We were lucky to catch up with Susan Sears recently and have shared our conversation below.

Susan, appreciate you joining us today. We’d love to have you retell us the story behind how you came up with the idea for your business, I think our audience would really enjoy hearing the backstory.

The shared space concept was introduced to me by an acquaintance at the time, Suzi Jett, who came up with the idea in 2015 because she wanted to move her children’s clothing business out of her basement. She found a warehouse, recruited enough other small businesses to join her and to get the rent paid, and that is how Gallery 3976, now Local by Design got its start. It wasn’t long until many of those small businesses wanted to try being open to the public in hopes for additional sales, but with no foot traffic, the idea was put on the back burner.

The idea of taking the shared space concept to the next level as a Retail establishment was always in the back of Suzi’s mind. With no retail experience, Suzi reached out to me, a long-time veteran of the retail world, and together in 2016 we opened our first retail store in downtown Annapolis, but not without hesitation and unexpected hurdles as Suzi had just been diagnosed with Breast Cancer.

In early 2018 the Annapolis Mall approached us with an invitation to open our second store, and without hesitation we jumped in with both feet. unfortunately, Suzi did not live long enough to see Local by Design come full circle as she passed away in early 2019.

We started with 30 artisans/local small businesses in a dark warehouse to over 160 artisans in five locations and will be celebrating our 10th anniversary this year. As a company we faced the challenges of Suzi’s passing and becoming a sole proprietor, COVID, a relocation of the downtown store, adding two additional warehouses to the Gallery location, which is now open to the public once again, and on our third relocation at the Annapolis Mall.

With our country facing its own challenges, owning a small business has become increasingly difficult but the opportunity to support local artisans with a shared space concept is still our mission and our goal.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I have been in the retail world for over 30 years, my longest employer being Nordstrom. I left Nordstrom to spread my wings and take on the challenge of opening Local by Design. My last position at Nordstrom was as the Personal Stylist Manager where I led a team of 24 personal stylists as well as conduction on board workshops and training for all new Nordstrom Employees. Nordstrom not only taught me how to run a successful business but how to best treat your coworkers and customers.

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

I believe my initial story supports my resilience as a business owner. It is not just about having the passion or the work ethic to succeed. Every day you have to learn to be flexible and adjust to what you are currently facing. You have to teach yourself to go with the retail flow. The customers, the artisans, your employees, your landlords, the city, the state of the economy…. It is not easy but if you have faith and you love what you do, you will be successful.

What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?

That running a small business would be easy!

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.localbydesignannapolis.com
• Instagram: Localbydesignannapolis and Localbydesignatthegallery
• Facebook: Localbydesignannapolis and Localbydesignatthegallery

Image Credits

Local by Design Susan Sears