The Boutique Boom: Are You Capitalizing on the Moment?
Boutiques are having a moment and the smartest owners are turning it into profit.
In this session, we sit down with Sara Burks, Director of Partnerships and Education at The Boutique Hub and boutique Retail Expert Mary Landgrebe to unpack the boutique boom and how independent retailers can capitalize on this growing sector right now.
We dig into the bigger picture: where the industry is heading, the trends reshaping women's fashion, and what's driving shoppers back to curated, community-driven boutiques over chain fashion and big-box stores. We also look ahead to the season's must-attend trade shows and events, including the upcoming Boutique Summit, and how to make the most of them, from buying and merchandising to networking and sourcing what's next.
Whether you're wondering if you're hitting your numbers or planning your next big move, this conversation is your playbook for riding the boutique boom into real, sustained growth.
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The Boutique Boom: What's Driving the Independent Retail Surge — Webinar Transcript
Dane Cohen: Hello, and welcome back to Indie Insights Live. As many of you may know, we have changed the format of our weekly webinar series. It is now Indie Insights Live, coming to you every Thursday live, but we are also now in podcast format, so you can find us on YouTube, and we will be pushing out to the major podcast, platforms very soon. So you're gonna find us on Spotify, you're gonna find us on Apple Podcasts, coming up very soon. We've just had so many tremendous guests on, and this week is no exception. This week, we're being joined by Mary Landgrebe. You know her, you love her. She is the CEO of Well Retailed, and also a Management One affiliate retail expert. Mary, hello.
Mary Landgrebe: Hello! Hello, hello!
Dane Cohen: And then, of course, we have one of the biggest names in the boutique industry, Sara Burks, the Director of Education at the Boutique Hub, my former colleague, a mentor to many of us. Sara, thank you for being here today.
Sara Burks: Aw, that was quite the introduction. Thanks for having me! I'm excited about this, it'll be fun.
Dane Cohen: Yeah, and listen, we've gotten a ton of response to this particular event, this, this episode, and I think pretty quickly you're gonna see why, because there is such momentum in the boutique world. But first, before we get into our chat, because we have a ton to cover today. I just do want to set a few ground rules, as always. First off, we will be sending this out as a recording, so if you registered, you could either watch us live, we will send this out to you as a recording, you could also find this on YouTube, on our YouTube Indie Insights Live playlist, and then pretty soon, you'll be having the audio versions come to you. at all the major podcast platforms. Also. We want your questions, we want to interact, that's the beauty of being on here live with us. Please ask questions. There's a Q&A section, there's a chat. We will try to get to those, as we are speaking, and we like to kind of just spitball it, so… put in the chat, hey, we see Jenna in there, hi, Jenna.
Mary Landgrebe: Jenna's getting ready to have a baby!
Sara Burks: Yes, she is.
Dane Cohen: Yes, we're very excited. We have Sarah from Illinois, we got Ohio in the house, so please tell us where you're coming from, the name of your store. I'm sure there are a lot of familiar faces, so we want to be able to say hello. Ellie's here, too. Okay, we got some great people in the house. Mary, Sara. The reason why we are here today. I just want to throw out some numbers, right? And we talked about this on a previous episode, but I think it is worth repeating. Let's look at June's retail numbers. We saw fast fashion, and this is… this was probably the most surprising to me, up 11.4% in June.
Mary Landgrebe: Wow.
Dane Cohen: Gift, stationery, and home, up 12.3% in June. Kids and maternity, up 16.7% in June. Luxury women's, up 12.3% in June, and contemporary women's, up 7.7% in June. So, to say that this is a boutique boom right now. is the understatement of the moment. We are really seeing a fantastic moment for independent retail, for boutique retail. And so that is what we want to dig into today. What's driving this? what's causing the excitement, and what's really the product categories, the vendors that are really driving this, and how boutiques can capitalize on this moment. So, first, Mary, you're working with clients across the board, you're in it with them, each and every week. Can I get a vibe check? What are you feeling right now? You're on the ground.
Mary Landgrebe: I've seen more growth than I've ever seen in June and July, and it is really exciting, but I think that's driven by, people really paying attention to what's going on in their business, understanding who their customer is, and, also having a plan and buying to a plan. So, taking advantage of, getting some pre-orders in with vendors so they've got product coming when they need it, a lot of times what happens this time of year is we run out of fresh product, and we're kind of stuck trying to sell the old stuff. And the ones that are, really, really in there and buying the product and paying attention to their plans are seeing some pretty nice increases.
Dane Cohen: Yeah, so I, you know, let's dig into that for a second, because… July is typically, you know, one of the dead months in retail, but we're not seeing that right now, right? We're seeing steady numbers into July. So, I mean, Mary, what's that… is it some new fall landings that are landing early? Is it that people are selling?
Mary Landgrebe: Yeah, game day. Game day is hitting… is hitting a little bit earlier this year, so those folks that are, capitalizing on that, whether it's a local game day, whether it's high school, or college, or whatever it is, those folks that are capitalizing on that are seeing some nice bumps. Also this time of year is a great time of year to capitalize on jewelry accessories. There's a lull sometimes in July that happens just from the season changeover, and I'm seeing a lot of jewelry and accessories carrying people through those… through those lulls.
Dane Cohen: Yeah, and so, Sara, right, we have… July is such an interesting month, because, you know, obviously, you know, we just had the 250th. anniversary, the birthday of America, we had July 4th, you know, it was a big hoopla, great clearance events and opportunities, you know, which we still are kind of pushing through. I mean, I know you have a perspective on this, that blending of, you know, you want to have your stuff moving out, but you also want some full-price sales. What does that look like to you?
