nunu meets: Joel Adebayo
OVER THE NEXT FEW WEEKS, WE’LL BE INTERVIEWING A HANDFUL OF INSPIRING INDIVIDUALS, STARTING IN LONDON. THESE INTERVIEWS WON’T BE LONG READS, JUST A LITTLE 5-10 MINUTE DOSE OF DAILY STORYTELLING THAT PERHAPS, MIGHT SPARK SOME CREATIVITY, THOUGHT OR SELF-REFLECTION. We HAVE LEARNED SOMETHING FROM EACH INDIVIDUAL AND CAN NOT WAIT TO SHARE THEIR STORIES WITH YOU.
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Hi, my name is Joel and I'm the Creative Director of Not Just Another Store which is part of the Utter group. Not Just Another Store is a conceptual and experiential retail space based in Shoreditch. We primarily focus on stocking contemporary, independent and emerging brands from all over the world ranging from menswear, womenswear and more recently lifestyle.
We also curate events for creative communities as we think it's important to look beyond retail and explore new ways to connect with our consumers. We really believe that the high street is not dying; it's the current methodology of engaging with consumers on the high street that is outdated. An experiential space that allows for things beyond retail and consumerism, a space that represents the consumer as a unique individual with interests other than shopping is the blueprint for Not Just Another Store, hence the name.
Two years on, we're now looking to build upon the original idea of the concept store and launch an ecommerce website - a digital space for our community that lives outside of social media. Here we can offer online courses, workshops and other initiatives that can continue the dialogue with our buyers outside of the store. Considering the current climate of social distancing, this seems quite pertinent.
nunu: What was your moment of manifestation — when did you realise, this is what I want from life and this is how I’m going to do it?
Joel: I believe my moment of manifestation was five years ago when my partner and I founded a company called Utter. We just felt like independent brands were not being represented well in the fashion and retail industries. Brands that were emerging at that time were not being given a curated, thoughtful and innovative platform to sell to the online market. However, we found out really quickly that without any funding, digital marketing know-how and being a new independent retailer ourselves, we would have to seek other ways to bring our idea to life!
Through pop-ups we were able to reach the market without getting lost in the sea of online retailers or the pressure that comes with a permanent store. It gave us the freedom to pop up in LA, San Francisco, Oakland and London and raise brand awareness for ourselves as well as promote the brands that we sold in a way that wasn't familiar to the high street. People really got to know us in a more personal way that they were not able to do online. We just wanted to create a fresh, innovative brand that could adapt to the changes in fashion and retail whilst giving other brands the space to speak directly to the market without any red tape or barriers. Pivoting in this way allowed us to fulfil our vision.
nunu: How have you stayed authentic throughout this journey? (Is there anything or anyone that inspires you?)
It's hard to stay authentic in an industry where things are saturated and ideas are constantly regurgitated. We've had to take some chances but this has helped us stay true to who we are and stick to our mission of representing cool, under-represented brands. We've stayed fluid and adapted to the industry as it's changed over the years, innovating along the way to capture new audiences, new brands and new ideas. We aren't ones for jumping on the band-wagon just because something is relevant or trending; staying independent and sure of our ability to sustain our vision and mission has kept us authentic.
nunu: & finally, what are you most excited about doing this year?
Joel: We're really excited about establishing our new community in our freshly opened store on Redchurch Street, Shoreditch. This project is super exciting as we're looking to collaborate with makers to host workshops, installation artists to create pieces for the store as well as carry new brands and scale up to lifestyle and homeware brands. I'm also looking forward to trying ecommerce again even though we failed in our earliest attempt as there has been a demand for it and brands are hungry to convey their stories online.
As a company we're excited to continue establishing ourselves in the fashion industry, meeting new brands as well as consumers and developing our presence on social media. This year we're all about turning observers into fans, fans into customers and customers into advocates of Not Just Another Store.
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