Tory Burch’s Meatpacking boutique is taking on new meaning as the brand launches a Tory Burch Foundation pop-up.
Tory Burch launched a Tory Burch Foundation pop-up at the brand’s Meatpacking District boutique on October 23rd. The pop-up highlights the company and the foundation’s commitment to advancing women’s empowerment and entrepreneurship with weekly events and activations each Tuesday.
Among the activities are an #EmbraceAmbition photo booth and women’s wellness day. A wall in the store features 100 Years of Women’s Rights in the U.S., highlighting legislative advancements.
“When I started the company, my dream was to start a foundation,” said Tory Burch, chief executive officer and chief creative officer. “Social responsibility was in our business plan from the very beginning.”
Since launching in 2009, the foundation has provided programs and funding for women entrepreneurs in the U.S. by providing access to capital, education and digital resources.
Throughout the month, leading up to its culmination on #Giving Tuesday, Nov. 27, 20 percent of net proceeds from the sale of all Tory Burch apparel and accessories at the store will benefit the foundation’s mission to empower women.
Elaborating on why she wanted to open a pop-up shop for the foundation, Burch said, “We have found that retail allows us to connect with our customer on a deeper level. We wanted to give our customers a three-dimensional, tangible experience with the foundation. It really brings to life our mission, which is to empower women entrepreneurs. It also is an opportunity to showcase our foundation products, including our Seed Box and our Embrace Ambition bracelets which we’ve seen really resonating with our customers.”
Burch said she’d like to see her foundation more integrated into her stores, but there are no immediate plans for rolling out the pop-up concept.
She said a core component is finding women entrepreneurs from underserved areas. “We have a deep network of nonprofits and community lenders from across the country who recommend women entrepreneurs from their local communities for the program. We want to ensure that we’re closing the opportunity gap, and not only with regards to gender,” she said.
As for what she expects the pop-up will do for the foundation and the company and how the applicant pool has changed since she started, Burch said, “The pop-up spotlights women entrepreneurship and has a tangible, monetary component to subsidize our programs. We hope the pop-up spurs dialogue and that more people understand that when you empower women you can transform entire communities. We haven’t seen any substantial change in the applicant pool though, interestingly, one consistent commonality is social responsibility. The vast majority of our applicants have a philanthropic component to their business.”
She noted that the foundation has distributed over $40 million in loans to over 2,000 women through its Capital Program sponsored by Bank of America and over half a million dollars in grants through its flagship Fellows Program. “And we’re just getting started,” she said.