Sara Burks: Man, I think, Mary, you hit it on the head. I think our retailers that are really bringing in the cash and paying the bills that are moving product, they're getting into the game early with whatever it is they're launching. And, you know. human behavior, we don't want to be the last of the party. And, you know, back to school really got started weeks ago. Game day got started weeks ago. And, you know, I'm not… I don't want to say and give props to the Hobby Lobbies of the world, but they have kind of set the standard that get out and get it early. Target swimsuits hitting in December. You know, people… the other thing, I think, is maybe you're gonna have your customers coming in. Dane, you and I were talking about this earlier, and your customers may be a little, you know, wah-wah on certain things, but at the end of the day. there's experiences happening, and people are doubling down on experiences, but yet they also want to look the part when they go to the experiences. So if it is the game day, if it is the concerts, if it is the cruise. whatever that might be, not waiting. So I think, you know, we had such a great spring, and you think, okay, but did you really wait for spring to get here to celebrate spring? No, we were celebrating spring early. And when you do that early, people are going to pay full price for it. When you're late to the game, that's where people are coming in and be like, well, my window's short now. For swimsuits, or my window's short for whatever it might be. So then they're going… they're going discounts, but my gosh, the amount of 4th of July and 250th that I saw early in the year, like, early, that was so exciting, because it turns into a year-round celebration, really. There's… there's people still having the parties, right? And, you know, we're… we're weeks past, but it doesn't mean… I mean, it's a… it's an anniversary to… we're celebrating the year, and retailers have capitalized on that. for months ahead. Prior, and they still are.
Dane Cohen: Right, and so, by the way, that's a great generalized, you know, America merchandise right now.
Sara Burks: Yeah.
Dane Cohen: is a hot ticket. And I wanted to… there was some actionable stuff there, so I really want to zoom in, because I hope with, you know, these weekly episodes that we can walk away with some really actionable items here. And so there were two things that really stuck out to me there. One is, right, the game days and the, you know, the opportunities there as we're going into fall. And getting ahead of full-price opportunities in July is so important. Like, where you can get it, get it. And if it's something that you could eventize, like game day, that is such a powerful tool to drive full-price sales. And then, Mary, I just… I love that with, you know, during transit… transitional moments, kind of jewelry and accessories driving that. I mean, could we dig into that a little bit more?
Mary Landgrebe: Yeah, because, I think it's so important. Jewelry and accessories are one of those that end up kind of sitting in the corner and getting dusty. If we're honest with ourselves. I mean, it's like, jewelry's little stuff, but what I'm seeing is people creating events around it, making, you know, a resurgence of creating charm necklaces, or, having events around, hobbies. So, if it's a book club, or if it's a mahjong, boy, we're seeing mahjong everywhere, we're really seeing those capitalize on that, and having the fresh goods… I'm pointing at my necklace, because my necklace is fresh goods, I just bought it last week. So… having the fresh goods in the store so there's something new and exciting for people, and not trying to sell the same stuff over and over and over again. That'll work to some degree, but you've got to recognize when it comes… comes to a slow. So what are you getting out? Are you looking at market? Are you unfair if you're not at market and looking for the latest, greatest things? And making sure that you're stocked up with fresh goods.
Dane Cohen: Yeah.
Mary Landgrebe: Winning it.
Dane Cohen: By the way, just a quick note, one of the huge booms that we're seeing right now is in permanent jewelry, right? Those… and I know that we've seen a lot of those machines that retailers are buying that you could actually put on permanent jewelry, but the charm bracelets, the, you know, these are eventized selling, and that's where you're gonna get that full-price selling.
Mary Landgrebe: Well, it creates also an interaction with the store staff or store owner, as it may seem. So, and that's… I think people are craving that right now. For whatever the reason, I think people are looking for that type of experience. They want to know, they want to know the people who work in the store, they want to know the owner. They're… they're craving that. We saw that a lot coming out of COVID, but I'm seeing it as much now as I did. right post-COVID, is that creating those experiences, and people are really gravitating to those social experiences within a store. All kinds of…
Sara Burks: I would just add…
Mary Landgrebe: person.
Sara Burks: Yeah, I would just add, you know, I… you talk to different generations about just… how bad they want to get off their devices and get in person with people. And, you know, there's a whole generation out there that are wanting to go back to the dumb phones, and that are just, like, they're done with the whole idea of being attached to the hip of a phone. And you're like, okay, what does that mean then? Well, when they want to say no to spending that time with the phone, they want to get together. It's these sip and paint parties, the watercolor parties, you mentioned Mahjong, all the things. I mean, it's… And as a small, independent retailer, you guys have the ability to do that quickly, and I think that's in your powerhouse. And so, creating those in-person, feel-good community moments is so valuable, and where stores have really doubled down on that is you're… they're seeing the success. And, Mary, you mentioned something earlier I want to touch back on when we were talking about game day. So, actionable takeaway, you guys. You don't have to be LSU or Ole Miss to be doing game day. You mentioned it, a local game day. My gosh, parents are selling out to get their kids on an AAU team and travel the world and spend time in these gyms together, right? It's looking at it like, I'm spending time with my kid, I'm giving my kid a better opportunity than I ever had, whatever. That kid's wearing colors. He's got a team jersey, and it might be purple, it might be red, it might be whatever, and that mama wants to show up And looking the part. So that game day, it doesn't have to say Wildcats on it for Kentucky. It could say Wildcats is your kid's… your kid's team. I don't… so don't think that game day is only SEC football. It's not. It's so much bigger than that, and it's year-round.
Mary Landgrebe: Well, the other thing that's… you just struck… struck something funny that happened to me over the weekend. I was spending time with my, with a friend of mine's daughter, who is… she's just out of grad school, so she's 24 years old, and she… she told me she was trying to stop scrolling, and so we were sitting by the neighbor's pool, and she pulled out a needlepoint. Yeah. And she's 24 years old doing needlepoint, and like. And then she's telling me all of the events that have been created around needlepoints. And so, like, again, another retail opportunity, and the beauty of being an independent retailer is that you can be really nimble, and you can move to those trends very quickly, shift money from one place to another. I think… I thought it was brilliant. And again, a 24-year-old that's making as many needlepoints as she could, but she's sitting with her feet in the pool doing a needlepoint, and we're chatting. And so, like, there are those trends that are really up and coming, and that can be around game day, it can be around holiday, it can be around any of those things. It can be around USA, I mean, it's just…
Sara Burks: And I'll add, it's not just the product, you're selling the service, too. You're selling the education. If you're doing it right, you're providing the tool, like, I'm gonna sell you the charms, I'm gonna sell you the necklace, but I'm also going to serve you, or I'm going to sell you the, you know, let's say the needlepoint. I'm gonna sell you the little kit, but we're also going to do the class. I'm going to teach you how to do it right, and I'm going to guide you through it. Or Mahjong, teach you how to play the game, or whatever it is. You know, there's a service around it, and a community, a connection, a party, an education experience. That ultimately gets those people to sit in your space longer, like, know, and trust you, and while they're buying or learning how to needlepoint, they're looking over across the way, and they're like, I wonder what that candle smells like. I wonder what that, you know, scarf feels like. And next thing you know, they're leaving with more than just the one needlepoint piece.
