Kate Spade Reinvents Retail as a Lean Startup

The Kate Spade flagship in Japan serves espresso to encourage customers to chat and linger. And every Saturday, it releases an article of clothing you won't find anywhere else. The goal is to make the store a weekly excursion for millennials who may otherwise be hooked on internet shopping. There's just one problem: Short-term analog experiences leave a long paper trail. Kate Spade was printing and shipping beautifully embossed signage every week. The expense was massive, and the efficiency was low. In short, it felt like a dated idea.