When he was straight out of college in the US, Ed “Bud” Cole interviewed for a job as a PR assistant at Fender, probably the most famous guitar brand in the world. He didn’t get it.
They make an odd couple, but they share a common passion. Guitars. Specifically, Fender guitars. And it’s not just company loyalty. Both are guitarists who played Fenders semi-professionally in their youth, Mooney in bands in the UK, Cole in a ’90s Arizona group called Rain Convention that shared stages with R.E.M. and Radiohead. Mooney is also an avid collector who owned 40 guitarsThe Fender Flagship Tokyo is housed in the hip Harajuku district’s “Ice Cubes” building.
as rent,” explains Tuck. “For example, in Australia, supermarkets assign around two per cent. General retail in CBD areas is around 10 to 20 per cent. But for a flagship they can move that dial up to around 50 per cent.” “We won the design competition for T-Site the week the iPad came out [in 2010],” says Dytham. “Everyone was saying, ‘Who’s going to want a new bookstore now that everything’s going digital?’ ” Turns out, people did. Klein picks up the story: “Our tagline for T-Site was ‘Welcome back to the books.’ For us, a new flagship is about social retail and connection. We want people to feel comfortable in the space. We want them to come in and explore.” Dytham nods.
Sydney’s Adidas store is one of many flagships opening in Australia, where a scarcity of high-end space adds to the challenge.