Dane Cohen: And I think this is the competitive edge that we see time and time again. This is the competitive edge that small business has, right? And one of the things, and we've all talked about this in one way or the other, that I think that there are a lot of independent retailers that get in this mindset of, well, people should just shop small. And that's not the case. You should shop small because you're giving your customer something that they can't get in one of those big box stores. So, these events and these, you know, community moments are going to drive sales for you, and you have to step up to the plate in these times. And so, another just great takeaway I want to point to is that There's also ways to get in on these moments that could still feel authentic to your store. So I remember when we were in LA for the LA Experience, and we were looking at all the game day merchandise, and someone said, this is really not my girl, it's not my customer, they don't like the colors and the… And I said to them. there is a ton of product that could feel right to you, whether it be a shirt that says Football Mom, whether it be a… there are a lot of ways that you can get in on the moment and still make it authentic to your store. So, I do have a… two questions I want to just, go to real quick. The first is, are there any wholesalers that sell needlepoint kits? The big answer is yes. Yes, there.
Sara Burks: Yeah, for sure.
Mary Landgrebe: There's a Boutique member in particular that I know does, if I'm allowed to say it on…
Dane Cohen: We love a little shameless promo.
Mary Landgrebe: No, Duo Threads, Nash Gray does. There's all kinds of… there's all kinds of wholesalers that are now stocking needlepoints. So, yeah, Duo Threads. There you go, but I think… I think the bottom line is get out and search, because yeah, they're… they're wholesaling, and they're getting interesting designs as well.
Dane Cohen: Yeah, and I think that this is one of those moments, right? It may ultimately not be right for your store, but it's tr… like, this is why we go to market. We go to market to try new product, to test new things. The worst that could happen is that you get it in, it doesn't sell, and you take the mark down in a few weeks, right? So… Okay, we have another question from Gina. And I'm sure one of you could take this, I'm happy to jump in as well. And Gina says, can you speak to the 12.3 increase in luxury women's? This is beyond selling accessories.
Mary Landgrebe: Right.
Sara Burks: That is… Go ahead, Mary, you want to jump in first?
Mary Landgrebe: No, go ahead, go ahead.
Sara Burks: Okay, I… I just want to say, as I sort… and I was at… I was at Flair earlier this week in Chicago, and talking to a number of the brands, talking to a number of the buyers, talking just to… just people in general, and up-leveling. There is an interest in up-leveling quality, up-leveling your vibe, and I also will say, I think, as people change in different seasons of their life, and they appreciate things a little bit differently. they may move out. That's, I think, a big piece of why we're seeing that increase in the LUX market. I really do. I think, you know, spending, it's interesting. You are going to talk and sit around in a conversation with some people that are going to talk about the economy and talk about, oh, humdrum, all of these things. And yet, I travel a lot, and the airports are crowded. And they… nobody is carrying a black duffel bag that they had in college when they're traveling, either. They are rolling in on some of the most beautiful luggage bags I've ever seen, and it's just… I'm taking note of these things, and life is not stopping. And I think there is a group of people that are done with throwaway products, and they're like, I want more out of my investments. I want to feel better in what I'm wearing, I want to feel better in how I look, all the different things. So, to me, I think it's… it's a changing of the tide there. And… and general awareness, too, I think, has really improved. Holy smokes, the, like, the amount of… documentaries and all the different things. That's something I hear from people when I talk to them, is like, did you see this documentary? Or sustainability is my new deal, or I'm not buying unless I know I can wear this at least 15 times, and so I think that plays a big part of it.
Mary Landgrebe: I'm also seeing, the LA… what we would consider the fast fashion brands, step up their game on quality.
Sara Burks: Big, for sure. They have to.
Mary Landgrebe: I would not shy away from… from what we consider, you know, what we call LA brands, or what we call fast fashion brands. They… they are stepping up their game on quality, and… and it's getting easier and easier to get good quality products.
Dane Cohen: Yeah, and I think that this is really important, Sara, I think that you were, you know, touching on this in a really big way, which is, you know, the reason you're seeing the luxury women's fashion market booming right now is because I think we sometimes get into these mentalities, right? We see gas prices going up, and we think everyone's having a hard time. And in retail, you never want to spend other people's money. So. you know, we want to actually follow the data, right? And sales are going up because customers absorb inflation. We've seen it after 9-11, we saw it in the recession, we saw it in after COVID. When prices go up, the customer adjusts and absorbs. So, when you're in these moments, there are people at the luxury level that are still spending tons of money. And if you have the product there, and if you have freshness, they're spending. And it's the same thing in fast fashion, I think that's why you're seeing it. people still want to get in on the trends. I mean, we are in such a trend-driven moment with TikTok and every social media viral moment that happens, people want to get in on it. They're not sitting home and saying, you know, hey, this is not for me right now. They are going in, and they are shopping, and they're coming in, so there is business to be had. And I hope that that's one of the big takeaways from this discussion, right, is that we don't want to get into our own you know, kind of economic analysis, we want to know what's happening with… on Main Street, and what's actually, you know, the vibe out there, and the vibe is strong.
Mary Landgrebe: Well, I think the other thing to keep in mind is, like, who is your customer, and are you… are you attracting to the right customer? Because I've gone into stores, and they've said, oh, my customer is between 18 and 24. But boy, am I struggling. Well, how many 18- to 24-year-olds do you know that have, like, extra money? So it's like, are you focused on the right customer? And when you can focus on, you know, that… that more mature customer, which I think is what we're seeing right now, I think we're seeing a maturity level, even in the young people, that That… that's… that's what they're… that's what they're focused on. They want the… they want the quality, they want the brand, and the boutiques that are doing such a good job of… of blending those things together are the ones who are really growing hand over fist.
