
May 2023 was very exciting for all of us at Kosh-a. Our month was filled with multiple pop ups starting from the east coast in New York and finishing up in our very own city of Dallas, Texas.
In the second week of May, along with bags of Kosh-a footwear we flew to New York where we showcased our products in two very different events - the Merakhi pop up and the Slashie Summit.
Apart from the Merakhi pop up being our first ever making it a milestone and a reason to celebrate; we enjoyed the celebrations even more at the end of that weekend with the great turnout and sales at our booths at both these events making it a massive success. Not only that, both these events gave us the opportunity to connect and work with some of the most amazing South Asian brands in the country. Inspired by a South Asian country ourselves, it was wonderful to see a number of other South Asian brands share their part of culture and heritage that we could relate to through their products.
Being our first series of pop ups and knowing it’s in the infamous New York City, we jumped into that weekend with zero expectations. However, the city and its people have given the products, the brand and our values the love that surpassed our imagination.
Post our New York experience, we went back to Texas for a similar weekend experience in Houston and Dallas. The two events we participated in were Market for Makers in Houston and The Boho Market in Dallas where we had the opportunity to showcase Kosh-a footwear to a much wider audience in terms of sheer numbers. The beauty of the Texas based events was the support it provided to not only small businesses but also local vendors. We enjoyed the experience and learnings we took from both these markets Apart from sales, we had the most fun showcasing our products and interacting with other vendors and small businesses, gaining insights and learning the tricks of the trade that come along with being a vendor at pop ups.

When you migrate to another country, you always carry a part with you that you want to share with the world through your own vision. We are very grateful to have met other business owners with their own inspiring stories forming a basis of motivation for the rest of us. Blessed to have been given the opportunity to be provided this platform where small businesses like Kosh-a could share our stories and passion with others like us.
Overall, we received immense support and encouragement at all the pop ups that made our experience even more special. May was a busy month for us at Kosh-a but it was just the thing we needed to boost our confidence, grow and prepare for future markets.

Some learnings from last month:
1.Collaboration over Competition:
Across all pop ups we participated in, I met and interacted with other small vendors/ business owners some that have been around for years and others only for a few months. Despite the years of their existence, the one common theme across them all was their helpfulness and the motivation they provided to each other. They offered their support and helped with networking, helping me connect with other similar pop-up events where we could potentially participate in the coming months. My retail background has given me the knowledge and experience to setup retail stores but the pop-up market is a whole different ball game. I received some amazing insights on setting up pop-up booths keeping in mind sales and marketing for the business.
2. There is room for everyone:
As psychologist and author Barry Schwartz says, “Having many choices seems attractive at first, but can be ultimately paralyzing. The cause of this indecisiveness is the fear of making the wrong decision, which grows the more options are available.” However, I believe if there is enough room for everyone to co-exist and provide value in their own way, having choices becomes a boon. For example, at the Market for Makers, there were more than 75 local vendors and a minimum of five that sold candles. You may ask, who needs five candle booths at a pop-up? But what if all these candle booths were completely different from one another and served its own purpose. The creativity in the room was exploding and that’s a choice I’d love to learn about and have.
3. Failure is part of success:
Our experience over the four pop ups were so different but learnings same from all. However, not every pop up gave us the same results we hoped for. We had one bad day and that got me disappointed but what I forgot in the moment were the other days where we our sales were better than we anticipated. The one failed pop-up may have been a disappointment in terms of sales but is it really a failure if you’ve taken learnings from it?
4. Best platform for brand awareness:
In this world of social media, there are so many ways to get our brand out there. Being an online e-commerce store, we do rely on what is traditional marketing in today’s world that is ‘influencer marketing’ or even ‘paid marketing’ on various online platforms. However, the exposure that we got with human interaction at these pop-ups opened the brand to a much wider audience and sometimes you need in addition to all other social marketing.
5. Customer engagement:
In addition to engagement with our fellow vendors, the most beautiful part of our entire experience last month was the customer engagement - talking about our journey, Kosh-a’s story; its existence and its products and our brand values. The concept of ‘Kolhapuri Chappals’ was new to a lot of the audience at the events and they were very intrigued by the pattern and design of this particular kind of sandal.
Overall, we are not only taking back the love and appreciation we received but also all the feedback and learnings for our products to come. We are currently working on putting together our next launch that includes another design twist to the humble ‘Kolhapuri Chappals’.
Follow us on Instagram and Facebook to know more. If we’ve impressed you even a tiny bit, reach out to us on info@kosh-a.com for sales and collaborations.