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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Mission
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Company Overview
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Locations
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Products
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Consumer Research
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SWOT Analysis
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Concept
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Our New Product
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Marketing
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Extension Opportunitites
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Steps To Know
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"A concept of a modern store with an array of products that people would usually find in a general store"
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COMPANY OVERVIEW
1989 Sylvester and Co. was founded and trademaked by Lynda Sylvester, Modern General is under the company Sylvester & Co. Modern General gets its title from the array of products you would normally find in a general store which are abundantly sold. Sylvester and Co. remains a private company run by Lynda herself and her store managers.
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LOCATIONS
Lynda Sylvester established three locations: Sag Harbor, New York, Savannah, GA, and Amagansept, East Hampton. The Sag Harbor location is the main store and currently runs as Sylvestor and Co.'s largest location with the widest range of products. Lynda spends most of her time in this store working directly with clients and overseeing store operations. The Savannah, GA store is known under the name Modern General and is located on Broughton Street next door to J.Crew. The third location in Amagansept, East Hampton recently closed this past summer. It served as a studio space for clients to consult with Lynda on furniture designs and interior layouts for home.
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SAVANNAH, GA
Sylvester & Co. Modern GeneralÂŽ 205 W. Broughton St. Savannah, GA 31401 (912) 236-1150 info@sylvestercosavannah.com Mon & Wed 9am - 6pm Thurs - Sat 9am - 7pm Sun 10am - 6pm Tues Close
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SAG HARBOR, NY
Sylvester & Co. Modern GeneralÂŽ 103 Main Street Sag Harbor, NY 11963 (631) 725-5012 info@sylvesterandco.com Mon & Thurs - Sat 9am - 6pm Sun 9am - 5pm Tue & Wed Close
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PRODUCTS
"Sylvester and Co. carries a wide range of products from outlooks to daily necessities, styling up a modern life." Sylvester & Co.'s largest product category is homeware: Candel & Scent, Kitchenware & Home Furnishing, Outdoor, Floor mats, Gift, Wallpaper, and Gallery. Within the Gallery category are artworks by local artisans such as Justin M Zielke, a current SCAD student getting his M.F.A. in painting. His beautiful wood frames are made out of refurbished wood from fellow local Savannah Pine Company. Sylvester and Co. also carries product categories such as apparel, accessory, books, coffee, personal care, pet products, and pantry. In the Savannah, GA location Modern General also sells products under the Modern General label. These products are conceptually created by Lynda Sylvester and manufactured by third party companies. An example would be the furniture Lynda designs and manufactures through a company (name has been revoked) in High Point, North Carolina. Both Savannah and Sag Harbor also have a coffee bar within their stores that sell coffee Lynda owns.
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Featured: Twin Cork Upholstered Chairs, Modern General Label; String’s Collection I & II (twins), canvas paintings by Justin M Zielke; Pillow, BEE Modern.
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"All frames are handmade with Reclaimed Antique Heart Pine to keep Savannah’s rich history while also bringing forward the ideas of ancestry." - Justin M Zielke
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CONSUMER RESEARCH
Sylvester and Co's consumers vary upon location due to location demographics and product offerings. In Sag Harbor, Sylvester has a larger and growing customer base being in a prime location and in an appropriate income demographic for their customers. The Savannah location is a much smaller consumer market. This is mainly due to the lack of high incomes willing to pay Modern General's prices. Most of their customers are people from New York visiting and recognizing the brand name. The ideal consumer appreciates unique products with fine craftmanship. They are anywhere betwen the age 20-55, who has annual income $80,000 or higher. This group of people usually live an active and healthy lifestyle, and hold a strong value on environmental awareness given the long life they want to live. Most of all, they are willing to spend money for sustainable products.
