Last weekend I went to Charlottesville for a 30th birthday party. This party, for which I gladly drove two and half hours each way, wasn’t for a dear friend or family member — it was for a business. Not just any business…one of my most favorite retail businesses, Scarpa, a truly one-of-a-kind women’s boutique.

I worked at Scarpa during my last years in college and for a couple years after. I’ve told you many times before that I grew up in a retailing family, so if I was born with the kindling, it was my time at Scarpa that struck the match that lit my bonfire of love for retail.

Scarpa came into being in 1994 when a burgeoning architect in her early twenties, Amy Gardner, recognize...

If you're interested in the top ten most critically acclaimed films of all time, then surely you’ve seen Troop Beverly Hills. Okay, so maybe it’s only in my top ten, but it’s a masterpiece, and I’m standing by that claim.

This 1989 cinematic gem provides content for multiple newsletters (yes, Abby and I can relate everything to retail real estate), but we’ll start with a simple one today.

ICYMI: Troop Beverly Hills is about a very fabulous and kind shopaholic, Phyllis Neffler, who becomes the leader of her preteen daughter’s troop of “Wilderness Girls,” which is basically knock-off Girl Scouts. They are all underestimated. They earn patches. They persevere. They learn to believe in t...

Midway through my last year in college, I bought a six-pack of Dinty Moore Beef Stew. I remember how it happened. I was at Sam’s Club with my roommates, and I must have been hungry, because I was seduced by the free sample. So salty. So warm. Of course I’ll buy the entire pack.

Then that same six-pack sat on my shelf of the shared pantry staring at me until I graduated. Every time I looked back at it, I was ashamed of how I’d been seduced by a product that is barely distinguishable from pet food. Occasionally, more motivated by guilt than desire, I’d pick up a can, read the sodium content, then promptly put it down, my face puffing from the number alone.

I freaking love beef stew. The...

As new retailers we expect to sacrifice our weekends and holidays, dry-clean-only clothing, and possibly our lower backs. But we do not have to sacrifice our mental health, personal relationships, or overall well-being.

When you're planning your business, you have the opportunity and obligation to carve out the boundaries that will make your business sustainable for the long term.

Your lease will run five to ten years, so it's critical that you build a "sustainable" model that will allow you to stay healthy, stay married (if you want), participate in your child's life, etc.

So how do you do this? Start with the ideal scenario. The realities of the numbers and the things outside of your co...

It’s that time again. Whether you love or loathe the holidays (it’s probably a mix), we’re all about to pull out our wallets and buy stuff out of tradition, love, and obligation. This is, of course, the perfect time to put our money where our mouths are and support the small, independent businesses we so value.

Let’s take a moment to consider “Black Friday” for a second. You remember why it’s called “black,” right? November and December are the months when many retail businesses are most profitable, and their bottom line numbers appear in black (rather than red) on their P&L reports. 

While the big “doorbuster” deals at giant national retailers like Best Buy and Walmart really put Bl...

🎶So no one told you life was gonna be this wayyyyy 🎶

If you clapped along, you’re ahead of the curve - today, we’re talking about friends. (With a lowercase “f” – but reply to this email if you’d like us to dissect Central Perk’s ☕️ real estate choices.)

We’ve heard it said that you find out who your real friends are when you open a business. It takes courage to go after your dreams, and you’ve got to get seriously vulnerable if you’re going to open a brick-and-mortar business because EVERYONE is (hopefully) watching 👀.

And so, it’s natural to want a bestie or two in your corner to 📣 pump you up along the way – and, it’s natural to assume your community of friends is going to be ...

It’s been the summer of capital budgets over here. Some clients are deep in the throes of business planning, and some are plotting expansions and relocations. But in all cases, creating the Capital Budget* is among the non-negotiable first steps.

Most of our clients come to us with an existing "how much is this gonna cost me" budget; some are pretty thorough, and some not so much, but when we take what they’ve got, stick it into our Capital Budget framework and work with them to fill in all the missing line items, one thing is true across the board…

Everyone underestimates how much it’s going to cost to get open.

Why is this the case? I’m not a licensed psychologist, but I do pla...

Partnerships of all kinds are tricky, and we learn this fact of life young.

My daughter, Alice, went from an S+ to an S on “cooperates well with others” on her third grade report card this past trimester, and when I asked her about it, she said, “that’s because SARAH was my partner!”

Reality Show Candy GIF by Children's Miracle Network Hospitals

By the time we’re starting our own businesses, we’ve experienced challenging partnerships (both professional and romantic) many times over, and we know what qualities to look for in a potential business partner. But opening and running a business throws real challenges at even the most simpatico partnerships, and you know what can REALLY ...