Profile: Nickel & Suede
Nickel & Suede is taking a big next step: opening a store on the Country Club Plaza.
All photos courtesy of Kilee Nickels
Read on to learn how founder Kilee Nickels and her husband, Soren, are navigating some of the the biggest moves of their careers so far: and in the middle of a pandemic, no less!
We've featured you on the site before, where we got to learn all about how you design and run your business with your husband, Soren. I guess we'll just start with: what's new?
As with all businesses this year, Nickel & Suede has continued to change with the times… yes, because of COVID-19, but also because of where our business is in evolution. In 2020, Nickel & Suede turned 6. For the first five years, we were trying to keep up with the business, and it was somewhat running us. In the last 12 months, we have been really intentional about how we run our business. Early on, Soren and I were the owners and bosses of everything with no clear titles. However, I’ve recently taken the seat as CEO and that’s been exciting and an adjustment. We also made the decision to invest in a leadership team – hiring our first COO, and Directors in Marketing, Product Development, and Retail. That has allowed Soren and I to be more strategic about our own contributions to the company as we grow as a brand and community.
I'm sure the pandemic has thrown a wrench in how you run your business, like for so many entrepreneurs. How have you navigated the challenges so far?
This year has definitely been one for innovating. Our leather comes from Italy, which was hit so hard by COVID-19 early on. Production simply halted, forcing us to get creative with our upcoming launches.To avoid any delays, we redesigned our Spring and Summer lines to reflect what we had on hand, and pushed out product drops. We also reimagined certain promotions like our Spring Cleaning event that was re-branded as Make the Switch, and pushed to later in the summer– and our usual Studio Sale became an online-only Mystery Mailer. Both promotions exceeded our expectations, so it was a welcome reminder that sometimes the worst situations can force you to innovate to drive the business forward. Our Dallas store opening also got pushed back by the pandemic, so we had a soft-launch in June. We are excited to have our “official” grand opening later this month. This year has been a whirlwind but forced us to get scrappy, find some great hires, and make a solid plan to gain some ground.
Drumroll, please, for our readers... you're opening a store on the Plaza soon! Congratulations. When did that idea take seed, and what has it taken to bring it to fruition?
We are so thrilled! I’ve been imagining a store on the Plaza for years, and it really started to take root in July of 2019 when the Plaza reach out about a holiday pop-up. We started scouting locations and found the perfect spot across from the Apple store and down from Starbucks. I knew we were home. It took some time to get the plans right, but the build out has gone quickly and suddenly, here we are!
What can we expect in your new storefront?
This storefront will be our most beautiful store yet! We are working with the same designers as our HQ and Dallas stores. They recently won an award for our HQ location, so we were excited to see how we could take the Plaza store to the next level in design and customer experience. From our signature scent to our empowering messages throughout the store, we want everyone to feel bold and brave the minute they step through the door.
Fashion forecasting and trends have changed quite a bit in recent months as well– have you altered your design process at all?
Who would have predicted the year of the sweatpants?! We actually haven’t altered much- if anything, we’ve updated our styling rather than our designs. Our earrings are already comfortable and so lightweight, and they can be worn to dress up or down. We have had so many women tell us that our earrings are the one thing they still wear at home with their sweats, despite giving up makeup. Plus, our earrings really dress up a Zoom call! We will have more studs coming this Fall, and our Minis may make a new appearance.
What are you anticipating for this year's holiday season?
I expect women will return to getting dressed up again in at least some form. It’s been a LONG year of not getting dressed up and I think it’s time to get some sparkle and some pretty clothes back in our lives again.
Any other exciting developments on the horizon?
We are excited to finally be celebrating our Dallas grand opening in late September. We had a soft opening in June, but with COVID-19 we’ve delayed our grand opening celebrations.
We are thrilled to have two locations in Kansas City and have our sights set on opening more locations nationwide in 2021.
We are thrilled to have a new mural up at the Plaza for our store opening! We are partnering with KC local, Meg Biraum, and we think it will be a great addition to the Plaza.
