We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Naombi & Joey Shokes. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Naombi & Joey below.
Naombi & Joey, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today How did you scale up? What were the strategies, tactics, meaningful moments, twists/turns, obstacles, mistakes along the way? The world needs to hear more realistic, actionable stories about this critical part of the business building journey. Tell us your scaling up story – bring us along so we can understand what it was like making the decisions you had, implementing the strategies/tactics etc.
We “scaled up” by Tanger giving us the opportunity to do so. We stared in a kiosk here but it began to get cold. So we found a 600 sq ft spot on Skidaway Rd in Savannah, GA. We thought that our product was so unique that the people would follow and that area would be perfect. We couldn’t have been more wrong. We quickly realized that this isn’t it. Then the pandemic hit and we were forced to be closed like everyone else. We re-opened during the Black Lives Matter movement and business boomed. At least for us we thought that was booming lol. After a couple of months, that died. Literally for us, so i called Tanger to see what was available. They had a 1000 sq ft store available and we moved back in August 2020. Business was great and within 2 weeks of being open, my husband told me I could quit my full time job and run this full time. So of course I did. However, by November we had outgrown that space. I inquired about another suite that was 4500 sq ft and my husband was NOT wanting to do this but we got it! April 2022, we were forced to move into a smaller location as a larger franchise wanted our spot and they had signed a permanent lease and we are temporary. So we moved into a 2500 sq ft store but when another larger store became available we jumped on it! here’s to hoping no one else wants this spot lol.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
My husband Joey and I own the largest African store in this area. We sell authentic clothing from Ghana, Nigeria, Gambia and Kenya. We also offer more budget friendly items that we order from vendors. Our customer service is what sets us apart from most places. We are here to educate, if we can, or point you in the right direction. We are here to help other small businesses to sell and be seen internationally, as Tanger doesn’t only offer local traffic. God took two broke people, with bad credit and no retail experience and told them to open an african store in the middle of the pandemic! We trust we are doing the right thing.
Can you open up about how you funded your business?
We didn’t get a loan to start this business. I worked at Gulfstream and my husband was ready to get into this business. I was not lol. He started with these little dram bottles of oil that he out into a box that I would sell out of my trunk or take orders or even bring them to my desk. Everytime we made ore money, he reinvested it into something else. More oils, then clothes, then instruments. Then we started vending and doing pop ups. I heard about small business Saturday at Oglethorpe Mall and inquired about that but also contacted Tanger and thought Tanger would’ve been the better choice. We rented a booth and that is what started our brick or mortar store with no loans. Just re-investments of our profits. We now have a store over 3000 sq ft at Tanger Outlets in pooler, GA.
What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?
Everyone is not your customer and you cant help everyone. As a business owner, you want to make the sale. Close the deal so to speak. However, as a consumer people wants the best price in most cases and sometimes we aren’t it. You can find african clothing and items pretty much anywhere nowadays. especially Amazon. However, you wont find what we have. We are often met with customers who thought it would work and then they come to us last minute to help them bc what they ordered is not what they thought. it doesn’t fit right. it doesn’t look right. Etc…. We also started this business with the notion that we wanted to help other business owners that aren’t quite ready to step out on their own or just need a little extra push. We have learned some good things along the way and some bad…but the most valuable lesson of all? You cant help everyone. people have to want more for their business than we do. They have to put in the work, research, sweat, sacrifice, etc to achieve their dream.
Contact Info:
- Website: Geechierootz.com
- Instagram: @geechierootz
- Facebook: @geechierootz
Image Credits
Rennie Luna