Buy a House or Open a Shop? He Put Everything Into the Shop | Edward Maradona
Unlocking Business Podcast
123 views
What happens when the only way to get the sneakers everyone wants is to buy a pile of stock nobody wants?
In Episode 24 of Unlocking Business, I sit down with Edward Maradona, founder of Cabinet Noir. At 28, Eddie chose to put every dollar he had into a single store in Shafto Lane over a house deposit, with zero industry experience. Twelve years and three store moves later, Cabinet Noir is one of the top boutiques in the country, importing exclusive designer labels from Paris and Tokyo fashion weeks and dressing names like UFC Hall of Famer Jon Jones and Machine Gun Kelly, who wore Cabinet Noir on stage and later on an album cover.
We get into how a sneaker store that couldn't land a Nike or New Balance account accidentally became one of Australia's first luxury fashion boutiques, after a cold email to Comme des Garçons turned into a ticket to Paris Fashion Week with no idea what he was doing once he got there. Eddie explains how buying actually works at that level, the deposits, the shipping risk, and the brands that would only let him stock the sneakers everyone wanted if he also bought a pile of stock nobody wanted, a call that nearly cost him half a million dollars.
We also cover why he deliberately keeps production runs small, turning down a corporate buyout offer before he understood what his business was worth, the moment he turned down Jon Jones for a collaboration only for Jones to turn up at the store anyway, and why Eddie believes the more product a brand sells, the less cool it becomes.
A genuinely entertaining conversation about building a brand on exclusivity in an industry that usually rewards the opposite.
Follow Kane:
Instagram: Instagram: kanetylersmith_
LinkedIn: LinkedIn: kanetylersmith
TikTok: TikTok: kanetylersmith
Connect with Edward and Cabinet Noir:
Instagram: Instagram: edward_maradona
Instagram: Instagram: cabinetnoir
TikTok: TikTok: edwardmaradona
Website: https://www.cabinetnoir.com.au/
00:00 Cold open
00:38 Introduction
00:59 Welcome Edward Maradona, Cabinet Noir
01:50 The celebrities who've shopped at Cabinet Noir
02:52 The biggest spender: Imagine Dragons
03:59 Buying a house or opening a shop at 28
04:48 Spending $300k on the first store fit-out
05:59 The staircase to nowhere
06:38 Inside the new Karrinyup store
08:40 Why Perth's CBD has lost its shoppers
09:53 Karrinyup, one of Australia's busiest shopping centres
10:58 How breakdancing led him into fashion
13:41 Winning Red Bull BC One Australia in 2013
15:36 How he saved the money to open the first store
16:19 Falling into luxury fashion by accident
18:17 Deciding to go all in despite the risk
18:36 Flying to Paris Fashion Week with zero experience
19:46 Getting the Comme des Garçons account
20:48 What it actually means to "buy" at fashion week
21:52 The 30% deposit and shipping risk on every order
22:54 Why 50% margin can still be a business killer
24:33 How other stores copied the Cabinet Noir blueprint
25:16 Getting Off-White through a conversation at a bar
27:02 Turning down a corporate buyout offer
29:05 Losing almost half a million dollars on dead stock
30:23 Why brands force you to buy stock you don't want
31:36 Why Farfetch's marketplace model collapsed so many stores
34:35 Shifting to Cabinet Noir's own brand as the real driver
38:01 Why five to six week lead times are the biggest constraint
39:08 Why activewear brands can run 70-80% margins
41:45 Different merchandising for a shopping centre vs a gallery store
44:08 Training staff to actually engage customers
46:56 Why networking matters more than ever on TikTok
49:46 Why Cabinet Noir is the bread and butter, not the caviar
52:05 Why selling too much can make a brand less cool
54:50 Keeping production runs deliberately small
56:46 Learning from Japanese brands' slow-growth philosophy
59:49 Comparing the stress of one store to running Smartfix
1:02:06 Hitting rock bottom and bouncing back
1:06:58 Why brand loyalty beats product loyalty
1:11:28 Curating racks by customer "avatar"
1:13:34 Learning to say no
1:14:53 Burning the boats and going all in
1:15:32 Fill one cup before you pour into the next
1:15:49 Wanting stores in Paris, Tokyo, Dubai and New York
1:17:23 Rebuilding wholesale toward 300-500 stockists
1 Comments
Buy a House or Open a Shop? He Put Everything Into the Shop | Edward Maradona
Unlocking Business Podcast
123 views
What happens when the only way to get the sneakers everyone wants is to buy a pile of stock nobody wants?
