Today we’d like to introduce you to Ariel Ginsburg.
Ariel, before we jump into specific questions about the business, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
Years ago, I decided to start blogging. I was working as a stylist and had always loved putting together funky outfits. As things picked up, the collection of clothing sent to me from all different brands continued to grow and my closet seemed to shrink. I had accumulated all of this amazing clothing that I would style, photograph myself in for blog posts and then take it right off. Most of it still had the tags on. I wanted to find a way to sell some of the beautiful pieces that I knew I wouldn’t wear but selling it online seemed like a lot of effort.
I figured if I felt this way, there had to be other bloggers that felt similarly. I thought to myself, “wouldn’t it be cool to put together an event that brought together some of Chicago’s top fashion bloggers to sell their pieces?” It would be a great way to give their followers the chance to meet their favorite bloggers, shop their closets, and best of all, we could all make some money. I had never thrown an event before so I enlisted the help of a friend who had hosted a “shop and sip” for her own styling studio and we made it happen. I called it Le Fair because it was to be a whimsical event and everything sounds chicer when you make it sound French. It was held at Soho House. We got giant balloons, a liquor company to sponsor it, great music, and we even designed a snap chat filter for the event (which at the time was a brand new thing). A few of the bloggers had their own businesses as well. Jewelry lines, etc. and they asked if they could bring their products to sell, which was fine by me.
The event was such a hit that we began planning another. This time I thought, what if it wasn’t just bloggers? What if we had local brands, stores and artists pop-up with us? And so the parties continued! We teamed up with a local hospitality group and used their newest venue to host our recurring event, which turned into a monthly Sunday Funday shopping party.
Fast forward to about a year later and I found myself living back in NYC, helping launch a company that helped brands find spaces for pop-up shops. One of my cold calls turned into a meeting with FANCY. I met the CEO and head of Business Development. A few weeks later, they came back to me with a proposition. They wanted to hire me to run their biggest pop-up shop to date: a multi-brand, 4000 sq ft shop in Soho that would run for the month of December. I accepted. I had never done anything like this before but it was a reason to be back in the city, it would be great contacts for my influencer game and I loved helping brands tell their stories. Thus began a journey of working 35 days straight. I recruited and hired staff, merchandised, managed the inventory, acted as the liaison to the brands, created videos, was in charge of hosting/gifting the influencers and celebrities that came in. On top of selling. It was one of the craziest work experiences I had had to date and I absolutely loved it. The experience opened my eyes to the fact that maybe this was the direction I was meant to go in.
From NYC, I hopped on the plane to Miami to spend the New Year with my family and while there my pop-up shop tale had made its way to a fortunate ear and I was approached with an offer. There was a vacant storefront at a hotel in South Beach that needed to be filled. I could have it short term, at a discounted rate, just in time for Spring Break/WMC. My gut told me to do it so I went with it. With the blessing of the Fancy team to go off on my own, I began the whole process again. But this time, I was all alone and had much more to do. I was beginning with forming an LLC. Then, of course, contracts, decor, inventory management, etc… and, most importantly, finding the brands.
Somehow I pulled it together in just a couple of months. Pêche (peach in french) was my nickname growing up so I decided to call my shop Pêche Produce, like fresh produce, because it was cool brands and I consistently added new merchandise throughout the duration of the shop. I made friends with the head of the Miami Bloggers group, who introduced me to the local blogger scene. As new brands would rotate in I would give them the option to throw a launch event where I would have the bloggers host and invite their followers and create content. The shop was adorable complete with a beverage stand and all different Instagram-able moments, including a hammock that hung in front of a wall covered in peaches that I painted myself. It was an incredibly rewarding experience. You know you’re on the right path when you’re actually sad that a work project is coming to an end.
I realized from there that planning pop-ups around events was a great fit for me. I returned back to Chicago and partnered with the W Hotel to do Pêche Produce Lollapalooza, where I took their lobby during the week of the four-day music festival and planned events throughout, including a super glam blogger sleepover, to promote the shop. To create a more consistent streamline of business between the multi-brand pop-ups, I began planning events for different brands like Bumble, where I concept, produce and tie in influencers to bring the brands to life, aka “experiential events.”
Pêche Produce took on a completely new audience this past year during Art Basel. I partnered with South Beach Group and set up shop in front of The Catalina Hotel. To showcase different designers and, of course, artists. It was challenging, exhausting, yet so rewarding. With the onset of COVID-19, I have had to reassess the direction of the business. During quarantine, I started an IG Live show called In the Pit with Peach, where I have a cocktail with different designers and entrepreneurs to spotlight their business and talk about how they are pivoting during unprecedented times. It has been a blast and I have been able to meet so many new and talented people. I myself am pivoting as well and am in the process of taking Pêche Produce online until I can safely create one of my wonderlands again.
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
It has not always been a smooth road. The business has continued to grow organically but it has been hard to know what will and will not work. Sometimes events don’t hit, which can be really discouraging.
There is also burn out. When I throw any events or run the shops, I not only work tirelessly to get it going, I am there for every single second and still need to manage all of the backends of the business like dealing with brands, payment processing, etc. And then, after the shop breaks down, it is a whole other set of work and reports that begin as a wrap-up. It’s a lot of very long days with no days off.
Please tell us about Pêche Produce.
With Pêche Productions, I produce experiential events and multi-brand pop-up shops called Pêche Produce. I specialize in helping brands bring their products and visions to life. With these kinds of events, we are not just showing you the product offerings. We are immersing you in an experience that introduces to you the brand and what it is all about. We’re creating a connection to keep the conversation going after the event has ended. One of our specialties is also the influencer aspect. I have been in the blogger/influencer world for some time now so I have genuine friendships and connections to these individuals and match them up to host the events.
I am the proudest people’s reaction to the shops. We create these magical experiences and when you step foot into Pêche Produce, you are really learning about these designers because we CARE. The creativity is endless. It’s not just a temporary shop. We want you to feel like you entered this fun little world. We add an element of surprise and community; for example, customers are invited to add their own piece of art to our Pêche Produce sign. During Ultra Music Festival, we had DJs spontaneously come in and start a dance party for the shoppers. I get messages saying, “I miss Pêche Produce.” And that is what sets us apart.
Do you look back particularly fondly on any memories from childhood?
Growing up, I wasn’t that athletic. I played every sport and while I was never the worst, I was definitely not the best. When I was seven years old, my parents sent me to sleep away camp in Maine. My mom had signed me up for waterskiing and although I had grown up on boats, I was still afraid of them. I went anyway. I started off on the boom and picked it up really quickly. Learning how to water ski on this beautiful lake and going on to be on the ski team where I would slalom and trick ski was such a highlight for me. It gave me a sense of confidence and freedom. It’s one of the reasons I fell in love with the water.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.pecheproduce.com
- Email: ariel@pecheproductions.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/pecheproduce/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Peche-Produce-171310493493381
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