Preface: Several years ago I wrote a blog called Shop Local: RSVLTS Coming Soon To A Main St. Near You. When I clicked publish on this article there was no actual Shop Local program in place, just an idea with a rough proof on concept at The Roost in Hoboken, NJ. Now, four years after kicking that stone down the hill, RSVLTS retail program is thriving in over 200 stores across America, Macy's Heard Square, Universal Studios in Orlando, with many more exciting projects in the works. In a similar vein, I am going to outline a new idea that is in it's infancy and hopefully, by putting it out into the ether, it'll make the whole thing come to life.
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94% of the world's internet users are not located in the United States.
Pretty mind blowing stat.
This means there are billions and billions of people outside the reach of RSVLTS current operations who are all watching the same movies, laughing at the same memes, and Daring Mighty Things just like you and I.
Knowing this, over the last year Natalia, Pete, and I have been getting our ducks in a row to expand RSVLTS operations to other countries.
It wasn't an easy task. We needed to figure out the logistics, how to collect and pay duties/taxes, how to ship outside the U.S. postal system, how to set up the store to give a custom look and feel to other countries, and so much more. After a Herculean group effort by everyone at RSVLTS the day is here that we can finally say we're going global!
Australia is fully online (in beta mode) and we are ready get the ball rolling on expansion to additional markets.
Why Australia?
I was lucky enough to travel to Australia a few years ago and one thing I noticed was their style is so similar to ours. Maybe even a little ahead of the curve, where Australia could be dictating trends before they even hit the U.S. market, similar to how they're always the first ones in the new year. When we started talking about how to expand RSVLTS foot print into other countries Australia was the first country that came to mind.
✓ Fashion forward
✓ Great people
✓ Beach culture
✓ Their summer is during our winter
✓ Carissa is from Australia
So what happens now?
Our RSVLTS Australia landing page is officially online!
If you're reading this in Australia check it out: https://www.rsvlts.com/australia
As you'll see, we are limited to only selling RSVLTS brand products at the moment but as we prove out the business model we will start adding licensed products. We will also launch products and designs that are available exclusively to Australia as well!
We launched a RSVLTS Insiders Australia group for our friends down under. This is available only to Australian customers and we hope it greows into a thriving community and gives us an excuse to throw international meet-ups in the years to come.
Additional Expansion
We are in the process of bringing U.K. online next, with Europe, Japan, Brazil, and Mexico not far behind. It is a complicated process but we're hoping to have all this up and running by end of 2023.