Just Opened Up Shop -- Knot Tied Down -- Would Love Feedback!

[Knot Tied Down]

Hi guys,

We'd love to get your thoughts on our recently opened tie shop: www.knottieddown.com. Positive or negative we'd love to hear it!

Just to give you a bit of background, I'm a lawyer by trade who came out of law school with "some" student loan debt (and by some, I mean a lot). Finding affordable professional clothing was difficult but there was no better feeling than finding a cheap, quality tie that got me compliments in court or at a deposition. It was my small way of sticking it to the man . So that's our focus at Knot Tied Down: affordable, stylish, but quality accessories. We only use natural fibers for our ties (i.e. silk, cotton, etc.).

For your time, I'd love to send you a coupon code that you can use site-wide. Anyway, hope to hear from you.

Cheers!

Ryan

[pmestrad]

Took a look at the site. Seems fairly well set up and easy to navigate which is a plus. Small selection of neck ties, though of course, that is to be expected with a new site. I am a fan of that midnight blue and green cotton diamond tie. I think it is well thought out and slightly unique. Some suggestions I have:

1. I sadly am not huge on the super slim tie thing and would not buy anything under 3". I think all of my ties are between 3" and 3 3/8". 2.75 is too thin for me so I personally would not be buying any of the ties. IMO, somewhere between 3 and 3.25 inches is the spot that would capture the widest audience, though this is just my opinion and I have no evidence to back this up.

2. I think you would be well served to have some staple ties up there. Plain red or burgundy, plain navy with some texture to it. I would put these in place of the fun colored seersucker ties and the bold medallion tie. If, however, this is the look you are going for then that is definitely fine as well. It just would not appeal to me personally.

Anyways, those are my thoughts. Good luck going forward! Thank you for sharing your story here and for not just shamelessly advertising and acting like you are a consumer of the ties instead of the shop owner. I look forward to following your progress.

[Useknifeonly]

Personally, I really like the ties.

I do agree with the above statement about staple or workhorse ties in a solid color like navy, gray, burgundy etc. But for the most part, I like what you've got, there a couple of the darker ties I really liked and will probably pick up since ties are the few parts of the closet I never can bring myself to spend a lot on, the price point is great for me.

As far as width goes, I've got no problem with it.

Above all else though, best of luck with the endeavor, I hope it goes well!

[Knot Tied Down]

Took a look at the site. Seems fairly well set up and easy to navigate which is a plus. Small selection of neck ties, though of course, that is to be expected with a new site. I am a fan of that midnight blue and green cotton diamond tie. I think it is well thought out and slightly unique. Some suggestions I have:

1. I sadly am not huge on the super slim tie thing and would not buy anything under 3". I think all of my ties are between 3" and 3 3/8". 2.75 is too thin for me so I personally would not be buying any of the ties. IMO, somewhere between 3 and 3.25 inches is the spot that would capture the widest audience, though this is just my opinion and I have no evidence to back this up.

2. I think you would be well served to have some staple ties up there. Plain red or burgundy, plain navy with some texture to it. I would put these in place of the fun colored seersucker ties and the bold medallion tie. If, however, this is the look you are going for then that is definitely fine as well. It just would not appeal to me personally.

Anyways, those are my thoughts. Good luck going forward! Thank you for sharing your story here and for not just shamelessly advertising and acting like you are a consumer of the ties instead of the shop owner. I look forward to following your progress.

Thanks, pmestrad! I've PM'd you with a code. Excellent review.

I was always a fan of standard ties but as time went on, I felt I had no other choice but to conform to the thinner ties that were being put out there. They were the most up-to-date patterns and colors after all. 2.75" was our sweet spot (and what I personally wore the most). After awhile, I found that that width grew on me. 2.0" - 2.5" was too thin, but 3.0" - 3.25" felt a tad large. Our target research showed most guys could comfortably wear 2.75" without looking too trendy or too dated. Remember, we target guys who love fashion but who don't like to look like they're trying too hard to get there.

Anyway, thanks again and I hope you keep following us as we evolve.

Cheers!

Ryan

[kongmw]

I realize your price point is indeed slightly lower, but just out of curiosity, how do you guys aim to differentiate yourself from TheTieBar and their vast selections of all kinds of menswear accessories?

[Knot Tied Down]

Personally, I really like the ties.

I do agree with the above statement about staple or workhorse ties in a solid color like navy, gray, burgundy etc. But for the most part, I like what you've got, there a couple of the darker ties I really liked and will probably pick up since ties are the few parts of the closet I never can bring myself to spend a lot on, the price point is great for me.

As far as width goes, I've got no problem with it.

Above all else though, best of luck with the endeavor, I hope it goes well!

Useknifeonly - PM with code sent, thanks for the review!

Completely agree with the "workhorse" tie. We actually will be marketing Monday through Thursday type ties (Fridays are reserved for fun ties, of course). These will feature navy bases with white/pink pin dots, regimental red and navy stripes and solids. We'll have silk knitted ties as well. We expect all those to be completed mid-next week. Unfortunately, our 100% handmade silk ties take a bit longer to manufacture and so they couldn't meet our soft opening.

However, we'll check back in to let you know when they're up on the website, thanks again!