Dane Cohen: Yeah, and again, that up-leveling, that's a great other action item from this. You know, do not be afraid of price increases right now, because…
Mary Landgrebe: Yeah, don't be afraid of it. Do it. Like. Make sure your margins are, if you've always gotten, you know, a percentage, make sure you're not dropping that percentage, because you think times are hard, because you can't. You can't sustain your business that way.
Sara Burks: I… if I could add one other thing, so at… with the price increase, and with you offering quality, my… my one ask of you is to go back, always think like the customer. We talked about this earlier today, always be thinking, like… like, through the lens of the customer, what does that customer need from you? yes, they need the good quality product, they need the assortment, they need the inspiration, all the things, but also they're… they need the knowledge. They… they don't have the knowledge about the fit, the feel, the function, the usability, the sustainability. They don't… they don't always know why that product is worth what you're asking for it, right? They might look at it and think, that's cute. But it's up to us, and I would really encourage you all to make sure you have educated your staff on how to properly promote and educate your customers on a product. If you're gonna have it, there needs to be a purpose behind why you have it, and help that customer see how it fits into their life. You can't just assume a sales staff, especially our, you know, our part-timers, get it. They weren't at market, they didn't hear the product, you know, sales pitch or the reviews, they didn't see it merchandise, they didn't see the whole collection together. They literally pulled one piece out of a box and are being told to sell it, and that's unfair. And it's unfair to the salesperson, it's also unfair, very unfair to the customer, because they don't get the full vibe of it. So I think the stores that are doing really well are also taking it to the next level with product education and product knowledge. Thus, I mentioned, like, with the needlepoint, and having the class around it, or Mahjong, or whatever that might look like. But, you know, having some staff training around your products, why do you have them? Why would a customer want them? Who is it best suited for? Where would they wear it? What are they going to be doing with it? How does it launder? All of those different things. If you want to up your prices, up your… up your value, up your game.
Dane Cohen: And I'm gonna come in here with my favorite quote in retail, and I think it, again, it speaks beautifully to what you're talking about, Sara, which to me is old-school retail, right? sales training, right? These are the things that we let fall by the wayside, but this is what makes a great… a good retailer great. And the quote that I love is, good sales hide a multitude of sins. You've heard me say it time and time again, and just because your sales are up. Does not mean you could skimp on all of these really important drivers of your business, like sales training, like hiring great people, like having your operations down pat, like putting your purchase orders in, like making sure your POS data is clean and up to date, because when we have some good sales numbers, it's very easy to, like, let those things fall by the wayside.
Sara Burks: Amen. Okay.
Dane Cohen: Amen. We love that. Okay, so I just want to make one other point before we move on to our next topic, that we talked a lot about full-price selling in July, but make no mistake, if you have old merchandise, we could… you could walk and chew gum at the same time, right? So as we're driving some new fall arrivals, and some full-price selling, and maybe some events, it is also okay to be clearancing out, and marking down, and moving through old merchandise. We can walk and chew gum at the same time.
Mary Landgrebe: Love that. We can. Oh, sure.
Sara Burks: And we should, and we should. And we will.
Dane Cohen: And we will. And we will. Okay. Mary, Sara, I know your schedules are very busy right now. This is one of the most fun times of the year when it comes to being a buyer and being in the industry. What's on the agenda for the next few weeks? Take us into… into what's going on these next few weeks.
Mary Landgrebe: Let's just start with Boutique Hub Summit. Like, it's the most exciting event of the Boutique world year, and it's in August, and I'll just… since I'm not with Boutique Hub, let me go ahead and give the spiel, and then Sara can back me up on this, but it is truly one of the best events that I've ever been to, and this year is going to be so extraordinary. It's been moved to August, so it fits some different time frames. It's also moved out of the Expo Center into a more intimate setting, where, I have to wear headphones, as I understand it. And, so it's going to be in a really cool place. There's lots of really great service providers that are coming and sponsoring events, like the opening party, for instance. But there's just really great speakers and really great education that goes on, and if you can at all squeeze it into your schedule, I think it is something that can really refresh a retailer in a whole different way. So there's my spiel on… on Summit. I just love it. I'm so excited for it.
Dane Cohen: Well, and it's… Sara, bigger picture, like, why right now, and because we'll be at all the markets, you were just in Flair in Chicago, I'll see you in Vegas, I can't wait. We have Boutique Summit coming up, which is co-located with I'm gonna get the name wrong. The Western… WESA. WESA.
Sara Burks: Yep.
Dane Cohen: So, why are staying tapped into the market, being at events, why is that so important right now?
Sara Burks: Oh, man. Well, I bet you guys could attest that it… growing your business, it's hard to do it inside your business sometimes. We get so locked down in the day-to-day, and so… when we see real growth happening, it's when people get outside their business, they step away for a second, and get a bird's-eye view of what's going on. And they are also locking arms, sitting at tables, chatting up with other retailers, talking about strategy and systems and problems and… opportunities and all the things, and then learning from the best of the best in the industry. So, we take that and say, hey. Take a couple days for yourself. Get out of the store. Bring your manager, bring your spouse, whatever you want to do, but close the door on that. Come with an open mind. Sit down, take a listen, pull up a chair, let's talk about it, let's learn, let's put, like, action to word, or word to action, all the things, together. And when you can remove yourself from that space, and you can really dive in and put that time in on you and your business for a couple days, man, it's like a slingshot. It's like a slingshot of momentum, a shot of adrenaline, all the things, and we see it year after year. And, you know, running a business is extremely lonely many times, and this is what we hear from… I'm literally quoting retailers right now, where they say they feel alone in their business, and then they come to Summit. And they just feel like they found their people. And they feel like they found their why again. And whether they… You know, our idea is that you take away one thing from each day, right? But it's hours of material, hours of conversation, hours of… of… Education, but literally, just take one thing away from both days. And we promise that's going to move the needle in your business, and it is going to pay it for itself tenfold. So, the connections that people are making, the, you know, just the new tools and technology and the relationships, like, you guys both being there for the full three… two and a half days. And people are gonna know you by name if they don't already, and they're gonna see you at markets, they're gonna see you in Zoom calls, but yet, at Summit, they can literally walk up and pull up a chair and have a conversation with you guys. You guys are gonna have a booth where they can come and ask questions, throw out their… open up their Shopify and be like. help me make sense of this, right? Like, they are gonna… you're gonna have those opportunities. You don't have those opportunities just anywhere. But that summit you do.