In Episode 24 of Unlocking Business, I sit down with Edward Maradona, founder of Cabinet Noir. At 28, Eddie chose to put every dollar he had into a single store in Shafto Lane over a house deposit, with zero industry experience. Twelve years and three store moves later, Cabinet Noir is one of the top boutiques in the country, importing exclusive designer labels from Paris and Tokyo fashion weeks and dressing names like UFC Hall of Famer Jon Jones and Machine Gun Kelly, who wore Cabinet Noir on stage and later on an album cover.
We get into how a sneaker store that couldn't land a Nike or New Balance account accidentally became one of Australia's first luxury fashion boutiques, after a cold email to Comme des Garçons turned into a ticket to Paris Fashion Week with no idea what he was doing once he got there. Eddie explains how buying actually works at that level, the deposits, the shipping risk, and the brands that would only let him stock the sneakers everyone wanted if he also bought a pile of stock nobody wanted, a call that nearly cost him half a million dollars.
We also cover why he deliberately keeps production runs small, turning down a corporate buyout offer before he understood what his business was worth, the moment he turned down Jon Jones for a collaboration only for Jones to turn up at the store anyway, and why Eddie believes the more product a brand sells, the less cool it becomes.
A genuinely entertaining conversation about building a brand on exclusivity in an industry that usually rewards the opposite.
Follow Kane:
Instagram: Instagram: kanetylersmith_
LinkedIn: LinkedIn: kanetylersmith
TikTok: TikTok: kanetylersmith
Connect with Edward and Cabinet Noir:
Instagram: Instagram: edward_maradona
Instagram: Instagram: cabinetnoir
TikTok: TikTok: edwardmaradona
Website: https://www.cabinetnoir.com.au/
00:00 Cold open
00:38 Introduction
00:59 Welcome Edward Maradona, Cabinet Noir
01:50 The celebrities who've shopped at Cabinet Noir
02:52 The biggest spender: Imagine Dragons
03:59 Buying a house or opening a shop at 28
04:48 Spending $300k on the first store fit-out
05:59 The staircase to nowhere
06:38 Inside the new Karrinyup store
08:40 Why Perth's CBD has lost its shoppers
09:53 Karrinyup, one of Australia's busiest shopping centres
10:58 How breakdancing led him into fashion
13:41 Winning Red Bull BC One Australia in 2013
15:36 How he saved the money to open the first store
16:19 Falling into luxury fashion by accident
18:17 Deciding to go all in despite the risk
18:36 Flying to Paris Fashion Week with zero experience
19:46 Getting the Comme des Garçons account
20:48 What it actually means to "buy" at fashion week
21:52 The 30% deposit and shipping risk on every order
22:54 Why 50% margin can still be a business killer
24:33 How other stores copied the Cabinet Noir blueprint
25:16 Getting Off-White through a conversation at a bar
27:02 Turning down a corporate buyout offer
29:05 Losing almost half a million dollars on dead stock
30:23 Why brands force you to buy stock you don't want
31:36 Why Farfetch's marketplace model collapsed so many stores
34:35 Shifting to Cabinet Noir's own brand as the real driver
38:01 Why five to six week lead times are the biggest constraint
39:08 Why activewear brands can run 70-80% margins
41:45 Different merchandising for a shopping centre vs a gallery store
44:08 Training staff to actually engage customers
46:56 Why networking matters more than ever on TikTok
49:46 Why Cabinet Noir is the bread and butter, not the caviar
52:05 Why selling too much can make a brand less cool
54:50 Keeping production runs deliberately small
56:46 Learning from Japanese brands' slow-growth philosophy
59:49 Comparing the stress of one store to running Smartfix
1:02:06 Hitting rock bottom and bouncing back
1:06:58 Why brand loyalty beats product loyalty
1:11:28 Curating racks by customer "avatar"
1:13:34 Learning to say no
1:14:53 Burning the boats and going all in
1:15:32 Fill one cup before you pour into the next
1:15:49 Wanting stores in Paris, Tokyo, Dubai and New York
1:17:23 Rebuilding wholesale toward 300-500 stockists