Vic Drabicky, Director of International & Market Development
Hey everyone, how goes it? I help lead the retail and luxury retail teams at Range as well as help head up the Range NYC location. I have been at Range for almost 10 years now (ugh, I am getting old) and in between writing astoundingly witty articles for this blog, I am a music junkie, love to travel and had a pet peacock as a kid. Not sure what those things say about me, so draw your own conclusions.
Vic Drabicky's Recent Articles
The End Of The World Is Coming! No Wait, Everything Is Fine.
by Vic Drabicky on 03/12/2010 at 1:58 pm in Commentary, Observations, Within Range
It was just a little over a year ago when everyone analyzing the luxury retail space turned into Fox news. “Luxury will never be the same!” they shouted. “This is the end of luxury as we know it!”, others echoed. Some even threatened that “no one will ever buy a $1,000 bag again!” (believe it or not, these are all real quotes from some of the “leading” luxury analysts). Sensationalism was at its highest and if everyone didn’t panic and rethink their entire brand, they were going to die. Immediately. But here we are, one year later, and luxury brands are posting profits (huge profits in some cases), consumers are buying handbags worth far more than $1,000 and the same sensationalistic analysts have completely changed their tune.
Full StoryHello New Shoes, Bye Bye Blues
by Vic Drabicky on 06/09/2009 at 5:57 pm in Commentary, Market Research & Data, Observations, Performance Marketing
I like music, I have never hidden that fact. Whether it is Wilco (who I will be lucky enough to see play this weekend) or any of the 10+ musicians that currently work at Range, I love listening to each and every one of them. But one thing I have always tried to stay away from is relating my work life to my music life. It just seems cheesy. Well, ladies and gentlemen (aka the 2 people that read this blog), I have decided to be cheesy this morning and try to work a music reference into my article on retail sales numbers. The victim of my cheesy attempt here is a Scottish singer named Paolo Nutini (he has two great albums – buy them both). That said, here goes nothing…
Full StoryBeware of Miracle Cures for Dark Times
by Vic Drabicky on 05/05/2009 at 9:21 am in Commentary, Opinion Editorial, Within Range
With all the bad news out there, we are entering a time when we all craving good news – a time when we all need a little positive news in our lives. We are entering what I like to call the “Infomercial Times” – a time when we are all willing to buy that ShamWow or Silver Bullet just because we all truly want something that works as well as the pitch man says it does and because we can get it at such a great price. We just need something positive to grab on to, which means it’s a salesman’s dream.
Full StoryThe Retail Sky is Falling
by Vic Drabicky on 04/13/2009 at 4:48 pm in Commentary, Opinion Editorial, Within Range
The list goes on and on – and needless to say, you don’t have to look very far to find bad news. Correction: you don’t have to look very far to find catastrophic, world-ending, save the women and children because we are all going to end up out of our jobs, homeless and living under a bridge type of news. But to be honest with you (“you” meaning my mom since she is likely the only person reading this), I am sick of the bad news. I am sick of everyone screaming the world is ending. I am sick of hearing that consumers will never shop full price again. I am sick of hearing that everyone from the big guys like Saks and GAP to the small mom and pop stores are all doomed. So please, just stop.
Full StoryOnline Fights for Budgets, While Offline Does Advertising Like This
by Vic Drabicky on 04/07/2008 at 4:07 pm in Commentary, Observations, PPC, Within Range
It still amazes/frustrates/baffles/confuses me how hard online agencies and marketers have to fight for even the smallest of budgets. That’s not to say we shouldn’t have to make a case for why we need an extra hundred thousand dollars here, or million there, but whenever I see ads like the one below (whose production costs alone probably top the entire annual online marketing budget), it still baffles me.
Full Story