One More Store

It was so exciting to spend time at SXSW this year and catch-up with friends, connect in-person, and talk about the innovative ways business owners and funders are tackling difficult problems around retail. This trip also set the stage for our first set of learnings/findings so STAY TUNED for more! Elle Ramel Adam H. Phillips https://lnkd.in/eKk8PziK

Last fall we were lucky to meet with Thomas and Stephanie Egler from @surethingstudios to talk with them about scaling their media production company as a couple. Check out their story here: https://lnkd.in/gqQkzYv2 Visit www.onemorestore.org for more insights from other scaling entrepreneurs thinking about their next store. Adam H. Phillips Elle Ramel

Happy 2024 all! We're looking forward to sharing more insights and resources with you this coming year and have some exciting plans to highlight the important work of people all over the country building great businesses and employing people in their communities. Here's to the next year of GROWTH. #onemoremakesaDIFFERENCE #GrowinPlace Elle Ramel Adam H. Phillips

This week- we wanted to cover a beloved Chicago neighborhood favorite- @playtoysandbooks. There are locations of this toy store in Logan Square, Lincoln Park, Andersonville and the West Loop. Some of the locations used to be other toy stores under different ownership, but Ann Kienzle has brought them under one brand and provides the small business service that has local families choose their gifts here over major e-commerce sites. This includes sensitively curated inventory, complimentary gift wrapping, very engaged staff and fun pop-up events. We look forward to getting to know @playtoysandbooks further because they show one expansion model is to really develop a local chain that can outcompete the big box/big site options. https://lnkd.in/eXMb6bzc https://lnkd.in/ehGhuZFT Adam H. Phillips Elle Ramel

Thrilled to share Part 2 of our interview with Terrand Smith, CEO of 37 Oaks. She delves into her work with #sokoni where she speaks to the opportunity for the simulation of e-commerce ordering, order fulfillment and warehousing. We also spent some time convincing her to expand this effort nationally. https://lnkd.in/gPp4TDVM Follow 37 Oaks' Newsletter: https://lnkd.in/e2p7_Bv Visit One More Store's Website for other recordings and news: https://lnkd.in/gmSc38mG Adam H. Phillips Elle Ramel

This week as the holiday shopping season starts and #smallbusinesssaturday, @onemorestore is thrilled to interviewed @leahkoch about her expansion, along with her sister, @beakoch of their romance bookstore The Ripped Bodice from their first location in LA to their second that just opened in Brooklyn, New York. https://lnkd.in/gf5xJ6Nt Support independent bookstores and listen in on what it is like to make a choice about a second store being all the way across the country. Website: https://lnkd.in/g7KBsSnY Twitter: https://lnkd.in/gnwgmENm Instagram: https://lnkd.in/g7-qeTyf Tiktok: https://lnkd.in/gUrtk728 Elle Ramel Adam H. Phillips Jacob Koch

I was reminded again today of the impact that the retail sector has on cities when I came across this National League of Cities Study about retail as a vehicle for "recovery" and "resilience" and was struck by how nuanced the current environment can be in the face of some challenges. Let's take a look: The study is wide-ranging, but one of the things it tries to project is the retail employment environment through 2029. The overall estimate is an over DECREASE of employment within retail of 1.7%, but when you push into the number a little further there is a disparate impact by GENDER. The category of retail jobs that were historically filled mostly by women (cashiers -7% / telemarketers -12%) are declining while categories historically mostly filled by men (drivers +3% / laborers +4%) were INCREASING. So even in the face of an OVERALL decline there is also a GENDER-SHIFT happening in the sector. Where do you think this shift is taking us? You can find the NLC study here: https://lnkd.in/dyAeYGGu One More Store Elle Ramel

In the face of headwinds it's good to see that retail is still making headway when it is well-positioned and part of an overall plan that cities/municipalities are putting together to foster engagement and growth. What is the next planned growth-area in your community? #urbangrowth #airportsascommerce https://lnkd.in/gaTfd3eJ

This week, One More Store is proud to interview Terrand Smith, founder and CEO of 37 Oaks. Terrand works to lead entrepreneurs through her e-commerce accelerator and workshops in the City of Chicago and beyond. While some store expansions are about brick and mortar- the OMS wanted to explore what it means to expand “digitally” as well. One of our co-leads Elle Ramel is proud to partner with Terrand Smith on an E-Commerce Learning Lab hosted Polsky Center at the University of Chicago under the leadership of Abigail Ingram and support of Steven E. Shaw from Verizon The interview was so engaging, please visit Part 1 and 2 at our website. Check out Part 1 here: https://lnkd.in/gAmzDTTm

For today- it's only right that we cover Brown Sugar Bakery- home of the beloved caramel cake on 75th Street in Chatham. Stephanie Hart, so much gratitude for your recipes and treats that yield long lines each weekend. You are one of our favorite Chicago examples of #onemorestore. There was a time when we would talk to colleagues in Chicago and they would be stopping by the store before driving home for the holidays to make sure to get the cake on their way to places such as Nashville Steven E. Shaw Now- you have shown so many ways to grow and expand powerfully as a small business. 1. National shipping on Goldbelly- no need to keep driving down when it can be sent across the United States. 2. Served as desserts at supportive restaurants such as Taste 222 Chicago and others 3. A presence at large anchor institutions such as Navy Pier and excitingly since August, O'Hare Terminal 5 https://lnkd.in/gdhPSEFa If you would ever like to be interviewed for www.onemorestore.org let us know! Elle Ramel Adam H. Phillips