Independent Retail Week: NYC has been created by Nolcha and supported by The Manhattan Chamber of Commerce, Make Your Mark in Retail and Global Entrepreneurship Week USA to provide a commercial and promotional platform for small retail businesses in NYC. This initiative aims to drive economy into local businesses and increase revenue. For one week only, November 17-23, 2008, some of New York City's best independent stores in fashion, beauty, accessories and more will offer selected services and products at 20% discount. This is a simple and unique opportunity for independent retailers in NY to increase brand awareness, sales and traffic to their store by being part of this citywide campaign. Consumers will have the opportunity to shop at some of the best independent stores in NYC at a fraction of the price.

Independent retail businesses are an important aspect of the economy in Manhattan. I am thrilled to support Nolcha in this effective initiative to increase small business awareness and growth, states Nancy Ploeger, President, Manhattan Chamber of Commerce.

Adds Jonathan Ortmans, President of Global Entrepreneurship Week, "Entrepreneurs come in all shapes and sizes, along with Nolcha, we hope to inspire young people to unleash their creativity and chase their dreams.

Annual retail sales in New York City are approximately $42 billion with $19.5 billion in Manhattan alone. In NYC over 260,000 people are employed in the retail industry with 60,000 of these are employed in clothing and accessory stores. NYC has more retail square footage than any other city and retailing helps generate, collect, and remit New York State and local sales tax revenue exceeding $22 billion annually. The facts are that 95% of all retailers have only one store, nearly 98% have sales less than $2.5 million per year and more than 98% have less than 100 employees. By raising awareness to the independent business owner and increasing their revenue, not only do they increase their bottom line but will in turn, boost the economy in this sector and enable then to be able to continue to provide donations of cash, merchandise, and/or facilities to support community groups, schools, and other organizations in the villages, towns, boroughs and cities where they do business.

Kerry Bannigan, Co-founder of Nolcha summarizes, With New York City being the global capital in retail, fashion and beauty and also our company headquarters, we felt it was the most obvious choice to launch Independent Retail Week in the great city of New York.

About Nolcha: Enhancing the careers of emerging fashion industry talent, Nolcha Fashion Career Network is a unique multifaceted platform. It enables aspiring and talented designers to debut their collections, gain and share industry insight, and realize their entrepreneurial goals and dreams. This platform synthesizes live events, regional fashion weeks, and a myriad of cross promotional mediums that spearheads our emerging designers directly into professional channels. Nolcha Fashion Career Network is an environment composed of three key elements: Nolcha Fashion Week: NYC & London, Nolcha TV, and Nolcha Mtier Magazine.   

For more information about Nolcha and Independent Retail Week: NYC, please contact rstrong@nolcha.com