Flying Solo NYC Reviews 

If you are an independent brand thinking to sell there, think again. Complete waste of money.
Our jewelry brand was displayed from march to june 2022.
We are based in Germany and wanted to expand to the american market in New York. Store seemed to be in a premium position, however we got little to no sales in 3 months time. Jewelry display was also not professional and I had to tell them how to place the necklaces to make them more appealing to the eye. Our pieces are bold statement pieces so it shouldnt be difficult at all. Sometimes they answer to emails and sometimes not so it was hard to keep our communication updated and to get feedbacks regarding slow sales etc. Pr service seemed to work, our items got pulled quite often but, contrary to what they claim in their ads, not from premium magazines nor from hollywood celebrities. Also it has been 4 months and of all the stylist pulls only 3 editorials have been published so far. On instagram they just reposted our story with little initiative to promote our brand. Also their website is not selling at all like it has no traffic.
The returned inventory box was a chaos inside, 3 pieces are missing and we found one necklace from some other brand in our box. They just dont care. They sell you 3 months packages knowing very well that, given the low performances, many brands will leave but they always manage to lure new brands in, which are their main source of income. They dont earn from selling your products so they dont care about driving sales nor in store nor online. Thats the harsh truth regarding our experience with them.

Super cool store, with independent brands you can’t find anywhere else. Not your typical department store or boutique! Really worth the visit when in New York!

Our jewelry brand is displayed at Flying Solo from Nov-Jan 2022. If you are a designer/brand or a company looking to have a presence in New York City, this is the review that you must read - Flying solo is a scam and avoid at all costs.

Our brand is carried in over 46 stores across the country including department stores like Nordstroms. The sales have been crazy despite the pandemic, so when flying solo reached out to me to represent our brand for the holiday season, I did not hesitate nor I did my research. Here are my experience with them,

1. Extremely unethical. I walked into their store unannounced and found out that we are displayed in a half tank space ( $650/m) while we paid for a full tank space for $1500. Our display is sharing the same tank with another jewelry brand who also paid for the full tank space. They over-sold their space for the holiday season and hope no brands would notice this scam since most brands are not local and they don't have the luxury to just visit the store themselves. I am pretty sure this is management's idea.

2. No Traffic. The store is dead. I was quite shocked that we sold 3 pieces in the entire Nov ( we usually sell 2-3 pieces A DAY in a store just several blocks north to flying solo). I stopped by the store to collect feedback and was told by the store manager that Flying solo doesn't drive its own traffic and solely relies on tourist walk-ins. Brands is responsible for driving their own traffic, and only use flying solo for display purposes. They suggest we do shoutouts across social medias and send customers over to the store to make a purchase. Before I leave, one of the store staff ask me " you are here for 2 hours already, do you see a single soul walk in here? No! You need to drive your own traffic!" Gosh, it is the holiday season in new york.

3. Irresponsible and damaged our inventory. Our inventory is returned in a big box without any bubble wraps, nor cushion to protect the jewelry. They just threw everything in like garbage. See pics attached. Multiple pieces are damaged, several are missing, and two don't even belong to us. I emailed them four times in a week, copied the founder. No response, no refund on damaged and missing items, even until today ( April 1). They simply choose to ignore. Eye-opening.

4. Unprofessional and money-driven culture. They don't care to drive traffic because they don't make money from the sales in stores, they make money by selling their space to brands. If you think they would care about brands, you are wrong. They think tons of international brands would want to be presented in new york, they are not short of supply of brands. There retention rate of brands is 1-2% so they only focus on getting new brands in. There are a lot other stores that host events, work on digital marketing/ads to drive traffic for their brands. Save your money and go somewhere else.

5. PR is another scam. It is really for a bunch of digital magazines you have never heard of. Even google won't find them. So if you think this is another perk, you are thinking too much.

Our brand is lucky to be chosen by Flying Solo NYC to sell our products in their stores. I have a very positive experience working with Flying Solo NYC team. I like their professionalism in stores and in the office. A special thanks to David, the sales assistant, a kindest person on earth who is doing an excellent job selling products and is always there to make sure you are happy with his work. Thank you David, thank you Flying Solo NYC team for this lovely opportunity. I wish you the best.

Linda B.

Super fun store with lots of interesting designers you can actually meet and unique, edgy pieces you will not find anywhere else.