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Alison Pincus, co-founder of One King's Lane and founder of Hunter's Alley, via
Racked: How did Hunter’s Alley came about. Andrea: One—I'm just going to put words in your mouth, Ali—Ali as the co-founder is constantly hearing from all our shoppers (who love to besiege our founder with every suggest
Racked: What was your "Aha" moment when you realized "we gotta do this?" Alison: There actually wasn't an "Aha" moment. It was more like if we’re into it, we should just go do it now. And then our CEO came to me and said,
Racked: Explain the vendor side: What does that process look like? Andrea: We have two types of vendors. If you want to come on and sell, it's super easy. You sign on and it's a 75/25 split—you take 75 percent. We han
Racked: On One King's Lane, the photography is great. Often you're showing how every piece will look together in a room. Is Hunter's going to take that same sort of approach with photography? Andrea: That's exactly what we're go
Racked: How do you do pricing? Alison: So obviously the seller can put in the price and this is the way I think about it: We have great editors. If you're really off, I would think an editor is going to say to you it does not matc
Racked: What would you say to people who may argue that the flash sale model is outmoded, especially in fashion? Where do you see the flash model in five years? Andrea: For One King's Lane you mean? You know, as I even said for
Racked: What have you learned since announcing that Hunter's Alley was happening? Alison: Like anything, there's always a risk when you develop a new brand, but if it's great, there is no risk. That's my two cents.
Racked: Who are your major competitors? You've mentioned eBay and Etsy. Andrea: We keep our eye on them. They are people that have been in the marketplace. They don't have the momentum that we hope to have, but Chairish is o
One King's Lane, the decor e-tailer built from a flash sale model in 2008, turned out to be a serious win for founders Alison Pincus and Susan Feldman. Even as fashion-related sites like Gilt Groupe and the similarly curatorial-focused Fab fell slowly by the wayside, the company sustained millions of members and shining investments. Now, as One King's Lane also shifts away from flash sales, they're launching a new venture: Hunter's Alley. It's a peer-to-peer marketplace in which they curate vintage and one-off contemporary pieces of furniture, decor, accessories, books and more from lightly-vetted sellers. The site went live today.
We sat down with One King's Lane co-founder and Hunter's Alley founder Alison Pincus plus Hunter's general manager Andrea Stanford to discuss what it takes to follow up a home run brand with a sophomore grand slam (we promise there are no more sports metaphors ahead).