Ryan

[Marc99]

I have to agree with the above comment - they're appealing in pattern and price, but are too narrow for my tastes. 3-3.5" ties only. The site navigates well, but for some reason it reminds me of thetiebar (might be the product selection, price range, and product photos). Not necessarily a bad thing, but mentally there. Good luck and let me\us know if you end up offering wider ties.

[Knot Tied Down]

I realize your price point is indeed slightly lower, but just out of curiosity, how do you guys aim to differentiate yourself from TheTieBar and their vast selections of all kinds of menswear accessories?

Hi kongmw - I'm going to send you a PM with a code in a moment but I love marketing/theoretical economic questions so much that I wanted to get back to you immediately.

I have been a regular shopper of The Tie Bar since I started practicing law. They design beautiful ties and I very much respect their founder, who, like me, was an attorney with an entrepreneurial spirit. That being said, we're not necessarily taking aim at The Tie Bar's customers, we're trying to tailor to ground-level professionals who don't exactly have the time to shop.

For example, I love diner food so when I briefly lived in NY, I was in heaven. There was this amazing diner a few blocks from my apartment, but whenever someone asked me if I wanted to go there, my instinctual reaction was "no." The problem was the diner had a 20-page menu with what seemed like 20 items per page. I could never choose because it was yummy food overload (Monte Cristo with Thousand Island, haven't been able to find it since). That's kind of like The Tie Bar. They cast a very wide net. But for guys like me, who just want your best options at amazing prices, there weren't really any options. Thus, I had to really scavenge for cheap, quality ties that made someone say, "Hey, nice tie, Ryan." So, unavoidably, we're going to have to go up against heavyweights like The Tie Bar from time to time, but we're definitely not trying to. We're catering to guys who are into fashion (voluntarily or involuntarily) but who don't exactly have the time (or patience) to get there.

Anyway, hope that answers your question, thanks again!

Ryan

[DrewCPA]

I really like your site and ties! Eager to see more inventory. I especially like the bow ties. Width doesn't bother me, although that's probably a place to expand at some point. Good luck with your venture.

[Knot Tied Down]

I have to agree with the above comment - they're appealing in pattern and price, but are too narrow for my tastes. 3-3.5" ties only. The site navigates well, but for some reason it reminds me of thetiebar (might be the product selection, price range, and product photos). Not necessarily a bad thing, but mentally there. Good luck and let me\us know if you end up offering wider ties.

Hi Marc99, thanks for the comments. Yeah, like I said, we really want to get into 3" - 3.5" widths (and thinner ones as well) but or main focus right now is on colors and patterns to make sure we can shore up a good base of clients. We'll get there eventually though . PM will be send shortly.

Ryan

[Knot Tied Down]

I really like your site and ties! Eager to see more inventory. I especially like the bow ties. Width doesn't bother me, although that's probably a place to expand at some point. Good luck with your venture.

DrewCPA - Thanks for your comments! Inventory will be growing very soon. I'll be frank. I wasn't really into bow ties until we started Knot Tied Down. I thought they were really beyond me. But believe it or not, I'm wearing a bow tie to a wedding I have to go to tonight, and I have to say, I look pretty good...ha! Once you get the actual tying process down, they are really eye-catching. PM will be sent momentarily, thanks again!

Ryan

[LosRockets]

Change the background - that speckled thing makes me feel like my monitor is dirty. Cotton ties aren't my thing and these are not in my price range ($50-80) so the quality, size, looks just aren't there for me to even consider giving them a try, but tie your knots better, see if you can dimple them for the pics. Otherwise, pics look good.

[fencedwall]

Hey, I went through your site and was impressed with the ties.
The collection looks like a nice starting place for those wanting to start our collection without shelling out the $50-$80 that we don't have.

I am not a big fan of the bright colors of the tie bars. Are you looking at possibly going with some more muted varieties?

One last thing is the design of the site. While I like not having to go through every page, I think your first page can be cleaned up a bit.
The brick wall reminds me of comedians in the 80's and is distracting from the product.
The "A Tie Shop" seems a little bit redundant if your company is called Knot Tied Down and there are plenty of pictures of ties.

Take care and best of luck!

[devastitis]

Will you be bringing in regular white pocket squares, preferably with colored edges? I wouldn't mind picking up white pocket squares with the following colored edges: burgundy, grey, forest green, black (I already have a navy one, but you should offer that as well).

Also navy ties with polka dots in a variety of colors (light blue, white, grey, pink, etc) would be something I'd also be interested in.

For tie bars, matte tie bars and a tie bar in silver. Like the previous poster, they're a bit too bright for my tastes. Almost clownish.

[Spex]

I completely agree with those that immediately thought "The Tie Bar", as the ties also remind me of those. It seems that you are competing on price. With respect to the idea of offering a smaller selection to make shopping quicker, in the Tie Bar's defense, in 2 clicks you can display all of their solid blue ties. Two more clicks and you have the width of your choice and the material.

All in all, it's good to have more competition in the market place. However, for me personally, I've moved away from both ties that are less than 3" wide, as well as ties that are on the lower-end. I also have little use for cotton ties. Good luck to your business and I wish you all the best.