A Life in Retail Ted Baker to KIT London with Chris Browne

Chris Browne is the Director and co-founder of KIT London, a boutique clothing and accessories brand based in the UK. His passion for retail began at an early age and by 1988, Chris became the Global Retail Director for Ted Baker PLC, where he managed the retail sales and operations for the company worldwide for over 30 years. Over the course of his career, Chris has served as an advisor and non-executive director for multiple brands, including Proximis, Angel’s Face, Wherewolf LTD, and most recently, The Little Blazer Company. Chris is also a Brand Advisor at ViSenze and a Board Advisor at Jelly Drops LTD, a sweet snack that helps dementia patients stay hydrated.

 

Chris joins me today to discuss the many facets of being a retail brand and the challenges of bringing your retail brand into the online marketplace. We discuss Chris’ passion for the retail industry, how working for a local newspaper shop sparked his love for retail, and what drives him to continue in retail. We discuss what it was like to work for the Ted Baker clothing brand during it’s startup journey and how online shopping and the ‘delivery-on-demand’ consumer mindset has impacted the buyer’s experience and retail market as a whole. We discuss what it means to ‘earn your customers, his passion for interacting with customers, and the value of creating memorable and remarkable customer experiences – even if they don’t buy from you. We discuss why Chris decided to work with the Jelly Drops organization and the development of the KIT London brand. Chris also shares the story behind his Slovakian chicken farmer’s barn jacket concept and his upcoming book, Choose Happy.

 

“How can you make it even better when it’s already good? That’s the way you achieve excellence.” - Chris Browne

 

This week on Moving Conversations:

 

●     Where Chris’ passion for retail began

●     What it was like to work for the Ted Baker brand

●     Common retail mistakes and how the age of online shopping has impacted the retail market and buyer’s experience

●     Chris’ perspective on achieving excellence

●     Conveying the ‘feeling’ of a product

●     Why Chris didn’t invest in advertising while working at Ted Baker

●     ‘Buying’ your customers versus earning them

●     The value of creating a remarkable experience for customers, even if they don’t buy

●     Using failures and disappointments as fuel to improve

●     Working with Jelly Drops and the inspiration behind KIT London

●     Chris’ upcoming book, Choose Happy

 

Resources Mentioned:

 

●     Book: The Romance of Commerce by Gordon Selfridge

●     Book: Purple Cow, New Edition: Transform Your Business by Being Remarkable by Seth Godin

●     Book: The Inner Game of Music by Barry Green and Timothy Gallwey

●     Book: Open: An Autobiography by Andre Agassi

●     Moving Conversations Episode 7: Being a Superstar DJ, Congressional Candidate & Alzheimer’s Advocate with Dayna Steele

●     Book: The Lost Empire of Atlantis: History’s Greatest Mystery Revealed by Gavin Menzies

 

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