Shopping events and pop-up shops aren't uncommon to the holiday season, but the Details Block Party wasn’t a typical ploy to sell gifts or burn money. For the second year in a row, the magazine created a veritable retail scavenger hunt in the meatpacking district. An estimated 6,000 readers, shoppers, and curious passersby showed up on Saturday to check out the magazine’s hospitality center and the deals at dozens of partnering stores and restaurants, including Ed Hardy, Helmut Lang, and Spice Market.
Details hosts dozens of shopping events every year. For the magazine, it’s the best way to bring sponsors and readers together. When the brand decided to hold a daylong holiday shopping event in New York last year, it looked to downtown’s growing retail heart. “Meatpacking was our first choice,” said Details publisher Steve DeLuca. “We wanted to tap into a cool part of New York where there are also restaurants and bars. That mix of retail and nightlife makes for more of an all-day experience.”
The experience is about more than just making sales; it targets relationship-building between shoppers and participating brands. Stores and restaurants offered complimentary classes and demonstrations throughout the day. A suiting expert offered tailoring advice—and free bottles of Peroni—at Theory, and Lobster Place owner Ian MacGregor attempted to debunk the intimidation factor of cooking lobster with a small class at his restaurant.
Some of the event's biggest sponsors, including Nautica, also had a spot in the hospitality hub on the Hotel Gansevoort rooftop. The penthouse space was open throughout the day with free drinks, prize drawings, massages, and specialty shopping. “Nautica is the biggest sponsor overall,” said DeLuca. “The big thing for them is that we're bringing their brand to the Block Party with a pop-up shop. They don’t have a retail presence down in the meatpacking district.”
With everyone talking about slumping retail sales during the depressed holiday season, the economy was taken into consideration during the planning of the event. But as the attendance showed, it didn’t deter Details’ audience. “Obviously the tail end of the planning came as everything started to slow down,” said DeLuca. “That made us think it was more important to forge ahead to create a unique opportunity for the clients and readers. Instead of making it about a sale, it offers better service and a better experience.”
It’s also about beautifying the neighborhood. Details works closely with the Meatpacking District Initiative, the nonprofit dedicated to fostering commerce and culture in the neighborhood. In addition to certain proceeds from the Block Party going to M.P.D.I., Nautica sponsored a kick-off party and silent auction at the Highline Ballroom to benefit the group.