Dane Cohen: Yeah, and when we're talking about market, okay, so we have big markets coming up. What is the pulse right now? And Mary, Sara, I'll let you, either of you take this. Mary, I have a feeling you'll have some deep insights into this. What is the vibe right now between vendors and retailers? What are those vendor relationships looking like right now?
Mary Landgrebe: I'm seeing the vendor relationships grow more with the retailer than I've seen them in the past. And I think that's such a… that's such a good thing. I think it's so important that… that we understand each other's businesses, because we all… we all are in this. Nobody goes in business to not try to make money. And so, I think… I think those are absolutely critical relationships, but I'm seeing them grow, and I'm seeing… I really do think it's the importance… one of… one of the many important reasons to go to market is to get those relationships, to have a… put a face with… with your company name so that you can… you can call up and you can say, hey, Bob, I was expecting to receive those blouses last week, when are they coming? And then having that… having that interaction to know that There's actually a face with a name, and it… it really does draw that, hey, guess what? We're back to personal connection, the same thing we're doing in our stores. So it's all… it's all part of the same… it's all part of the same circle, but I just… I think going to market is just… and that's why I go all the time. So that I can connect with people, I can connect with vendors, I can be face-to-face with Boutique Hub and all of the people surrounding, and it just… it creates those relationships, which I think is the best part of business.
Dane Cohen: Yeah, and then Sara, we were talking earlier, and part of this, you know, having people face-to-face and knowing your vendor, them knowing you and understanding your business. You were telling me a story, and it's funny, because every time I think that, oh yeah, we've said this before, we've gone over this, there was an example that we were talking about earlier today with someone getting faulty product.
Sara Burks: Yeah, yeah, Mary, this will… this one will knock your socks off, so get ready. So, when I was at Flair the other day, I was sitting at lunch, like you do, and we had a whole bunch of Hub members that came to sat by me, and we were just having a little lunch and learn and chat, and just literally just organic conversation. It was a beautiful thing. And everybody went off to go buy, and I sat there with my computer to kind of do a couple things, and this girl is like, hey, you know, do you help people? What do you do? You know, she didn't know who I was. Invited her to sit down, we had a really good conversation, and she kind of… she's like, hey, pick my brain, what do you want? And she's like, I want to know how to make money at this. She goes, I've been doing this business for a long time, and I haven't really made… I haven't made any money. And I'm like, and you know, I'm like, oh, if that's all you're wondering, I mean, I can answer that in 10… no, I'm just kidding But I was like, okay, so I started asking her questions. Anyway, get… peel this onion back quite a ways, and there was multiple things, but here's the one thing that she said. I asked her, we were talking about inventory that she has that she can't sell. Unsold inventory, all this stuff. And come to find out, she was sitting on a ton of product that she had received that wasn't what she ordered, or was damaged, or came past ship date, or whatever it was. And I said, oh, sis, you… you have the ability to return those to vendor, or call to get a credit, or whatever it is. And she looked at me, and she was as serious as a heart attack. She goes, no, I think I… I just keep them. I give them to my niece, or my sister, or whatever, I wear them. I was told that they were mine. basically was her conversation. And I'm like, who told you this? And let's go find them right now, because this was tens of thousands of dollars over the course of the six years of her business that she was just eating. And it was like she sat there and had this moment, and she goes, this one conversation is changing my business. And that's what going to market and sitting down at tables is really like. people may be listening right now and thinking, oh my gosh, how crazy, I would never do that, but there's probably something similar in your business that's costing you tens of thousands of dollars, and you don't even know it. You know, setting up a UPS account could be one of those things. You know, just efficiencies, getting in and fully… Dane, you… we just went through an entire session on this. Fully understanding your turn rate, fully understanding your on-order values, understanding your position. in the market. Or not. Could be costing you tens of thousands of dollars, so it is these little, little conversations that can turn into life-changing moments that I think are so valuable, and that's why we host the summits, that's why we have the showrooms at all the major markets, that's why we do the Education at Magic events, and that's why we bring in our partners like you guys to sit right alongside of us and go to war for small businesses.
Dane Cohen: Yeah, and I want to make a distinction here, right? Because… There is, of course, right, building up your vendor relationships, having those. partners that you work with for years, and the business grows, and while your business is growing, their business is growing, and vice versa. But then there's also something that I see on the flip side, right? And I actually think there's a lot of kindness to this if you do it the right way, which is, sometimes, you have to know when to exit. A vendor relationship. And I find that this happens a lot, and I think there's two answers here, and then let's dig in a little bit, and the first is really understanding your numbers and understanding your business, right? And really knowing what's driving sales, what's driving ROI for you. And then the second is, right, just because you have bought something does not mean you are forever locked into it. Even if you like Bob so much, and he's the best guy, and you've had a relationship with him. it doesn't mean that it's right for you this season, it may be right for you in the future. So, Mary, I know that you see this, I know this is something that comes up. How do you navigate that?
Mary Landgrebe: So, I had a client call me last week and had a problem with the quality of a product, and had a very disappointing outcome with the vendor. You know, she ordered… many, many, many quantity of a pair of pants that she's ordered in the past, and they said they were the exact same. Exact same fit, exact same everything. And, what ended up happening, she called the vendor and said, listen, there's an inch, one inch difference in these pants. And the vendor, the vendor initially agreed and did all the things… you know, did all the things and said, I'll send you a return label, all the things, and then reversed that decision. And I said, so this is a… this becomes a conversation of, are we doing business together, or aren't we? Because if that's the stance that you're gonna take, and you're gonna say, these are exactly the same, but 1 inch on a pair of pants is huge! So… so… so it turns into a, relationship moment. And again, you have to have those in order to… to get through these things, but… And Dane, take me back, because I got… I got caught… I got caught in the story, but it's just like, look, those are relationships. You have to be able to call somebody up, you have to be able to work your way through a problem, and… and share, and kind of share in the… in the pain. It's not all win, all lose.
