We were lucky to catch up with Emily Poage recently and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Emily, thanks for joining us today. How do you feel about asking friends and family to support your business? What’s appropriate, what’s not? Where do you draw the line?

I love when my friends and family support my business. As a small business owner, I really make an effort to support my family and friends in their passions and endeavors. Any way I can show my support, whether monetary, emotional, or physical- I always try to make an effort to do so because I know how much work and pride goes into putting your work out there in hopes that it is successful. I never try to push my business onto friends or family. I would never want anyone to feel pressured or feel awkward to support my business if they genuinely have no interest in it. If asked, I love talking about my business, the products we supply, and all the little details that come with owning a shop. I am happy when friends and family show a real interest in what I am doing and want to help support my shop by sharing it with others and or purchasing products through us directly.

Emily, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

My name is Emily! I’m married to my husband Brian and we have an amazing (almost) two year old, Riley. We own a little beachside shop called The Aloha Bungalow. Originally built in 1966 as an information booth for the city of Redondo Beach, our shop stands on the corner of Catalina Avenue and Vista del Mar in the heart of the cutest little shopping and dining district called the Riviera Village.

Once the city had no use for the information booth, it sat vacant for nearly 30 years. That’s when a local named Chad Somers took it over and transformed it into a cute flower shop called Soil Home and Garden. My cousin, Maria Saucedo, was one of Chad’s employees and eventually took over the shop when Chad decided to pursue something different. After nearly 10 years, Maria was ready to do something new herself and suggested I take it over. Thus, The Aloha Bungalow was born.

The Aloha Bungalow focuses on supporting our local economy by selling products made right here in the South Bay. The small structure is bursting with local art, books, candles, jewelry, plants and more. Our simple mission is to spread love and aloha to every customer that walks in our doors. We want to spread the idea of love, compassion, and kindness that aloha embodies all while supporting local and smaller businesses within our community.

I studied apparel merchandising at San Francisco State University and am a big lover of aesthetic and merchandising products to give it a story and purpose. Brian studied Construction Management at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo and is wonderful at the business/management part of the shop. We each compliment what the other lacks which is why we make a great team. We have 5 employees, whom we refer to as our “ohana”, who are the heartbeat of the shop and what keeps the shop the beautiful place it is today. We are all a close team that take pride in what we do.

The main takeaway we want for people that walk into our shop is to notice that although the shop is small in structure, it’s big in heart. The vendors we carry are small businesses who make quality products. The “ohana” at the shop are passionate, supportive, and really care about our customers and take the best care of our shop. Brian and I take pride in the shop and have a close pulse on everything happening within it. All of this wouldn’t be possible without the wonderful customers that support us and keep us in business. We truly are livin the dream!

Have you ever had to pivot?

I would say our biggest pivot for The Aloha Bungalow was getting a website and going online. When COVID 19 hit, our business had to close and we had to figure out a way to sustain our business and livelihood for nearly six weeks.

We had always wanted to reach more people through an online website, but COVID 19 and the shut down of our business forced us to find a website provider, get all our inventory onto the platform, and market to everyone to let them know that we were now online so they would not forget about us while we were closed. It was a lot of work, hard labor and long nights, but it was the best pivot we ever made. In about 3 days we created the website, uploaded all of our in-store inventory online and went live. We still use the website to this day as a way to reach a clientele that can’t physically get to our storefront location and it also helps us keep a pulse on inventory in the shop.
Check us out at www.thealohabungalow.com

Where do you think you get most of your clients from?

Our storefront location has a lot of foot traffic and is the best source of new clients for us. It is in a beautiful area of Redondo Beach called The Riviera Village. The Riviera Village is a well maintained area with lots of shops, restaurants, bars, and is steps from the ocean. There are many locals in this town, but we also have a lot of year round tourists. The cute structure by the beach catches their eye and they are curious to see what’s inside. We love meeting new people and giving them the best experience so that they always remember the cute little bungalow by the beach!

Contact Info:

• Website: www.thealohabungalow.com
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/thealohabungalow
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/thealohabungalow

Image Credits
Jessica Hickerson