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Souvenirs are Serious Business Hospitality Retail Nailah Nash is Director of Retail Shops at The Ritz-Carlton Amelia Island. With a background in retail at J. Crew and Saks Fifth Avenue, Nailah comes to the hospitality industry with a unique approach to adding more to your bottom line.
Q. Nailah, your path is quite unique. How did you get into this field? A. The appreciation of beautiful items and
As fortune would have it, I was soon extended the opportunity to merge my love for travel and beautiful spaces with my love of fashion, design and retail operations. This was truly a dream come true. The fit could beautiful, inspiring spaces have always been not have been better, because as I researched passions of mine. For those that know me and benchmarked companies with best-inwell, it is no surprise that my career took class service, The Ritz-Carlton was always me in the direction of fashion, the retail my favorite. Our brand is known for bestbusiness and hospitality. Although these may in-class service and our ladies and gentlemen seem like an unlikely combination, I have are titans of the industry and masters of been fortunate enough to combine these their craft. It has been truly amazing to passions into a career that challenges and integrate high end retail into this inspires me daily. environment. The guest is always My career began in the As fortune would excited to experience the best corporate world. I worked have it, I was of both worlds. These are truly for a large information soon extended unique shopping experiences technology company as a the opportunity that you will not find elsewhere. Business Analyst and learned to merge my During my time with The Ritzso much. I absorbed the love for travel Carlton, I have been fortunate to principles of dedication work with an amazing hotel and beautiful and seeing a project manager and two great general spaces with my through from concept to managers that see my vision for love of fashion, daily execution. This time building luxury retail within design and retail was invaluable as it is the hotel spaces. These gentlemen operations. foundation of my career. have taught me the business of This was truly a I had never considered hotels. During my seven years dream come true. a career in retail. Although with The Ritz-Carlton my shopping was certainly a team and I have redesigned our hobby of mine, I never retail offerings. We have developed strategic thought that I could make that my new partnerships with several popular brands career. I had a wonderful mentor who who now have stores within our hotel. We encouraged me to join the industry and saw opportunities to take underused meeting helped me quickly develop from a part-time space and recreate them into revenue associate to a leader who developed teams and generating guest experiences. We work to opened new department stores. Although this continuously provide a new experience for path was not my first choice out of college, I the guest. Part of that experience is ensuring loved it. I felt excited and inspired about my that we always have lovely items for the guests to enjoy and take home with them. contribution each day.
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Q. Explain to readers about the company you started to support the hospitality industry. A. Nash Luxury Group was born out of
the need and request for more retail support within the hospitality industry. Every hotel and resort should have a retail offering of some sort for guests. Travel and shopping are a great fit and a good source of additional cash flow. For that reason, I have pulled together a team of experts that support owners and general managers to integrate retail offerings into hotels and restaurants.
Q. Hotels typically focus on rooms, food and beverage and recreation. Why retail? A. Travel and dining are all about the
unique experiences and memories that one can bring home with them. Those special memories will last for a lifetime and sometimes for generations. For that reason, souvenirs and gifts for loved ones from the destination have always been a natural combination.
Q. What do you love most about being a retailer? A. All levels of creating retail purchasing
plans and operations are my passion from store design, product design and strategic vendor partnerships to guidance with store operation. With over 20 years in the industry, I envision strategic ways to include gift shopping in hotel lobbies, spas or restaurants. These additional spaces can be a powerful addition to the guest experience as well as the bottom line of the overall profit. FLORIDA RESTAUR ANT & LOD GING
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