Dane Cohen: Right, and I think that, you know, part of being in an uptick moment in the industry is retailers should feel a little empowered right now, right? And… you could… you could walk in… I think when sales are down, we tend to kind of curl up in a ball, and we're in very, like, defense mode. And when you have a little breathing room, and sales are doing nicely, like, this is your opportunity to take a firmer stand, and to… you know, because you're not coming from a place of fear or a place of scarcity, you know, vendors have a good amount of goods right now, the supply chain has, you know, let's see how long this lasts, but as…
Mary Landgrebe: There's places who you do business with, and you want to do business with the people who are going to do business with you, and it's a shared responsibility.
Dane Cohen: And then, if I've said this before, I'll say it a thousand times more. Brands build their businesses on the backs of independent retailers. It's not on the backs of department stores, it's not on the backs of Amazon. They build their business, their recognition, their distribution, off of small businesses. And so, you have much more power in this equation as a boutique than you give yourself credit for, so come from a place of strength.
Mary Landgrebe: It's also knowing… it's understanding your numbers from the vendor perspective. So, what kind of margin are you actually making on that vendor at the end of the day? And are those things that you're evaluating, are you looking at your cost of… your cost of purchases? Are you looking at what your… what your MMU… what your maintain markup is at the end of the day? And I'll tell you, it's an interesting exercise to go through with clients, because you can have some realizations of, like, gosh, I really thought I was selling a lot. Well, you are selling a lot, but you're selling it at 50% off. And this is kind of an interesting time of year to have that evaluation. It's like, what do I still have left? And where is it from, and why didn't it sell? And then I always send people back to their… to their planner and say, these are the things you gotta make notes about in your planner, and say, this is what worked, and this is what didn't, so that I have that for future decision making.
Dane Cohen: Yeah, and Mary, just to give a little plug, you know. working… why don't you just briefly describe… I know you probably have a lot of clients on the call. and, you know, people that you're working with directly, but what does that look like working with a planner? Like, you know, I feel like people know Management One, they know what we do, we probably have some clients on the call, so I don't want to, go too deep into it, but I do want you to explain, you know, what you're doing working with clients. What does that relationship look like?
Mary Landgrebe: Well, it's a… it's a frequent visit to their business, and it's… it's looking at data and making data-driven decisions. So what's working, what isn't working, which means you have to track the data. So that's… that's the first part, is data organization. Then, the next… and that's not always… that's not always intuitive or easy in some of the systems, so it's laying it out in a way that's That's readable and manageable, and where you can tie it back to a number that matters. there's… there's all of… all of those pieces to it, but then it goes into, are we tracking our orders? And, you know, I've been having a lot of conversation about sell-through recently, because we're looking at, like, what's working and what isn't, and how do you track sell-through? Well, sell-through's Sell-through can be hard to track with some systems, and So it really has to be based off of receiving data, which is, gosh, if you're using Shopify, where do you get receiving data? You can't see where product… where product necessarily is added always. You can see a published date or a created date, but the receiving data really gives the clue as to when it came and when those numbers changed. So, that's the way you kind of gauge the velocity. So we're looking at the velocity of sales. How quickly are we getting it in? What's selling? What's making the big impacts to business? who are the vendors that are doing the best for me? Like, where are… where are the margins for my business, and how do I capitalize on that? And then, you know, very frankly, it comes down to, how am I cycling in the inventory? How much new am I bringing in each month? How am I… how am I going through that whole process? So, there's lots of pieces to planning. I… I love this business so much, and I love, like, I… I go at it with the intentions of helping people, and it's just a doggone much fun, because everybody comes at it from a little bit different perspective, or a little bit different need, and being able to cater to that, and… And pulling up a plan that makes sense, and Management One has just done a remarkable job of getting on board with always had a solid planning system, but what's being developed for the Shopify app is just pretty remarkable. So, if I see like I… if I seem like I speak Shopify a lot, I do. But, but Management One is developed. We hope we get an opportunity at Summit or somewhere to show you exactly what that app looks like, and how it works, and how it can help you with your business.
Dane Cohen: Yeah, and I think that the headline for me here is, you can't grow what you don't know.
Mary Landgrebe: That's right.
Dane Cohen: And so, you know, a good buying plan is a profit plan. And then having someone like Mary, who really understands the market in your corner, is such a game changer. Okay, Sara. I want to ask you a question that I've actually been meaning to ask, and I don't know the answer to this, so I'm hoping you have it.
Sara Burks: Whew, should I get nervous?
Dane Cohen: No, it's not a trick one, I promise. What's going on with live selling right now?
Sara Burks: Oh, man! It's booming!
Dane Cohen: It is, okay, because I know we had this, like, incredible.
Sara Burks: Yeah.
Dane Cohen: room over COVID. Yes. Then I kind of lost track of it. Where are we at today?
Sara Burks: It's still trending. It still is trending, and if it's… if it's for nothing more than replay, watching, and going back to watch the… watch the piece of the video that you wanted, just like it could mimic you and I together in my retail space, me showing you products, and you say… and me giving you the… The… all the details about it. And then, Dane, you're like, okay, yes, no, I'm not interested in that, I'm interested in the next one, and fast-forwarding through a replay video, we're seeing so much traction hitting with that. But yeah, it is, and doing it in the… like, there's so many great tools out there now to make it very user-friendly for the consumer, but also manageable-friendly for the store. So, that's, like, going live on multiple platforms at one time, and all your inventory pulling, holy smokes, that sounds like a dream, but that's happening. So yeah, I… live selling is not going away. Actually, that's a really big piece of education that we're going to be going to be providing at Summit. Because it is definitely not going away. And, if you're not doing it, I would… What?
