Developing a new market is no easy task! To help get things moving in the United States, Anie, Halina, Pier-Anne, and our photographer Valérie went to NYC for a few days last fall. Their mission? Meet with both long-time and new partners to get the lay of the land and connect with the local community.
Day 1
Monday, November 21, 2022, 4:30 am. It’s cold and still very dark on this first morning of winter. Valérie and Pier-Anne have planned to meet up at Halina’s. As usual, Halina has already prepared coffees for everyone and packed some snacks for the road.
After a few hours of driving, we watch the first few rays of sunlight slip quietly over the horizon.
Our first stop is an hour outside New York City. After driving a little more than 5 ½ hours along I-87, we arrive at the Refill Room in the small village of Hudson-on-Hastings. The light at that time of day is beautiful and the sun is warm and inviting.
As soon as we step into the store, we’re greeted by Heather, one of Refill Room’s owners.
Shortly after, Jaclyn, the other owner, enters with wet hair—she’s just gotten out of the shower but couldn’t wait to come say hello. We chat about Unscented Co. products and some of the other emerging brands they carry in store.
We leave extremely pleased with how our visit went and excited for those to follow.
We head to "Under the 'K' Bridge Park" to meet Kristen and Lindsey from SWIRL NEW YORK CITY, the New York chapter of the skateboarding collective GRL SWIRL. What a great meeting! Our photo session was a bit chilly, but the late daylight was just perfect.
And that’s how our first day comes to a close. We’ve already covered a lot of ground and captured a few beautiful meetings in photos taken by Valérie!Day 2
The day starts early with a quick jog over to see our friends at ROR NYC: a project started by Lawrence that encourages cyclists of all levels to participate in road, trail, and mountain bike events. At least it's a meetup at the local coffee, which is a perfect way to start the day!
After spending an hour talking (and secretly regretting not bringing our bikes), we have to leave to prepare for our first visit of the day at Whole Foods. This is also where we met up with Anie, our founder and president, who joined us for the rest of the tour!
We take the opportunity to get a bit crazy and step outside our photo comfort zone. Just before we’re warned... Oopsie!
Whole Foods is one of our team's favourite places. Every time we go there, we want to stay all day and try everything in sight. In 2021, it was a dream come true when they started stocking our products in all their Northeastern U.S. locations.
Our adventure continues at Union Market. Our retail partner for the past 4 years, it's the kind of small, boutique grocery store where you want to try everything on the ready-to-eat counter.
A third stop just before going to eat: Maison Jar. A beautiful bulk grocery store that carries all of our products.
By now, we’ve worked up quite an appetite... That's why we planned our fourth stop accordingly: Dépanneur, our very first retailer in the United States! Also, the best homemade sandwich place in Brooklyn!
Lunch break is also a good time for Anie to make calls.
Our bellies now full, we leave for our fifth visit: Precycle. A little further out in Brooklyn, this small bulk grocery store serves a very loyal clientele.
For our last stop of the day, we pay a visit to Elissa from Green in BKLYN—the kind of store where you can really find everything. If you’re anything like us, you’ll find it easy to spend a lot of time there: the owner is always extremely helpful and loves to talk with Anie.
A busy second day! Now it's time for a drink at Saraghina Caffè, in the Fort Greene neighbourhood in Brooklyn.
But we can’t overdo it because we’ve already made plans to get up early tomorrow for a run on the Brooklyn and Manhattan bridges.
We saved the best part for last, the cherry on top of our little road trip: Neighborhood Goods. Halina first came across Neighborhood Goods on social media and immediately knew it would be a perfect match for The Unscented Company.
Located in the heart of Manhattan, in the ultra-hip Chelsea Market, this store aims to introduce emerging brands to its loyal neighbourhood clientele as well as the many tourists that pass through the area. What a pleasure to see our products in store and displayed so beautifully!
Of course, we left with our hands (and hearts) full!
We ended this trip with smiles on our faces, knowing that our team can be proud of what we’ve accomplished over the past several years. It's always exciting to see our products in stores and to have the chance to collaborate with such passionate partners!
