ANDREA A. ABRAMS | CO-FOUNDER

Andrea (Bills) Abrams is a 25-year retail industry veteran with extensive experience in physical retail, as well as technologies for physical and virtual retail expansion. Andrea is a C-level global executive with a broad background in cross border expansion strategies and partnerships. Andrea is the founder of Andrea Abrams LLC, d.b.a. Abrams Global, and the co-founder of Interconnected LLC.  She is a tech investor and is currently on the Strategic Advisory Board of retail technology company Guesst Software and the Advisory Board of luxury blockchain company Lukso. Being an Argentinian-born American and having lived and worked in multiple countries in Latin America and Europe, Andrea is fluent in English, Spanish and Italian. 

Andrea has advised prominent retail clients such as Saint Laurent, The White Company, Regatta UK, and Etam Groupe on their international expansion strategies, including partner sourcing, franchising and real estate. Andrea has also provided portfolio-wide merchandising advice to large shopping center owners in the US, UK, France and Canada with a focus on cross border retailers and new concept tenants.  As part of her project merchandising work, Andrea  has been working with Triple Five Worldwide Group of Companies since 2017 as an international retail advisor for their new American Dream project in New Jersey. 

Andrea previously spent a large part of her career in senior positions with US retail REIT General Growth Properties (NYSE: GGP at the time - now part of Brookfield Properties), the second largest shopping center owner at the time, where she was involved in launching GGP Ventures/GGP International, with transactions in Turkey, Brazil and Central America, and taking over development and asset management responsibilities for a $5 billion land and mixed-use portfolio upon GGP's acquisition of Rouse Companies in 2004, which included development and asset management responsibilities of prominent master planned communities and town centers. As part of her work in mixed-use, Andrea co-led the re-zoning and redevelopment of the 62-acre Ward Village in Honolulu, Hawaii, and served on the Executive Board of The Woodlands Company (TWDC) in Houston, TX, a Joint Venture of GGP and Morgan Stanley at the time. 

Andrea ran US operations for London-based retail agencies Lunson Mitchenall and Time Retail Partners between 2013 and 2016. She has been a member of ICSC, BCSC and ULI. She is a graduate of the University of Notre Dame in the US, where she majored in engineering and architecture and was the recipient of the Alpha Rho Chi medal. She is a frequent speaker on the subject of international retail expansion.  

Rigo Lora has over 20 years of business experience.  He is a 14-year fashion and lifestyle industry veteran with extensive experience in brand expansion and global partnerships. He is the founder of Rigo A Lora LLC  and the co-founder of Interconnected LLC.  

Rigo began his career at Pfizer Pharmaceuticals, gaining experience in numerous departments such as IT, Marketing, Sales, Legal and Quality Assurance. Having a lifelong desire to work in the fashion industry and after 10 years in the Pharmaceutical business, he received a once in a lifetime opportunity to launch the fashion brand Dsquared2 in the US.  At the time, Dsquared2 was a start-up with minimal US presence, minimal global distribution and no global retail presence. 

Rigo joined Dsquared2 Inc. (the US Division) in 2006, as the brand’s first US employee and was responsible for managing and developing the US wholesale business, which grew from a few accounts to 50+ wholesale accounts during his tenure.  Rigo established a successful distribution network with prestigious retail clients, and opened points of sales at Saks Fifth Avenue, Bergdorf Goodman, Neiman Marcus, Nordstrom, Jeffrey New York, The Webster, Fred Segal, and Holt Renfrew, among others.

After 10 years at Dsquared2 establishing the brand in the US market, Rigo founded Rigo A Lora LLC in 2016 in New York to explore new partnerships and opportunities.  Since launching, Rigo has focused on consulting for prominent charities, hospitality and fashion luxury brands and prominent companies such as Zappos Luxury, American Dream (Triple Five Group), Guesst Software, Scytale Ventures, Lukso Fashion Blockchain, NOA (No Ordinary Agency), The Standard Hotels, The Edition Hotels, Gitano Tulum, Sound Tulum Music Festival, Jeffrey Fashion Cares, Vienna’s Life Ball, BMF Media, Balmain, and Faith Connexion. Rigo's services  to clients included strategic introductions, brand strategy implementation, sponsorships, marketing, curation, activations, retail opportunities and recruiting. 

Rigo is a graduate of Bernard M. Baruch College, where he majored in Business Administration and minored in Human Resource Management.  Rigo has lived and worked in Italy, Mexico and Austria and is fluent in Spanish.  He currently lives in New York City and has traveled extensively globally.