Dane Cohen: I was just gonna say, could we get in the chat, if you are… let's get a yes if you're live selling, and a no if you're not engaging in live selling. I want to know where everyone's at on this right now.
Sara Burks: Yeah, and again, when I say live selling, I don't necessarily mean the old, alright, this is t-shirt number 12, and I've got it in pink, and blah blah blah, and it's not necessarily that. It can be, but it's more about the basic conversations, the connections that you and I would be having if we were face-to-face in my store anyway. It's just, I'm on one side of the phone, and you're on the other. And we're dialogue back and forth, and yes, you're able to place the sale straight away, right from a video, or right from a replay, and capture that without having to get out of bed, or park your car, or whatever it might be. So, there's a lot of different versions of it, but it is so good for content, also. So good for content, to be recycling. You guys are working so hard to get content out there. Think how many times you show That dress in your brick-and-mortar store. from 9 to 6, or whatever you're open, right? People come in, you're going to give that same blazer description, and how I want to wear it, and where I'm wearing it to, and what pants it goes with, and blah blah blah blah, on repeat. And then that person leaves, the next person comes, you have to do it all over again, right? Well, this is an opportunity where you're capturing that. And then you're taking and splicing up those video piece by piece, and you're utilizing that back for ads, or in your marketing, your reels, and all the things. So it's… there's more to it than just… the live… one-off sale.
Dane Cohen: Yeah, and just… we have some comments in the chat. We got… we had a mix. We had a lot of no's, a lot of yeses. We have Robin with a yes with 3 exclamation points. Just a point, my mom's name is Robin Cohen. We have a Robin Cohen in here, spelled exactly the same, so either my mom is live selling and I don't know about it, and she's in the…
Sara Burks: That's what I was thinking, I saw the name, I'm like…
Dane Cohen: That's my…
Sara Burks: Dane, what's up?
Dane Cohen: Yeah. Shout out to Robin Cohen.
Sara Burks: Okay, Kylene! Kylene is here. I know Kylene specifically. She has a beautiful store in Casper, Wyoming. She also does replenishable goods with makeup products. That is a great thing to do live sales with. It is a great thing to be doing live sales with, as you're showing different products and colors and all the things, so it does not have to be… doesn't have to just be clothes, guys.
Mary Landgrebe: No, no, but I think it's… and I think the other thing that you have to say about live selling is it has to… you have to have a healthy balance in your business. you know, basing a whole business just off of live selling, or just off of online business with advertising, just off of a brick and mortar, I think having a healthy balance to the business is kind of the key right now. And we have so, so, so many good live sellers. I see, Jessica's on here, too, and she's She's a wonderful live seller. She's got a great business, but she also has two brick-and-mortar locations, so… Like, there is a blend of business that makes the recipe kind of all come together. So, making sure that that all stays balanced.
Sara Burks: Yeah, I want to add… I would ask you guys in the chat, for those of you guys that have brick and mortars, why do your customers shop with you? What do they say? What do they say is the reason they come in?
Mary Landgrebe: Oh, I love this. This is a good question.
Sara Burks: The experience… our store experience is top-notch. They love us. Okay, why do they love you, Robin? They trust you. Yes. Yes, and you build that trust through the personal relationships and these personal connections, and the lean up against the rack and just have a conversation. They come in, they start talking about whatever it might be, and you're gonna stop, pause, you might be straightening a rack a little bit while you do it, but you're listening. You're listening. You're seeing their needs. And that is really freaking hard to do on a flat lay. It's really hard to do on a graphic. So that's the other reason live selling is so powerful. It basically can bridge that gap.
Dane Cohen: So, we have 10 minutes left in our time, so I want to get to some questions. I want to make one last comment about live selling, because I see this a lot, and that's people who are struggling to get their e-commerce business off the ground, and have a lot of fear around live selling, right? And I will just say two things. The first is, right, this goes with the competitive advantage that you have over a big box store. You have you, you have your personality. And the content that you could get out of live selling, or video content, however you choose to do it, and the fear that surrounds, like, getting on camera, am I gonna look stupid? Honestly, we're so past that, and I know it could feel like the scariest thing, I mean. I can't tell you how many times on stage, on video, that I mess up and do something foolish. I say something weird, I do something weird. I've literally been on stage, and like, I've drank from the water bottle, and the water bottle drips down, and I'm on stage in front of 150 people, and you just have to laugh. You just have to laugh it off, because, like, we're seeing so much content, it actually makes it quirky and real, and like… and so what? You say something weird, so what you have a out of place. Like, Onwards and upwards.
Mary Landgrebe: Okay, Robin Cohen's got a lot to say here, and she's right on point. They want to see our humanity, which is exactly right. If they're not connecting with you in-store and having that relationship, they're connecting with you through a live sell, or they're looking at a fit video to see what's going to fit them in comparison. So you're doing… we're doing all the same things, Reaching just differently.
Dane Cohen: Yeah, and Nico put in the chat, weirdness can't be duplicated by AI. Well, then I am safe, ladies and gentlemen.
Mary Landgrebe: Oh my god.
Dane Cohen: I am sick.
Mary Landgrebe: Thank you.
Mary Landgrebe: I will inevitably have something in my team. Amen. Yeah, all the good things.
Dane Cohen: Alright, so we want to open up for questions, and I think we're… we could open up some hot mics. If anyone has a question, we're happy to take a hot mic right now, get you, talking to us, so let's… oh, we have some Q&As right now in the Q&A section. Let me open this up. Okay, Dawn asked, oh, we're going back, is that increase that we're seeing from May or June? We're seeing that year over year, so that we're talking year-over-year increases. Gina, yes, driving this… okay, Gina, we answered that about the luxury. And… oh, and she wanted to say a thank you for the education you offer, Sara.
Sara Burks: Oh, Gina!
Dane Cohen: Nina!
Sara Burks: Gina-who?
Dane Cohen: Gina Jackson. Gina Jackson.
Sara Burks: Goodness! Hey! Yes! Good to hear from you!
Dane Cohen: Okay, so as we wrap up, again, I want to give everyone the opportunity. Please put any last-minute questions in the chat, or if you want to come on and ask your question on the mic, we will open that up. Just let us know in the chat. So, Mary, Sara, what are… let's just talk a little bit general. We're going into all these markets. What are you excited about? What's kind of scratching your itch these days?
