Is there overlap between the retail and entertainment industries?
D’Loren: Absolutely. In my last investment, we took Candies shoes to Kohl’s and we launched the brand in Kohl’s with Hilary Duff. We shot a very successful rock-music video inside Kohl’s to use for commercials. Retail brands, consumer brands, sports brands and human, or celebrity brands, are converging today. Our strategy is to find the sweet spot between the different brands to maximize leverage. CSA: Can a retailer justify the investment of bringing in a celebrity? D’Loren: You need to understand the dynamics today, particularly in the music industry. Recording studios don’t have the same budgets they had 10 years ago before the industry converted to digital media. You can do partnerships today where there are synergistic benefits to both the celebrity and the retailer. CSA: Are celebrity tie-ins feasible for QSR as well? D’Loren: The food industry has been a little slow to leverage celebrity the way the apparel industry has done. However, we expect to do that, for instance with cele