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Strengths
High quality products
Unique products
Attention to sustainablility
Attention to collaboration
Opportunities
Broaden/Maintain Savannah location with new marketing initiatves
Increase consumer base by producing products more appealing to local demographic
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Weakness
Consumer base in Savannah is diminishing
Threats
Economy slowdown Due to the demographic in Savannah, more clients are prone to shop at lower priced retail stores like Anthropologie and West Elm for pillows
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OUR PRODUCT CONCEPT
Our concept lies within wanting to create a sustainable product for Sylvester and Co. in hopes of bringing forth a CLC program initiative between SCAD Master Students and Lynda Sylvester. In result, we hope to implement the use of textile waste within the SCAD corporation by reducing SCAD's global footprint and educating students how to sustainably develop collaborative projects in house. By in house we mean SCAD playing the role as the manufacturer for Sylvester and CO. Lynda Sylvester would meet with our CLC Team to develop a new product concept every Fall, Winter, and Spring quarters in hopes of setting forth a series of collaborative projects amongst students working together to develop new sustainable products. Our role as a Creative Marketing Team chosen by SCAD's CLC program would be to provide our marketing expertise as we see fit for the product Lynda wants in her store.
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OUR NEW PRODUCT
Our product is constructed with fine techniques learned through our studies in Fibers and Fashion Design at SCAD. It's exterior is made from upcycled denim cut from old and abandoned Levi's and Lee jeans. Its interior consists of scraps that would otherwise be put to waste at SCAD's Eckburg Hall. We cut up these scraps in to smaller pieces to compensate for pillow stuffing. By reusing these materials and turning them in to something new, we not only spark innovation but we also reduce SCAD's textile waste.
Textile waste is a serious issue and a growing crisis. Americans throw away, on average, 80 pounds of textiles per year. 95% of that is recyclable.
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MARKETING
Modern General is an authentic American General Store that takes pride in its products from small manufacturers and artisans. Sylvester & Co. as its parent company promotes individuality and fine craftsmanship as a lifestyle. Our marketing objective is to implement this lifestyle with our product. The finishing touches of our one-of-a-kind products we believe will intrigue a customer to touch and analyze while in store. The store layout where our product will be displayed is filled with product that initiates the conversation regarding collaboration and sustainablity. As any person visiting a store these days, we know that an in store experience is something that consumers hold to a high regard. Our aim is for our prouct to spark a converstaion and tell a story. Through Sylvester and Co. and Modern General's online platforms we intend to attract the consumer by social media marketing and online advertisements.
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Our mission is to provide a product that sparks a converstaion and tells a story.
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EXTENSION OPPORTUNITIES
Our extension opportunities currently lie predominantly in the hands of SCAD fibers, and furniture deisgn students. However, assuming that SCAD adopts this idea and implements our initiative within the curriculum we have hopes this line would expand to other degrees such as service design as well. Our product extension serves the purpose of breaking sustainable boundaries to create new innovations as well as serving local companies in order to obtain a higher revenue.
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STEPS TO KNOW:
1. COLLECT
Drop off bins located in SCAD buildings for students to dispose of textiles. Our team asseses these items and strategizes what to keep as exterior fabric versus interior.
2. DESIGN
SCAD students who are selected by our CLC program team up with Lynda Sylvester to conceptualize a product design with the resources given.
3. MANUFACTURE
With the unlimited amount of resources provided at SCAD by SCAD our manufacturing fascilities are endless in regards to what can be manufactured.
4. MARKET AND PROMOTE
SCAD students from the FASM deparment (such as our Creative Marketing Team) team up with these artisans and Lynda in order to create a marketing strategy to promote these sustainable products within the Sylvester and Co. structure.
*given the small fact our hands almost fell off cutting up the stuffing for our pillow, we suggest SCAD invest in a machine that deconstructs fabrics in order to be reused and recycled.
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FASM 400-02 Prof. Monika Jonevski Final Project Beaty McKnight Mengying Zhang Tiffany Lu Tik Wa Alejandra Crespo Rendon
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