Sara Burks: Oh, man. You know, like, trend-wise, are you thinking?
Dane Cohen: The world is your oyster.
Sara Burks: The world's my most… well… I feel… it has not been that long. I mean, I was at market literally 3 days ago. But I… I miss it. I miss being with everybody. But let's see, when I… when… when I… seeing trends, I mean. I'm a Western girl, right? And the amount of Western crossover that I'm seeing is really fun for me. And actually, that's a huge theme of Summit this year, is kind of blending mainstream fashion and the Western fashion together, because we were right before the Western Market. But I… I like it. I like… I was that girl in high school. that I was a rodeo girl, but I was from a small little farm town in Wisconsin, that the idea of rodeo and cowboy boots and all that stuff was just foreign, and I remember wearing my Rocky Mountain jeans and my belt buckle, and all that stuff to school one day in my cowboy boots, and people looking at me like, what are you doing? And now, I see people wearing cowboy boots, and I see people wearing the skirts and the belts and all this stuff, and Now, granted, lots happened since then, but… I don't know, I like the crossover, I like what it's doing for the industry as a whole, as the Western industry specifically, so I'm all for seeing it in mainstream fashion, so I, that, that, that I'm excited about.
Dane Cohen: Mary?
Mary Landgrebe: I love seeing the resurgence of brick and mortar. I really… like, it just warms my heart. My grandparents owned a brick-and-mortar store at the corner of Main and Main in a little town in Indiana. And I love the idea of I just went to… this past weekend, I just went to a new boutique in town, and it was, like, one of those things I had to drop off a package, and it was 100 degrees out, and I walked in there all sweaty, and just said hi, and this absolutely darling store owner Greeted me back. And, she's… she's working in her store 7 days a week, because she wants to get to know her customer, and she wants to bring the best experience, and she's got all of these events and things going on, and the number of times that you walk into a store, and that's what you get to is so exciting to me, and it brings that community, that corner of Main and Main. There's not many, like, I don't have a Main and Main here, but I do now. And it's… it's so exciting to see, and it's so exciting to see the connections that are being made in those brick-and-mortar experiences again. And… the boost in sales and profitability that it's bringing, too. It's amazing.
Sara Burks: And what that can mean to a community.
Mary Landgrebe: Yep.
Sara Burks: Ugh, I know, like, you drive through some of these communities, and you're like, oh, I bet this was booming back in.
Mary Landgrebe: with the…
Sara Burks: whatever. And to see those storefronts opening up, and… yeah, that's… that's cool. I can get behind that for sure.
Dane Cohen: And then I think we're gonna bring Robin on to say a quick hello. Robin may have had.
Sara Burks: Lee, Robin, Cohen, your mom?
Robin Cohen: Right.
Dane Cohen: Robin, are you there?
Robin Cohen: I'm here, can you hear me?
Dane Cohen: Yes. By the way, shout out to my mom, Robin Cohen. It is her birthday on Sunday. We had a lovely dinner. I took her out to dinner last night for her birthday, so…
Robin Cohen: She must be wonderful.
Dane Cohen: She has a great.
Mary Landgrebe: Shame.
Dane Cohen: Exactly. Robin, this is your first time on one of our Indie Insights Live?
Robin Cohen: It is, and I'm really glad I joined. I have a store full of people, I'm in my office with my earphones on, ignoring all the customers, letting my staff do it, but I'm really glad I did.
Dane Cohen: And where's your shop?
Robin Cohen: We're right outside of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Newtown Square.
Mary Landgrebe: Love it.
Dane Cohen: We love our East Coast retailers. We get a lot of retailers from across America, but I have a special place in my heart from the East Coast retailers.
Robin Cohen: Thank you, Mr. Cohen.
Dane Cohen: Mrs. Cohen. Alright, well, as we wrap up here, okay, so, Mary, will you be in Vegas?
Mary Landgrebe: I will be in Vegas with bells on, actually with boots on.
Robin Cohen: Can I just say something?
Dane Cohen: Yes, please, Robin.
Robin Cohen: about live selling. I hate being on camera. I, started during COVID keeping in touch with my customers by sending them videos of what we had in the store, because I was working with my vendors. It then led to a huge upswing in my e-commerce business. We then hired a marketing company. We were like, wait, we're onto something. Five years later, I have people traveling 2, 3, 4 hours because they want to meet us, because we have become, like, social media rock stars. Husbands are like, walk in and go, hi guys, because that's my tagline. The power is unbelievable. Just do it. Don't think, just do it.
Dane Cohen: Well, and Robin, I want to ask you a question. When you started your retail business, did you think, like, was that in your head, I'm gonna be a social media person, I'm gonna be a live seller? Was that, like, the intention?
Robin Cohen: I drove home, when they closed us down from my beach store, crying, because I thought everything I'd done for 10 years was over. And my 22-year-old son was like, Mom, we got this. And he put up a Shopify account, showed me how to do it. And I would have never done an e-commerce site, because I was waiting to do it right, to have enough money, to do the right look. I would have still been waiting. If he had not done that. And I have, like, a $2 million a year e-commerce site. And it's growing.
Dane Cohen: Well, listen, folks, if Robin Cohen can do it with that amount of gusto, so can you. Robin, this was great. I'm so happy you were able to jump on.
Robin Cohen: Yeah, just thank you, and guys, whoever's out there. Go live. Do it 3 times a week. It gets easier and easier. The key is, don't watch yourself.
Dane Cohen: Right. Don't watch yourself. Okay, well, Mary, I will see you in Vegas. We'll be presenting up on the education stage, hosted by the Boutique Hub. Sara, I will see you in Vegas, and then we will be in Dallas for the Boutique Summit, which I am… you know how excited I am, and hopefully we'll be seeing a lot of faces from here, from the webinar, from Retail Boot Camp, and friends old and new. So, guys, thank you so much. It was really a pleasure, having you guys on today, and I will be seeing you both very soon.
Sara Burks: Thank you, guys. Blessed, everybody.