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...

Some of the most successful Pedal Retailers are called to open their businesses because they can’t find what they’re looking for anywhere else. District Champagne, Pirouette Cafe and Wine Shop, Merry Pin, and Jurisdiction Clothing all spring to mind. They knew there was demand for their business because they felt it themselves, and when they couldn’t take it anymore, they took action to create what was missing.

Jill Adams’ Pink Moon is one of these businesses that simply had to be born. As a Bethesda mother of three young children, Jill was painfully aware of her (and her friends’) struggle to find time and space to prioritize mental and physical health with a community of other mother...

One of my great fears in life (besides clowns) is being suddenly thrust into a talent competition. I’m not a singer, I don’t play any instruments, and while my dance floor skills are excellent, my training came from the 1994 Bat Mitzvah circuit, so not exactly Julliard.

I have, however, realized that I do have some very specific…abilities?...that sometimes elicit responses like an “oh, wow, that’s cool.” Since you’re dying to know, I’ll share:

🍺 I’m very good at identifying the alcohol content of beers by taste

🥃 I can quite accurately determine the volumetric measurement of a liquid in a container by sight

🎤 I have near perfect accuracy in picking the “wrong” horse, so to speak. P...

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...

Remember the “I was today years old when I learned…” moment on TikTok where we all learned a lot of trivia like Australia is wider than the moon? Or the IRL moment when Sheila (at 35) finally figured out that Free Slurpee Day is always on July 11th (get it? 7/11!)

Today, we have one for you: big retailers are able to thrive in commercial real estate (when mom-and-pops struggle) because… retail real estate is actually a core business function for these larger companies. 

Think about it -- if you’re Starbucks, your real estate is not something you have to deal with periodically… it’s an everyday thing. You’re constantly opening stores, closing stores, renewing leases, making modif...

Dear Pedal,

There is a space in my neighborhood that has been vacant for, no joke, probably four years at this point. Definitely since before the pandemic. Season after season I watch the “For Lease” signs in the window fade and age, and it doesn’t look like there’s anything happening.

So, my question is this – why wouldn’t the landlord lower the rent to make the space attractive rather than just let it continue to sit vacant? It is seriously killing me… this space could be the home to some awesome local business instead of the nothing/ eyesore it currently is.

Yours truly,

Thoughtful Neighbor

Well, hi, Neighbor, and thanks for your excellent question. Here at Pedal, we get differ...

I wrote a recent newsletter about why business plans written by a ghostwriter-for-hire, or AI, or anyone-but-you are a big ‘ol waste of money. To recap - they’re generic and boring and make you look lazy, which is absolutely not the look you need when you’re walking the red carpet of retail leasing, so to speak. 

A business plan that doesn’t paint you in the most flattering light is embarrassing, but if that’s not enough to dissuade you from hiring someone to write your plan for you, there’s an even scarier issue with ghostwritten plans: they lack the specific information YOU need to find the right space, negotiate the best deal, and actually plan for successful operations…you know,...

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...