miami, where art meets retail in an experiential ever changing environment.

To learn more about Showfields, Click Here.