Honestly, this was our first Christmas and our first physical stockist. I was naive. Maybe a little stupid. But I was excited and it felt like a real step forward for the brand.
We were looking for a physical space to place our products during the holiday season. A consignment setup, just a small corner to give people something to discover in person. An online brand reaching into the real world for the first time.
A new store came up that was actively recruiting brands. The timing felt perfect. Holiday season, a new concept space, the Christmas rush. I reached out. They responded quickly and enthusiastically.
We agreed on everything, discussed visuals, and finalised creatives. Posters done. They kept urging us to send the products soon so everything would be ready before Christmas.
Looking back, the signs were there. I just didn't know what to look for yet.
What I found when I showed up
A month after finalising everything, I went to check on the display.
The metal shutter was half open. Inside, it looked like a building site. People milling around, things half finished, no warmth, no atmosphere. Nothing that felt like a retail space someone would want to browse in the lead-up to Christmas.
The staff offered vague comments about how carefully they curated their brands and how amazing the location was. But looking around, most of the products were cheap mass-market items. There was no genuine curation happening. They needed brands like us to fill their space and help cover their rent. That was the actual arrangement.
It was already mid-December. The shelves were half empty. They hadn't properly opened. The Christmas window was essentially gone.
"They over-promised. I was too new to see it coming."
Then they asked us to promote them
Once I decided to pull out, the tone shifted immediately. The warmth vanished.
"When are you taking your products back?" Fine. "Why didn't you tell your followers to come to our shop?" I'm sorry, what?
Let me be clear about what the arrangement was. We paid for placement. We placed our products there so people who were already in the area might discover us. That's how offline presence works for an online brand: you go where the foot traffic already is, and you let the shop do the work of bringing people in.
We were not there to drive our own followers to their shop. We were not there to spend our marketing budget sending people to a half-built store that would damage our reputation the moment they walked through the door. If the shop was beautifully designed, well run, and genuinely aligned with our brand, of course I'd be happy to mention it. But this? Why would I ever send anyone here.
Some new stores recruit brands specifically because they have no traffic of their own and need someone else to solve that problem for them. That's not a partnership. That's outsourcing your audience problem to someone you're supposed to be helping.
Think about it simply. You have a product to sell. You're looking for new sales channels: a new retailer, a physical store, an online marketplace. Each of those is a channel that should be bringing you new customers. A physical stockist is no different. You're the supplier. Their job is to attract their own audience and sell your product to people who might not have found you otherwise. That's the whole point of the arrangement.
If you directed all your own followers to their shop, you'd be doing their marketing for them, paying their rent with your audience, and then watching them take a commission on sales you generated yourself. You could have just sent those people to your own store.
A good sales channel adds to your reach. It doesn't ask you to carry theirs. The moment a stockist starts blaming you for their slow sales or asking what you're doing to drive traffic to them, that's your answer. They're not a sales channel. They're a problem you're paying to have.
The moment that ended it
When my friend went to collect the products on the agreed date, the samples were unpacked, loose, not protected at all. When she politely asked why they weren't wrapped and ready, the person there snapped: "Do I need to treat you like a queen and serve you cake and tea? Do I need to do extra just for you?"
That's what people show you when the transaction is over and they have nothing left to gain from being polite.
My friend collected everything, came back, and told me what happened. I sent a short message wishing them well and left it at that. No argument, no explanation. Sometimes pulling out quickly is the best decision you can make. I was unlucky with this one. But I learned faster because of it.
