As the Juilliard Store was preparing to suspend in-person shopping on March 12, our staff called customers to inform them we would be closed for a few weeks, offered to take payments over the phone, and ship items that day. At that point, of course, nobody expected that we would remain closed as long as we have. Read more about Navigating a New Reality.
Although the Juilliard Store is closed for in-person shopping, we have been working hard to support students, faculty, and all our customers. Immediately after we closed, we worked with our publishers and distributors to ship orders directly to our customers, directed all traffic to juilliardstore.com, and provided customer support by phone, email, and through our live chat app. We also launched a partnership with Sheet Music Direct, a digital sheet music site offering more than 300,000 pieces.
In May, Juilliard celebrated its 115th commencement. In a normal year, in the weeks leading up to commencement, soon-to-be graduates pack the store to stock up on Juilliard gear. This year, the store sent this year’s graduates their cap and tassels as well as care packages with custom T-shirts, pennants, pens, and other Juilliard commemorative items.
In June, we were fortunate to host our first virtual book discussion, with faculty member Stephen Hough, who chatted about his Rough Ideas: Reflections on Music and More and answered questions submitted by the more than 150 listeners about everything from practice methods to the future of the performing arts in the virtual world.
Usually we spend the summer preparing for the upcoming school year. This year we undertook a whole different type of preparation, starting with providing the faculty and students with necessary equipment for remote learning. With Juilliard’s first seven weeks of classes being entirely remote, the school needed to ensure that students could thrive during virtual instruction. Each student and faculty member received a credit to use toward purchasing one or more items, and we ended up shipping more than 600 orders—for items like microphones, Ethernet cables, ring lights, WiFi signal boosters, headphones, music stands, dance practice mats, ballet barres, and electric pianos—all over the world.
Once students and faculty members were preparing to enter the building during Block 2, we began acquiring specialty PPE for our performing artists, starting with 10,000 double-ply, reusable, cloth Juilliard masks for community members when they arrive back on campus. We’re going to be selling masks by the end of the year, though they won’t be as fancy as the ones in a mask-making contest spearheaded by Prop Shop supervisor Kate Dale! Currently we are also distributing specialized singer’s masks, instrument bags, bell covers, and masks for winds and brass players—items that, for the most part, didn’t exist eight months ago but now we carry multiple options.
As we made all these pivots, we were also able to complete and launch our brand new ecommerce site! The project took almost a year to complete as we had to migrate more than 60,000 products and do lots of other behind-the-scenes work. Take a moment to visit the new site and learn about our new features and improvements, including the ability to save on shipping and receive orders more quickly. Meanwhile, a few of us are in the store three days a week to fulfill orders; we also have limited curbside pick-up hours.
As we near the holiday season, we are about to release our annual holiday gift guide. This version is a little different—like everything else this year. While traditionally we offer a larger holiday guide, we decided to focus on the most meaningful gifts recommended by the staff and faculty. As we have learned in the last few months, we must remain vigilant and help others as best we can. We hope all of our customers and community members stay safe during these challenging times, and we hope to see you again soon!